d&b Ci series or Meyer MILO, RH

[chrisani]

HEllO! I'm a newbie here. :P

 

I'm a member of a Christian church. We are thinking of purchasing a new speaker system for our new worship hall.

 

What do you guys think about this? Which system is better? Need your help!

for 3500 seats with balcony-fan shape

 

 

Which would you recommend?

 

1. d&b Ci7 Top and Sub, d&b amplification

2. Meyersound MILO with 700 HP subs

3. Renkus Heinz STLA/9 with DRS 182 subs

 

 

It should be able to handle all types of sound reinforcement. Spoken word, choral, acoustic, acapella, plays, concerts, etc.

 

All views welcome! Thanks!

[Chappie]

I have no experience with the Renkus Heinz, so I cannot comment on that particular system. However, I do not believe that you can compare the C7+sub with MILO+700's. The systems are massively different, both in construction, power and application. The most direct Meyer equivalent of the C7 is probably the CQ-1 and possibly the 650-P (or the 700) for the sub (they do not make a single 18" sub).

 

I also think MILO might be a bit big (and overly expensive) for the application you are looking for. If you are considering a Meyer line-array, then you may be better suited to MICA and the new 600-HP sub (when it's released). This itself may be too powerful and you might be able to consider M2D (but not the M2D sub - not Meyer's best ever product) and conventional fills.

 

Line-array itself may be a moot-point if the application doesn't demand it. A well designed point-source Meyer system works in the majority of situations and shouldn't be discounted out-of-hand (which you are obviously not doing, as you are considering the d&b equivalent).

 

Hope this is of any help.

[charlyfarly]

Sorry to drift a bit but have you considered the d&b Q or Qi series? Much smaller and lighter (a lot lighter!) than the MILO system.

[chrisani]

Thanks for the reply!

 

We are waiting for our 3500 seat hall under construction wherein we might stay in for a maximum of 3 years before we move in to our 10,000 seat hall. Just thought that maybe it would save us a lot of trouble to get what we would be needing in 3 years now. Instaed of getting a small system now then get another set bigger. incorporation, etc. do you think the d&b c series can handle it or is getting a line array simpler? The 3500 seater is more wide than deep.

[Mr.Si]

I'd have thought that a Point source array would be better if wide dispersion was needed, yes the inverse square law will be applied here, but you will definitely have delay lines in a building for this many people, so 6dB drop-off per doubling of distance will be less of a problem if well designed.

 

line arrays might well be the way to go - I'm not a system engineer, but I'd have thought that they, along with the theory of only 3dB drop-off per doubling of distance, were also used where spill to the sides was less desirable.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, - I'm still learning!

[charlyfarly]

Since the hall is under construction check that there is actually somewhere in the roof that can take the weight for hanging points!

[gnomatron]

I think you should find a reputable local company or good sound engineer and ask their opinion, after giving them a look at the construction site and the plans and so on. You're talking about spending a hell of a lot of money, and at the end of the day, the best system for you is going to be decided by various factors such as availability of hanging points, specific layout of the room and budget. You're not going to get the best answer here.

 

also - 3 years? surely that's a lot of money to be spending on a space you're only going to be using for a very short period of time! what are you gonna do with it afterwards?

[roland-h]

Your best approach would be to get in touch with applications support for these companies. d&b and Meyer will happily model your environment (I can't remember who supports Renkus in the UK these days) and help you choose the best products for your application - it is the sort of service you would (and should) expect from manufacturers of their calibre. They might chose to do this via an appropriate 'sales partner' i.e. your local dealer/installer but I'd always recommend you start at the top. There are many companies out there who claim to support these products but they don't. Contact the manufacturers directly and ask them - you'll get the best advice, the best support and above all the best warranty.

[Simon Lewis]

Which would you recommend?

 

To be honest, neither ;-)

 

With any large install, I'd recommend finding someone who understands your needs, electroacoustics, can actually model your room, and predict how each of the systems mentioned should behave.

 

Ideally, this person would be an acoustic consultant, would have worked with your architect in designing the 3500 seater and would provide input to ensure this hall and its sound system will provide guaranteed levels of coverage, intelligibility and sound quality.

 

[rant]

In most cases, the architect doesn't understand sound, doesn't want to understand sound, is insistant that the ceiling / wall / floor finish chosen from 'architect's fantasy weekly' mustn't be compromised by any acoustic treatment or have unsightly loudspeakers on view.

When costs overrun, he will automatically reduce anything to do with the sound system or acoustic treatment to stay on budget.

[/rant]

 

Am I being unreasonable? Well apart from a few exceptions, that seems to be the

experience of most people involved in large projects!

 

So if you are really going for a 10,000 seater in the near future, an acoustician - who has equal authority to the architect- is an absolute must at the design stage onwards. It is essential that he isn't bought in after the plans have been drawn up, (or even worst) when building is underway.

 

Incidently, there's some very good support available from manufacturers and installation companies, but there's always the possibility of bias towards their own products or those they sell. A proper consultant acts as your advocate, sorting out what you actually want and need, designing a system to suit, and verifying that the final product meets specification.

 

The consultant's fees are generally found to be insignificant compared to having to sell off a sound system (that you've put up with for several years) because it never did the job properly.

 

There are several church audio internet sites that have consultants contributing. It may be worth asking there - but I suspect you'll get a similar response!

 

Regards,

 

Simon

[Mr.Si]

[rant]

In most cases, the architect doesn't understand sound, doesn't want to understand sound, is insistant that the ceiling / wall / floor finish chosen from 'architect's fantasy weekly' mustn't be compromised by any acoustic treatment or have unsightly loudspeakers on view.

When costs overrun, he will automatically reduce anything to do with the sound system or acoustic treatment to stay on budget.

[/rant]

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

hmmm... sounds only too familiar :D :huh: