Hi,
I'm looking to build a 3-way system for outdoor parties, with around 200 people, in Madeira island, PT.
The goal is to have a system with a hi-fi sound with PA characteristics. We mainly play vinil and the music is quite diverse. It can go from Ambient, Reggae and Disco to different styles of dance music like Acid, Electro and Jungle. So it's important for us that the system can play non-electronic music with detail and power.
Budget
5000€
So far I came across with the following solution for each stack:
2x Sub MTL-46
with RCF LF18G401
Would one sub be enough?
1x Mid-top MT-130
Precision Devices PD.121/2 8 Ohms
BMS 4554 8 Ohm
Eighteensound XT 1464
Are these drivers correct?
Crossover
What would be the best solution for crossover? A passive one inside the MT-130 and an active between the sub and the Mid-top? Could I do everything with a DBX DriveRack PA2 or a Behringer DCX2496?
Amp
I need 3 amplifiers. The power of each amp should be the same as the RMS of each driver? How do I balance the volume between the 3 drivers, on the amp or on a DSP?
EQ and final adjustments
After I have the speakers done, what kind of adjustments I need to do? Can someone help me with the process?
Sorry for such rookie questions but we all gotta start somewhere right? If someone is experienced enough and wants to help me with this within this budget I can happily pay for your work
Thanks!
I'm looking to build a 3-way system for outdoor parties, with around 200 people, in Madeira island, PT.
The goal is to have a system with a hi-fi sound with PA characteristics. We mainly play vinil and the music is quite diverse. It can go from Ambient, Reggae and Disco to different styles of dance music like Acid, Electro and Jungle. So it's important for us that the system can play non-electronic music with detail and power.
Budget
5000€
So far I came across with the following solution for each stack:
2x Sub MTL-46
with RCF LF18G401
Would one sub be enough?
1x Mid-top MT-130
Precision Devices PD.121/2 8 Ohms
BMS 4554 8 Ohm
Eighteensound XT 1464
Are these drivers correct?
Crossover
What would be the best solution for crossover? A passive one inside the MT-130 and an active between the sub and the Mid-top? Could I do everything with a DBX DriveRack PA2 or a Behringer DCX2496?
Amp
I need 3 amplifiers. The power of each amp should be the same as the RMS of each driver? How do I balance the volume between the 3 drivers, on the amp or on a DSP?
EQ and final adjustments
After I have the speakers done, what kind of adjustments I need to do? Can someone help me with the process?
Sorry for such rookie questions but we all gotta start somewhere right? If someone is experienced enough and wants to help me with this within this budget I can happily pay for your work
Thanks!
Seems mostly sensible the coverage of your tops will be quite narrow (60x50) rated coverage from the horns so you would probably want to double them up to get 120 degree horizontal coverage.
I would also ideally run 8 subs total and mono stack them (you will get much more even bass coverage). This also raises the question of how you are planning to deploy the system as you will need to get the tops above head height and angled slightly down to get good crowd coverage.
Run 3 channels per side using "DBX DriveRack PA2 or a Behringer DCX2496?" (both are reasonable) as this will allow you to limit each driver separately and time align the 12" to the comp. You don't need a huge expensive amp for the comps it can be only a few hundred watts so this can actually be more cost effective as well.
In terms of measurements get an ECM8000 (or better two for comparison), a mic stand and an audio interface, at least 2x2 with phantom power and get acquainted with REW software.
If you don't mind making adaptor cables and complexity Biamp Teseria Forte VI are available cheap on ebay ATM and are much more capable processors than the typical DBX/DCX2496. You have to go into the preferences and enable 'discontinued devices' in the latest Teseria for there output blocks to be available.
I do tune sound systems but I'm in the UK so I think it would blow your budget!
I would also ideally run 8 subs total and mono stack them (you will get much more even bass coverage). This also raises the question of how you are planning to deploy the system as you will need to get the tops above head height and angled slightly down to get good crowd coverage.
Run 3 channels per side using "DBX DriveRack PA2 or a Behringer DCX2496?" (both are reasonable) as this will allow you to limit each driver separately and time align the 12" to the comp. You don't need a huge expensive amp for the comps it can be only a few hundred watts so this can actually be more cost effective as well.
In terms of measurements get an ECM8000 (or better two for comparison), a mic stand and an audio interface, at least 2x2 with phantom power and get acquainted with REW software.
If you don't mind making adaptor cables and complexity Biamp Teseria Forte VI are available cheap on ebay ATM and are much more capable processors than the typical DBX/DCX2496. You have to go into the preferences and enable 'discontinued devices' in the latest Teseria for there output blocks to be available.
I do tune sound systems but I'm in the UK so I think it would blow your budget!
Also if running two tops per side you should make wedges to put between the tops to get the correct splay (60 degree between centers I think looking at the plans).
You can certainly get good results with a system like this, I have something similar that has no problem covering several hundred indoor or out.
My dual 18 boxes are flat to about 35hz but even with 2 drivers only manage about 100dB sensitivity so I'm not sure how they think a single L18G401 driver can produce a 102dB@1w sensitivity in a reflex enclosure.
The MT-130 is vey efficient but I think it will need a separate kick bin to fill in the 80-250hz range, that would help get the mid highs up higher when ground stacking but it adds another level of complexity and cost of course. Maybe a better solution is a dual 12+2(or 1.4) reflex.
My dual 15+2 mid/hi boxes cover from 80hz up and despite being just a reflex box they have no problem out running the subs, but of course the bass boost everybody likes to hear in a sound system is the main factor in that. The size of these things results in a stack almost 8ft tall when the subs are standing vertically, and this simple 3 way system sounds effortless and is very much a blank canvas that works well on any genre. It's probably not the ideal technical solution on paper but it handly outperforms every other speaker system I own which includes a whole bunch of modern pwered PA speakers, it literally is better than the sum of it's parts which are mostly unremarkable... the one exception are the CDs which are B&C DE750s. The system is triamped with a DCX handling processing and a rack of Yamaha P series amplifiers for a total of about 3kw per stack.. 2kw to the subs, 750w on the mids, 350w on the highs.
My dual 18 boxes are flat to about 35hz but even with 2 drivers only manage about 100dB sensitivity so I'm not sure how they think a single L18G401 driver can produce a 102dB@1w sensitivity in a reflex enclosure.
The MT-130 is vey efficient but I think it will need a separate kick bin to fill in the 80-250hz range, that would help get the mid highs up higher when ground stacking but it adds another level of complexity and cost of course. Maybe a better solution is a dual 12+2(or 1.4) reflex.
My dual 15+2 mid/hi boxes cover from 80hz up and despite being just a reflex box they have no problem out running the subs, but of course the bass boost everybody likes to hear in a sound system is the main factor in that. The size of these things results in a stack almost 8ft tall when the subs are standing vertically, and this simple 3 way system sounds effortless and is very much a blank canvas that works well on any genre. It's probably not the ideal technical solution on paper but it handly outperforms every other speaker system I own which includes a whole bunch of modern pwered PA speakers, it literally is better than the sum of it's parts which are mostly unremarkable... the one exception are the CDs which are B&C DE750s. The system is triamped with a DCX handling processing and a rack of Yamaha P series amplifiers for a total of about 3kw per stack.. 2kw to the subs, 750w on the mids, 350w on the highs.
nice I used to run Pseries amps:
Regarding the tops not going low you could try something like the NEXO alpha system where the subs are co-located with the tops and run much higher than normal (190Hz):
https://www.nexo-sa.com/wp-content/uploads/nexo_alpha_brochure.pdf
https://www.nexo-sa.com/wp-content/uploads/alpha-data-sheets.pdf
this should be fine for 40Hz tuned bass reflex.
Regarding the tops not going low you could try something like the NEXO alpha system where the subs are co-located with the tops and run much higher than normal (190Hz):
https://www.nexo-sa.com/wp-content/uploads/nexo_alpha_brochure.pdf
https://www.nexo-sa.com/wp-content/uploads/alpha-data-sheets.pdf
this should be fine for 40Hz tuned bass reflex.