So, I've been put in charge of our sound system. I can deal with controlling the volume, but I'm not a sound guy, so I could use some assistance.
My church is in need of a quality amp for not too much money. I've been looking at a few - and would appreciate some advice - but that's not my primary question. I'm more considering whether we should go with two lower powered amps or a single one? We have a small church (I'd guesstimate around 4,000 square feet in our sanctuary including our high ceiling, but don't hold me to that). The problem is, we keep blowing out our amps.
The original amp used to cut out whenever it got hot, requiring us to hit the breaker and reset it. The replacement amp worked great, until one of the channels completely cut out. I suspect the other church group that uses our sanctuary may be cranking it way too high, but I couldn't say that with certainty. We're currently operating off of a single channel. I don't know the specific wattage off-hand, though it did have 3400w written on it (however, somehow I doubt that). I need to get access to it later and get the specific model.
The reason I was considering two amps, was to have independent ones for the mains and for the monitors. Originally we were running our mains on the right channel and our monitors on the left channel, now we're running them both off a single channel. Our mixer does support two channels with independent left/right, so it's possible for us to run two amps if we wanted (although we're going to need to replace our mixer eventually, as it is extremely old).
Anyway, primarily looking for some input and perhaps some suggestions. I'll also try to get the specifics on our current amp later tonight. Thanks in advance.
My church is in need of a quality amp for not too much money. I've been looking at a few - and would appreciate some advice - but that's not my primary question. I'm more considering whether we should go with two lower powered amps or a single one? We have a small church (I'd guesstimate around 4,000 square feet in our sanctuary including our high ceiling, but don't hold me to that). The problem is, we keep blowing out our amps.
The original amp used to cut out whenever it got hot, requiring us to hit the breaker and reset it. The replacement amp worked great, until one of the channels completely cut out. I suspect the other church group that uses our sanctuary may be cranking it way too high, but I couldn't say that with certainty. We're currently operating off of a single channel. I don't know the specific wattage off-hand, though it did have 3400w written on it (however, somehow I doubt that). I need to get access to it later and get the specific model.
The reason I was considering two amps, was to have independent ones for the mains and for the monitors. Originally we were running our mains on the right channel and our monitors on the left channel, now we're running them both off a single channel. Our mixer does support two channels with independent left/right, so it's possible for us to run two amps if we wanted (although we're going to need to replace our mixer eventually, as it is extremely old).
Anyway, primarily looking for some input and perhaps some suggestions. I'll also try to get the specifics on our current amp later tonight. Thanks in advance.
Never mind the amp, what we need is as much detail about the speakers as possible.. makes, models, how many you have and exactly how they are connected to the amp.
We have two mains and two monitors, each connected to the amp as a single connection (originally on separate channels, but condensed down to the one for now), as well as a smaller monitor connected to one of the bigger ones, but I'll have to wait until tonight to get the specifics. If it helps, our amp is in the front of the church, under the platform (so within a few feet of the mains/monitors), and our mixer board is in the back (approximately 40ft back).
If all goes well, I should have the specifics on the speakers in a few hours.
If all goes well, I should have the specifics on the speakers in a few hours.
If you had two loudspeakers on each side of the amplifier it is unlikely that should have caused a failure unless there is a fault in one of the loudspeakers or the wiring. Assuming you don't have a cheap poorly built amplifier.
My current favorite low cost audio power amplifier is the Yamaha PX3. It has built in signal processing including limiting. A good price would be around $450 each. The downside is that yamaha is not shipping any until they update the software. Any units available in stock at a a dealer currently has a few bugs in the software that don't allow the units to work correctly with speakers other than yamaha's. But the revised versions should be available soon.
The other good option is a good amplifier from eBay.
My current favorite low cost audio power amplifier is the Yamaha PX3. It has built in signal processing including limiting. A good price would be around $450 each. The downside is that yamaha is not shipping any until they update the software. Any units available in stock at a a dealer currently has a few bugs in the software that don't allow the units to work correctly with speakers other than yamaha's. But the revised versions should be available soon.
The other good option is a good amplifier from eBay.
You need to buy a DVM, and calibration resistor from 4 to 8 ohms. I like Sear Craftsman non-autoranging, but sometimes those $1 Harbor freight units work ( and sometimes they don't). the calibration resistor has to come from an electronic distributor that will guarentee the value. I like newark (SC), digikey(MN), mouser (TX), alliedelec(TX). Jameco (CA) I think Arrow & Avnetdirect are on the west coast, I don't use them for that reason. Frys is nice for components if you live near a location. All above except Frys will charge a shipping fee & handling fee for small orders, so rolls of wire or numbers of banana plugs or speakon connectors or something are recommended instead of a handling fee to get order up to $25.
UPS surface costs for distance, use USPS priority if you order from some place over 1000 miles away. USPS takes 3-5 days.
Then measure the speaker load resistance on each amp channel. DVM tend to read high on 20 ohms or below, so read the calibration resistor too and subtrace the difference to get the actual reading on your speakers.
If you get 3.5 ohm or above, you're probably okay. That is a "4 ohm" load. If you get 1.5 ohm or below (2 ohm load) , you need to rewire the loads into enough channels to get to 3.5 ohm. Then buy enough amps for the channels you end up with. Do the branching at the line level; a mixer can drive several amps with a main or monitor line (2 v max) out.
If the speakers use phone plugs for connection, when people trip on them and pull them out partially it will blow up most amps. Speakers that use speakon connectors are best, but dual banana jacks spread 3/4" apart is a good substitute. Dual "4mm" banana plugs and jacks are sold by the distributors above.
Here are some alternative amps being used at churches:
Peavey Peavey IPR2 2000 Power Amp | IPR2 2000 | Peavey
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 350W X 2Ch Max at 4 Ohm | XLS1002 | Crown Audio
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 650W X 2Ch Max at 4 Ohm | XLS2002 | Crown Audio
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 750W x 2Ch Max at 4 ohms | XLI2500 | Crown Audio
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 525W X 2Ch Max at 4 Ohm | XLS1502 | Crown Audio
In US I use this vendor in OH.
Some people reccommend musician's friend or guitar center, I haven't used either but the prices seem okay.
I suggest staying away from amps producing 1000 W up per channel because they can produce pretty dangerous voltage on the speaker terminals. Howevr inexpensive they are.
E-bay has some good stuff and a lot of ****. use only equipment from E-bay recommended by somebody that has used it.
Make sure cables to speakers are 16 ga or 14. 14 is better for big church. 18 ga lamp cord is too thin. 12 ga is even better for loud PA but requires careful termination. In Eastern hemisphere they measure in millimeters, I don't know those measurements. Speaker cable comes in rolls from distributors or mcm, use the stripe side for negative. If running through holes in wood use plenum grade speaker cable.
Don't reset breaker on amp & continue, it is a good way to blow them up. Measure load impedance before turning on again. IMHO keep a spare amp if you have enough people to justify it.
Speakers can get a shorted turn and draw too much current even though the impedance is okay. If amp keeps tripping, and impedance 4 or above, leave out one speaker at a time and see if you can isolate problem to a particular one. then throw that one away. Low volume from one driver, or funny sound, are indicators you can listen for in rehearsal, to identify a shorted turn speaker. also look for torn rubber surround around the driver, behind the cloth. With power off, push in the center of the cone lightly. It should not have a bumpy scraping feel, it should be very smooth.
Best of luck.
UPS surface costs for distance, use USPS priority if you order from some place over 1000 miles away. USPS takes 3-5 days.
Then measure the speaker load resistance on each amp channel. DVM tend to read high on 20 ohms or below, so read the calibration resistor too and subtrace the difference to get the actual reading on your speakers.
If you get 3.5 ohm or above, you're probably okay. That is a "4 ohm" load. If you get 1.5 ohm or below (2 ohm load) , you need to rewire the loads into enough channels to get to 3.5 ohm. Then buy enough amps for the channels you end up with. Do the branching at the line level; a mixer can drive several amps with a main or monitor line (2 v max) out.
If the speakers use phone plugs for connection, when people trip on them and pull them out partially it will blow up most amps. Speakers that use speakon connectors are best, but dual banana jacks spread 3/4" apart is a good substitute. Dual "4mm" banana plugs and jacks are sold by the distributors above.
Here are some alternative amps being used at churches:
Peavey Peavey IPR2 2000 Power Amp | IPR2 2000 | Peavey
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 350W X 2Ch Max at 4 Ohm | XLS1002 | Crown Audio
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 650W X 2Ch Max at 4 Ohm | XLS2002 | Crown Audio
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 750W x 2Ch Max at 4 ohms | XLI2500 | Crown Audio
Crown Audio Rack Mount Power Amplifier 525W X 2Ch Max at 4 Ohm | XLS1502 | Crown Audio
In US I use this vendor in OH.
Some people reccommend musician's friend or guitar center, I haven't used either but the prices seem okay.
I suggest staying away from amps producing 1000 W up per channel because they can produce pretty dangerous voltage on the speaker terminals. Howevr inexpensive they are.
E-bay has some good stuff and a lot of ****. use only equipment from E-bay recommended by somebody that has used it.
Make sure cables to speakers are 16 ga or 14. 14 is better for big church. 18 ga lamp cord is too thin. 12 ga is even better for loud PA but requires careful termination. In Eastern hemisphere they measure in millimeters, I don't know those measurements. Speaker cable comes in rolls from distributors or mcm, use the stripe side for negative. If running through holes in wood use plenum grade speaker cable.
Don't reset breaker on amp & continue, it is a good way to blow them up. Measure load impedance before turning on again. IMHO keep a spare amp if you have enough people to justify it.
Speakers can get a shorted turn and draw too much current even though the impedance is okay. If amp keeps tripping, and impedance 4 or above, leave out one speaker at a time and see if you can isolate problem to a particular one. then throw that one away. Low volume from one driver, or funny sound, are indicators you can listen for in rehearsal, to identify a shorted turn speaker. also look for torn rubber surround around the driver, behind the cloth. With power off, push in the center of the cone lightly. It should not have a bumpy scraping feel, it should be very smooth.
Best of luck.
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I-Jo
I stopped using Crown amplifiers a few years back when their failure rate in the first year passed 10%. One of my guys blew one up today. (Really!)
In terms of reliability Ashly, QSC and Yamaha run around .1%.
It is rare for me to use an amplifier without DSP that includes crossovers, parametric EQ, audio signal delay, compression and limiting.
On large systems others prefer a single central DSP unit to make it easier to program. They then require a backup to prevent total system failure.
So far I have done a bit more than 300 church systems. Church sizes from congregations of 20 to 15,000. Scheduled for another 20 or so this year.
Of course my larger venues can seat 75,000 or so. But they are not churches.
BTY the rated impedance of a loudspeaker can be twice the minimum. So an 8 ohm loudspeaker can dip to 4 ohms. The minimum impedance of an amplifier does not have any margin. Thus an amplifier that is loaded with two 8 ohm loudspeakers needs to be able to drive 2 ohms.
I missed the bit where there are three monitor loudspeakers. So right now he has five loudspeakers on one channel. That could result in a minimum impedance under an ohm.
I stopped using Crown amplifiers a few years back when their failure rate in the first year passed 10%. One of my guys blew one up today. (Really!)
In terms of reliability Ashly, QSC and Yamaha run around .1%.
It is rare for me to use an amplifier without DSP that includes crossovers, parametric EQ, audio signal delay, compression and limiting.
On large systems others prefer a single central DSP unit to make it easier to program. They then require a backup to prevent total system failure.
So far I have done a bit more than 300 church systems. Church sizes from congregations of 20 to 15,000. Scheduled for another 20 or so this year.
Of course my larger venues can seat 75,000 or so. But they are not churches.
BTY the rated impedance of a loudspeaker can be twice the minimum. So an 8 ohm loudspeaker can dip to 4 ohms. The minimum impedance of an amplifier does not have any margin. Thus an amplifier that is loaded with two 8 ohm loudspeakers needs to be able to drive 2 ohms.
I missed the bit where there are three monitor loudspeakers. So right now he has five loudspeakers on one channel. That could result in a minimum impedance under an ohm.
If you're connecting multiple speakers per amp channel, you should be concerned about the total impedance being presented to the amp. Most pro-audio type loudspeakers are 8 Ohms, and if you connect them in parallel (which is the most practical way to attach more than one), two speakers per channel will present 4 Ohms, and 4 speakers will present 2 Ohms.
I'm pretty sure I read in your explanation that you have 4 speakers on one channel, 2 mains and 2 monitors, not 3, but correct me if I read wrong. That's likely to be 2 Ohms nominal, which isn't ideal. Many amplifiers won't tolerate that, as they need at least 4 Ohms.
The details of the speakers/monitors is important, as it isn't unusual for speakers to be 4 Ohms, either because they drivers were specified that way, or because the enclosure contains dual drivers.
It sounds to me like you may also have power problems. Are you in the United States or somewhere else? You may be in a situation where you need to get the power checked out by an electrician. In the US, the power is usually reliable, but not always. There can be problems local inside older buildings. But some places outside the US the power plants and distribution are less predictable. I've seen a lot more problems in Central and South America and Africa. If you're in some place like Haiti, you're not going to solve the problems just buying a brand name amp.
There are ways to solve power issues, but the solution is going to depend on what is identified as the problem first. A "cure-all" will be too expensive.
You can get a "power conditioner." The Furman units are popular for running audio equipment. I doubt they can solve serious problems any more than a "surge protector" power strip, but they usually have a voltmeter on the front you can monitor for under or over-voltage issues and they may protect your amps from spikes that could be damaging your amps. They don't actually fix the problems though.
The details on your speakers will be meaningful. You'll want to consider powered speakers because it's possible for the same expense as new amplifiers, you could upgrade the speakers as well. It's quite likely that you could change to powered monitors without any issues. Changing to powered mains depends on how they're installed and whether power can be run to them or not. An extension cord across the floor isn't a good idea and may be against local codes. So advise if they're hanging, wall-mount, on poles, or what.
Powered speakers aren't always better, but especially on the lower cost speakers (<$1000) you get substantially more for your money with a powered speaker that has amplification and DSP tailored specifically for it. Getting an equivalent quality speaker and an amp that can do the same signal processing is going to cost a lot more. It's usually not worth it until you're investing in high-end equipment that you need to be flexible and scale-able. Nevertheless, sometimes getting the power to the speaker proves too costly. Also, if you already have very fine quality passive speakers and monitors, there's no good reason to scrap them. But if they're just worn-out, hand-me-downs from a generation ago, you might be better off selling them on Craigslist for whatever you can and looking at new powered speakers or amps and speakers.
I'm pretty sure I read in your explanation that you have 4 speakers on one channel, 2 mains and 2 monitors, not 3, but correct me if I read wrong. That's likely to be 2 Ohms nominal, which isn't ideal. Many amplifiers won't tolerate that, as they need at least 4 Ohms.
The details of the speakers/monitors is important, as it isn't unusual for speakers to be 4 Ohms, either because they drivers were specified that way, or because the enclosure contains dual drivers.
It sounds to me like you may also have power problems. Are you in the United States or somewhere else? You may be in a situation where you need to get the power checked out by an electrician. In the US, the power is usually reliable, but not always. There can be problems local inside older buildings. But some places outside the US the power plants and distribution are less predictable. I've seen a lot more problems in Central and South America and Africa. If you're in some place like Haiti, you're not going to solve the problems just buying a brand name amp.
There are ways to solve power issues, but the solution is going to depend on what is identified as the problem first. A "cure-all" will be too expensive.
You can get a "power conditioner." The Furman units are popular for running audio equipment. I doubt they can solve serious problems any more than a "surge protector" power strip, but they usually have a voltmeter on the front you can monitor for under or over-voltage issues and they may protect your amps from spikes that could be damaging your amps. They don't actually fix the problems though.
The details on your speakers will be meaningful. You'll want to consider powered speakers because it's possible for the same expense as new amplifiers, you could upgrade the speakers as well. It's quite likely that you could change to powered monitors without any issues. Changing to powered mains depends on how they're installed and whether power can be run to them or not. An extension cord across the floor isn't a good idea and may be against local codes. So advise if they're hanging, wall-mount, on poles, or what.
Powered speakers aren't always better, but especially on the lower cost speakers (<$1000) you get substantially more for your money with a powered speaker that has amplification and DSP tailored specifically for it. Getting an equivalent quality speaker and an amp that can do the same signal processing is going to cost a lot more. It's usually not worth it until you're investing in high-end equipment that you need to be flexible and scale-able. Nevertheless, sometimes getting the power to the speaker proves too costly. Also, if you already have very fine quality passive speakers and monitors, there's no good reason to scrap them. But if they're just worn-out, hand-me-downs from a generation ago, you might be better off selling them on Craigslist for whatever you can and looking at new powered speakers or amps and speakers.
Sorry about the delay in responding back, things got a little hectic. Anywho, here's the pictures I took of our setup. All four are Yamaha, though the monitors appear to be newer than the mains. They're all 500wt (1,000 max) at 8 ohms. I'll look through the posts above later, I have to get to work at the moment. Thanks again.
https://postimg.org/gallery/1lt72icw0/
https://postimg.org/gallery/1lt72icw0/
Exactly how many amplifiers have you blown up?
That QSC amp is very high quality piece of equipment that is more than capable of driving those speakers at whatever volume you care to suffer through so I suspect you have a serious problem not directly related to the amplifier. The most obvious possibilities are that there is a short in the speaker wiring somewhere, or the amplifier is connected to a seriously compromized electrical outlet.. meaning the voltage sags badly because there are too many loads on the circuit besides the amplifier.
Are the speaker wires run through walls or outside? If outside are they stapled to the wall? See where I am going with this? You should test the speaker cables from the amp connection with a multimeter, they should all measure about 4ohms or more with the speakers still connected. If you measure a dead short then go measure each speaker on that circuit individually right at the cabinet, they should measure somewhere around 6-7ohms and if they do replace the speaker wire with another, if a speaker does not measure correctly you need to have it serviced.
The amp should be configured via the dip switches for stereo operation and the clip limiters and low cut filters should be turned on and set to the higher(50hz) setting.
This amplifier is capable of delivering 1100w/ch into the 4ohm load it should be connected to, so it really should be connected directly to a dedicated circuit with no other loads on it and not via a surge suppressor or small gauge extension cord.
That QSC amp is very high quality piece of equipment that is more than capable of driving those speakers at whatever volume you care to suffer through so I suspect you have a serious problem not directly related to the amplifier. The most obvious possibilities are that there is a short in the speaker wiring somewhere, or the amplifier is connected to a seriously compromized electrical outlet.. meaning the voltage sags badly because there are too many loads on the circuit besides the amplifier.
Are the speaker wires run through walls or outside? If outside are they stapled to the wall? See where I am going with this? You should test the speaker cables from the amp connection with a multimeter, they should all measure about 4ohms or more with the speakers still connected. If you measure a dead short then go measure each speaker on that circuit individually right at the cabinet, they should measure somewhere around 6-7ohms and if they do replace the speaker wire with another, if a speaker does not measure correctly you need to have it serviced.
The amp should be configured via the dip switches for stereo operation and the clip limiters and low cut filters should be turned on and set to the higher(50hz) setting.
This amplifier is capable of delivering 1100w/ch into the 4ohm load it should be connected to, so it really should be connected directly to a dedicated circuit with no other loads on it and not via a surge suppressor or small gauge extension cord.
If you're in the USA I'll mail you a $.08 calibration resistor for using with your DVM: To check your hookup impedance per post 5. Private message me a surface mail address - PO box is okay.
As far as failure rate, there are counterfeit pushers, then there is newark div. farnell. They are not the cheapest distributor, but I've gotten no counterfeits from them. Even the stuff sourced from ****a has been of the quality advertised. mcmelectronics is farnell's US PA/consumer warehouse. I have some evidence they know how to audit a supply chain.
QSC is one of the big four PA amp brands recommended by pro repairmen posting on here.
BTW I've played a hall with more pews than that with 35 W/channel, no monitors, a 22 person choir not amped. Quiet audience, but still, 1000 W is possibly excessive unless the congregation is shouting all the time. The guy I bought my 260 W/ch amp & Peavey horn speakers from said his band had played 300 person parking lot gigs with it. He did have one 8 ohm monitor parallel an 8 ohm PA speaker.
As far as failure rate, there are counterfeit pushers, then there is newark div. farnell. They are not the cheapest distributor, but I've gotten no counterfeits from them. Even the stuff sourced from ****a has been of the quality advertised. mcmelectronics is farnell's US PA/consumer warehouse. I have some evidence they know how to audit a supply chain.
QSC is one of the big four PA amp brands recommended by pro repairmen posting on here.
BTW I've played a hall with more pews than that with 35 W/channel, no monitors, a 22 person choir not amped. Quiet audience, but still, 1000 W is possibly excessive unless the congregation is shouting all the time. The guy I bought my 260 W/ch amp & Peavey horn speakers from said his band had played 300 person parking lot gigs with it. He did have one 8 ohm monitor parallel an 8 ohm PA speaker.
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This is what we'd expect to find. So you have nominally 8 Ohm speakers -- the most common type for PA's. If you connect one per channel, the amplifier sees an 8 Ohm load. If you string two of them in parallel, the amp sees 4 ohms. String 3 and it sees 2.66 Ohms. With four all on the same channel, it sees 2 Ohms.
The QSC PLX 4302 will support any of those configurations -- it's a good amplifier. It will provide 700 watts per channel into 8 Ohms, 1100 watts per channel into 4 ohms, or 1700 watts per channel into 2 ohms. So with 4 speakers connected to the one channel, you're able to drive the load with about 400 watts per speaker.
The Yamaha SM15V monitors and S115IV speakers will take 500W program, and 1000W peak, and given their sensitivity, I doubt you need more than that for that room.
Your configuration is within specifications, but it is not ideal. Ideally you would be driving one speaker or at most two with a channel of the amp. If the second channel of the PLX 3402 was working, I would put the monitors on one channel, and the mains on the other.
But your configuration does not appear to be the cause for the problems you've seen. So I would look at the electrical situation in the building, and maybe get a power conditioner to try to protect the amps if there's any issues.
I can't think of a likely way the other group could be damaging the amps. I wouldn't blame them. It's more likely they or anybody else would inadvertently damage the loudspeakers with a clipping signal.
See if you can get the PLX 3402 repaired. It may just be a fuse that needs to be replaced. That amplifier can continue to give good service. You could consider getting another one like it so as to have 4 channels total, one for each speaker. You might find a good deal on a used one.
Those Yamaha speakers are a good match for that amp. You could do better, but only if you have more money to spend. I'm not here to sell you anything. But before you spend money on amps, consider the opportunity to upgrade to powered speakers.
Those Yamaha are an inexpensive speaker that are popular with DJ's. They're much better the "cheap" DJ speakers, but they're not ideal for church. You could replace the S115IV's with powered QSC K10's. It would be a big improvement for about the same or a little more than buying two amps. If the church is willing to consider new speakers, take a look at other options as well because you may be better served with a single speaker in the center, or with something different than the horn-over-woofer cabinets.
You did ask about an amp. You could get a new 4 channel amp to replace the 3402. A QSC PLD 4.2 or 4.3 would be a good choice. Or you could get two 2-channel amps, but neither of these things are necessary expenses as your current needs can be served by a single 2 channel amp. The PLX 3402 you have is good if you can fix it. If you replace it, consider a QSC GX7.
That speaker on the shelf looks like a huge safety concern. If it falls on someone it could seriously injure or kill them. I would do something about that right away.
The QSC PLX 4302 will support any of those configurations -- it's a good amplifier. It will provide 700 watts per channel into 8 Ohms, 1100 watts per channel into 4 ohms, or 1700 watts per channel into 2 ohms. So with 4 speakers connected to the one channel, you're able to drive the load with about 400 watts per speaker.
The Yamaha SM15V monitors and S115IV speakers will take 500W program, and 1000W peak, and given their sensitivity, I doubt you need more than that for that room.
Your configuration is within specifications, but it is not ideal. Ideally you would be driving one speaker or at most two with a channel of the amp. If the second channel of the PLX 3402 was working, I would put the monitors on one channel, and the mains on the other.
But your configuration does not appear to be the cause for the problems you've seen. So I would look at the electrical situation in the building, and maybe get a power conditioner to try to protect the amps if there's any issues.
I can't think of a likely way the other group could be damaging the amps. I wouldn't blame them. It's more likely they or anybody else would inadvertently damage the loudspeakers with a clipping signal.
See if you can get the PLX 3402 repaired. It may just be a fuse that needs to be replaced. That amplifier can continue to give good service. You could consider getting another one like it so as to have 4 channels total, one for each speaker. You might find a good deal on a used one.
Those Yamaha speakers are a good match for that amp. You could do better, but only if you have more money to spend. I'm not here to sell you anything. But before you spend money on amps, consider the opportunity to upgrade to powered speakers.
Those Yamaha are an inexpensive speaker that are popular with DJ's. They're much better the "cheap" DJ speakers, but they're not ideal for church. You could replace the S115IV's with powered QSC K10's. It would be a big improvement for about the same or a little more than buying two amps. If the church is willing to consider new speakers, take a look at other options as well because you may be better served with a single speaker in the center, or with something different than the horn-over-woofer cabinets.
You did ask about an amp. You could get a new 4 channel amp to replace the 3402. A QSC PLD 4.2 or 4.3 would be a good choice. Or you could get two 2-channel amps, but neither of these things are necessary expenses as your current needs can be served by a single 2 channel amp. The PLX 3402 you have is good if you can fix it. If you replace it, consider a QSC GX7.
That speaker on the shelf looks like a huge safety concern. If it falls on someone it could seriously injure or kill them. I would do something about that right away.
Thanks for the responses, sorry it took so long to get back. I did some asking around, it seems that we had an uncovered wire on one of the speakers that was probably the source of the short. It was in obvious plain sight, but apparently no one bothered to mention it. We only discovered it after the channel blew out.
As for the original amp that blew, it was just old. I think it simply expired from age. You've all given me a lot of information to process, so I'll take a look at what you've suggested and pass it along to someone else that can actually make the purchase. Thank you very much for your help.
As for the original amp that blew, it was just old. I think it simply expired from age. You've all given me a lot of information to process, so I'll take a look at what you've suggested and pass it along to someone else that can actually make the purchase. Thank you very much for your help.
Actually, that speaker's been on that shelf for at least as long as I've gone to the church, which has been over 10 years now. I think it's pretty safe. 😉
That said, we are looking at various options. I'm wondering if ceiling mounted may be the way to go.
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