Advice from PA gurus required

[KevB]

New band I've joined are a bit short on firepower at the low end of the PA. Gigs booked next week so looking for a pair of 15" passives. Originally going to get subs to put current 12" mids on top of but has anyone just used 15" full range cabs and maybe disconnected the horns (bass drum will go through the 15's so don't really want to blow expensive horns) to then link up with additional speakers?. I guess full range cabs wouldn't have crossovers but I'm no expert. Looking at up to £300 for pair. Plenty of stuff on the web but I need to hear from people that are actually using certain brands and know they sound good. Cheers folks.

[crez5150]

To be honest I wouldn't have thought anything decent at that sorta price level.... you could look for some Whafedale EVp15 that might be a good alternative. Just knocking out the horns in a pair of full range cabs won't work enough for sub bass... you need dedicated subs that have dedicated networks for the lower frequencies

[backwater]

You could try wharfedale - they do a EVP-X15B Subs at £175 each :

[url="http://www.e-av.co.uk/info.php?id=4525&PHPSESSID=8dde434e773f668c1e92e42b395fb3a1"]http://www.e-av.co.uk/info.php?id=4525&amp...e92e42b395fb3a1[/url]

I've used them in the past and felt they were pretty good for the money. Many places stock them so getting some should be easy!

Andy

Edited September 18, 2008 by backwater

[KevB]

Thanks for the replies. I'd looked at the Wharfedales but they are 4ohm, need 8ohm units really to match the other speakers. It probably won't have my bass going through it anyway but will have mic'd drums so need something with some bottom end. I'll let you all know if we get anything sorted this weekend.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='KevB' post='286581' date='Sep 18 2008, 08:11 AM']need 8ohm units really to match the other speakers..[/quote]No, because to do it properly you need an electronic crossover and a separate amp to drive the subs. Passive crossovers of the sort used in the Wharfedale are only good for low power situations, and won't cut it on PA. I'd pass on the Wharfedale as the cost of its passive crossover is wasted money that should be invested in a crossover and amp.

[crez5150]

Think it depends on how you set up the system..... The wharfedales will work fine but as Bill says... you will need a separate amp to run the subs.... I wouldn't recommend running them via your full range cabs as it looks like thats what your trying to do....

[Adrenochrome]

Yes, we tried fullrange 15s and they gave no real bass at all. We got better performance from a pair of Scott subs that our guitarist got off ebay for £80.

[MananaMan]

Hey mate,

Good ole eBay saves the day :

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PAIR-Wharfedale-EVP-15PSB-Active-Subwoofer-DJ-Disco-pa_W0QQitemZ260287703907QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item260287703907&_trkparms=72%3A12|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PAIR-Wharfedale-EVP-...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url]

For that price, I'd strongly recommend having em!

I think for the kind of money you're looking to spend I wouldn't worry about whether they sound good or not - are they working and are they loud are the most important questions!

I'd recommend, if you can, to get powered subs in the price range you're looking at - although some people will go on about reliability and cost of repair etc with powered speakers, for £300 you can't really go wrong and you'll save a lot of hassle and additional expense with crossovers, amp, amp racks etc. If the PA is doing what I think its doing - basically a vocal PA for small-ish pub gigs with added kick drum - then this set up will do you fine.

When you're looking to go bigger, better and (most importantly) louder, then you should start looking into system controllers, active crossovers etc. etc.

With all respect to Bill and others posting before, for light reinforcement in a small-capacity club on a low budget, while it is a long way from ideal, I think they would achieve the desired effect with passive speakers as a stop-gap solution until funds allowed for more equipment. Yes, there's only gonna be a limited amount of additional sub-bass if running the subs at the same wattage as the full-range cabs, yes there are much better ways of doing things, but if you've got £300 to add some low-end to a vocal PA, I reckon it wouldn't hurt to spend it all on cabs, then buy a cheap crossover / amp at a later date. No, the crossovers in Whafedale wouldn't do at all for Pro PA applications (they barely do for anything at all really..) but for the budget and the situation, they'd be fine.

Put it this way : You could rehearse at home with £3000 of Aguilar stack, but you can also get away with a £20 combo made in 1975... its all about scale my friends!