Ohm/Wattage Question for PA
 

This is related to another thread where I'm planning my PA, but this is a specific technical question that others in the future will find useful.

For example let's say you have a couple of speakers rated at 1200W at 8 ohms

and you're hooking up to a 2400W amp like the Crown XLS 2500
Stereo, 2 ohms: 1200W
Stereo, 4 ohms: 775W
Stereo, 8 ohms: 440W
Bridged mono, 4 ohms: 2400W
Bridged mono, 8 ohms: 1550W

When you put speakers in parallel that reduces the ohms. So if you have: amp -> speaker 1 -> speaker 2. Than both speakers are pulling 4 ohms instead.

So if I'm understanding everything correctly if you take those two speakers and daisy chain them and plug only use one channel on the amp, you're pulling the full 2400W but if you plug one speaker into each channel (i.e. stereo mode), you're only pulling 440W?

You're almost there. I have (2) 2500's coming in tomorrow so I'm familar with the specs. Appears that you have (2) 8 ohm enclosures; that's what I'm using as well. The DC 2500 is essentially two separate power amps, each of which is capable of pushing 440 watts into an 8 ohm load. Now, if you daisy-chain the enclosures, this will create a total 4 ohm load...so you're correct. If you plug this into one channel of a stereo / dual mono configured amp, they will see see 775 watts or ~380 watts per enclosure. Not that impressive, eh? Now, configure the amp in bridged mono which essentially ties the two power amps together creating a "push/pull" effect tripling the power (gross over-simplification). Connect the daisy-chained enclosures to channel 1 output and the pair will see 2400 watts or ~1200 watts per enclosure. Once in bridged mono, you can only connect one speaker load which has a total impedance of 4 ohms and above...which pretty much describes your gear situation.

Riis

What speakers are you using that can take 1,200W?

Gotta love posted specs! My Carvins are listed @ 400 cont / 800 program / 1600 peak...I can see why things get confusing.

Riis

Ive got this exact setup and same question and I would like to know what is more preferred.

One Crown XLS 2500 http://www.crownaudio.com/xls-drivecore.html

Two Carvin LS 1503 http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/LS1503


Specs on the Carvin mains are 8 ohms 400w continuous /800w program /1600w peak

Specs on the Crown for driving these speakers are 440w at 8 ohm each channel stereo or 2400w at 4 ohm bridge mono.


Ive been running them stereo for a few months with no problems but I wouldn't say they put out a huge amount of volume and many times we've needed more vocal out front with everything cranked. Is it reasonable to run them in bridge mono at 1200w a speaker as long as I keep the amp power knob low and adjust as more volume is needed? Or will this be overkill for these speakers and cause them to smoke? I know they are budget speakers but i'm hoping they have been engineered to handle those kind of watts. Speakers will be Vocal only, need enough volume to get over a very loud drummer in a very small space with a couple of distorted guitars. Got a gig tonight that I want try this if anyone can help.

Sidenote: I was able to snag two NIB 2500's for not much over & above the 1500, hence the purchase.

Okay, I'll admit the 2500 is pretty much overkill for our shared situations but if you set the gain structure correctly, roll in any available limiters, and watch your volume, you should be okay. Speaking of volumes, your PA volume should meet the needs of the venue and the instrument levels should complement that of the PA / vocals. IOW, tell them to turn the %&*# down.

Riis

+1 If you are playing small venues (< 200 or so) you shouldn't need more than 200W per side. 400W per side should be enough.