Four 18s and 6000 watts!!

::::BASSIST:::: · #1 05-19-2005, 02:42 AM

I was at my dad's today and he told me of a friend of his who is obsessed with cabs and dj gear. He is a dj. Anyway, my dad was saying that one of his rigs (of three) has four 18 bins with 3000 watts per side X 2 just for the bass. I cant remember all the details of the mids, tweeters, amps etc, but it is the craziest setup i have ever heard of. My dad said that the 6000 watts was so bassy that he thought the thump was actually going to give him a heart attack. It was actually painful.

Just though you guys would find that mildly amusing.

Tash · #2 05-19-2005, 07:19 AM

You should get him to let you play through his rig sometime.

DaftCat · #3 05-19-2005, 07:33 AM

Can you say "BASS SOLO" ?

Eric Moesle · #4 05-19-2005, 07:53 AM

That's really not unreasonable for a DJ rig used for outdoor stages. Actually, its kinda necessary.

The PA my band typically rents for larger shows has 4x18 in each sub, usually one sub per side, sometimes TWO subs per side if we're outside or at a really large venue. I believe they run 10,000 watts through the subs for clean punchy low end.

I'd never use such a thing for a bass guitar rig, but that's not what its designed for in the first place . . .

jay_t · #5 05-19-2005, 10:08 AM

I bought a PA ssystem from a friend DJ of mine and it's 2 15" and a horn per side. It's lacking a sub in a big way... but that will be fixed in the near future. I can just image all of those 18" speakers..... mmmmmm bass.

jay_t · #6 05-19-2005, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Moesle

That's really not unreasonable for a DJ rig used for outdoor stages. Actually, its kinda necessary.

The PA my band typically rents for larger shows has 4x18 in each sub, usually one sub per side, sometimes TWO subs per side if we're outside or at a really large venue. I believe they run 10,000 watts through the subs for clean punchy low end.

I'd never use such a thing for a bass guitar rig, but that's not what its designed for in the first place . . .

My buddies have two powered mackie towers and a powered mackie sub. I just take my bass and pedalboard over there and I get more lowend than is needed. I wish everyplace I wanted to play had a build it PA...outside of clubs that is.

Woodchuck · #7 05-19-2005, 10:18 AM

Larry Graham once said that his PA system was 50,000 watts. Good lord!

AaronS · #8 05-19-2005, 11:29 AM

For several years a friend would pack four 18s, eight 15s, sixteen 12s and sixteen 10s into his van along with 10,000 watts of amps, a keg of beer and $200 of sandwich and chip fixings and head to the desert for a party with his band and whoever else got the emails. After a few years the BLM shut them down. The crazy thing is that he has the whole rig in his rec room now. He does have a problem with the resistance of that many speakers, but he can still make the whole neighborhood shake when he turns up to 1. I have a problem hearing anything with that much power broadcasting. But it would probably be useful for communicating with whales or submarines at sea.

nonsqtr · #9 05-19-2005, 12:55 PM

I have two 18's and three thousand watts to drive them. Plus a few 15's and 12's for regular gigs. In practice, I find that the 18's are only required for outdoor work. Indoors, the sound tends to carry "linearly", but outdoors it travels through the ground, and there's no substitute for huge subs. I use the 18's when we're playing outdoors, or when we're playing on a really big stage (and in that case I put 'em on the edges of the stage and point them at the drummer). That would be in addition to any festival or arena-type sound system. The sound guys tend to mic the 12's, they seem to be the best dynamics-wise, and they get a pretty good balance through the board. My 18's are EVX-180A's, and I swear by them, they're some of the best ever made. I regularly pump the full 3k into a pair of 'em, and they take it gracefully and don't even complain. Boy, talk about vibrating pant legs at fifty yards - last year we played the Strawberry Festival, which is a big open field event, and while we were doing the sound check I could see my girlfriend's flapjacks vibrating from on stage. That's what I'm talkin' about.

::::BASSIST:::: · #10 05-19-2005, 01:51 PM

no way i'd get that rig on the bus!

haujobb · #11 05-19-2005, 01:52 PM

Maybe its because I'm so much younger, but four 18's does not impress me. A club I play at has 8x18. 8x15 and 4 horns totally about 16000 watts, and that's just the house system. When really big bands come a system is rented consisting of 12-18 for lows, 6x18 for mids and 6 horns for the highend, I couldn't even guess the power rating but I do know that there is prolly close to 20 or 25 macrotech 1200's...