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bass cabs for P.A.?

S

sirdugh

Dec 22, 2007
378
0
columbia, mo
#1
I read a previous thread on this issue but still don't understand why I shouldn't use bass cabs for a P.A. subwoofer (within reason of course).

I just bought the P.A. of a local club that went out of business. The only thing missing is the subwoofers. Would it really be that bad to run the low end that has been compressed/crossed over through a couple of 115 bass cabinets? I'm not trying to fill an arena but there are times when we play an outdoor show when it would be nice to add a little kick to the mix.

Thanks for any help.
 
#3
sirdugh said:
I read a previous thread on this issue but still don't understand why I shouldn't use bass cabs for a P.A. subwoofer (within reason of course).

I just bought the P.A. of a local club that went out of business. The only thing missing is the subwoofers. Would it really be that bad to run the low end that has been compressed/crossed over through a couple of 115 bass cabinets? I'm not trying to fill an arena but there are times when we play an outdoor show when it would be nice to add a little kick to the mix.

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
I've done it and it didn't hurt anything. However, when we bought real subs and plugged them in there was a huge difference. I'm a big believer in buying matched PA components. Years ago I bought a pr of EV 152's (1x15+horn) with the matching 181 subs. I still get complimented on how clean and full this old system sounds.
 
#4
I looked at the specs on ampeg's website due to my extreme ignorance of all things technical. The freq response at -3db (I hope that is what you are asking for) is 50hz to 3khz.

I'm not sure where to find the freq response curve.

Both cabs are ampegs 115s but one that I recently got from a fellow TBer (and haven't even tested yet as I've been knee deep in P.A. stuff) had its original 200 watt speaker replaced with a 600 watt emminence speaker.
 
#5
I would like to eventually get a matching set of subs for my mains which are yamahas.

Someone is selling a pair of yamaha 18's on the local CL but they are asking $700 for the pair. This seems like it is a bit much to me at they sell new for $400 each.

Plus, I don't really NEED them as the P.A. is mainly used for practice and my music room is rapidly filling to capacity. However, I did do sound for the local film festival in February and used my p.a. I really wanted subs then.
 
#6
Bass drivers are designed for full-range performance (up to 2-4K) and not designed for serious low end excursion, so you won't get nearly the bottom you will from a true sub.

Bass cabinets are always too small for most use as subs, because they're designed to a different requirement. Same goes for Mazda Miata vs. Toyota pickup truck.

You'll be lugging around the other components (mid/tweet/crossover) for no reason, since you're not going to be feeding anything up in that range.
 
#9
I know it sounds nut's but bass cab's also aren't as rugged as good sub's in general. This will also sound nutz... I'm running a 12" BMS Pro neo sub, in a very small box (3.25 cu. ft. gross - 2 3" id, round, 6.5" deep ports) and it rock's! It has a hard filter at 30 hz on it. That comes from the on-board filter from my power amp.

Now I'm only running EON's as my tops but even with my little rmx850 - it will just swamp the tops.
 

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