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Old D.A.S DR-12 powered speakers - low output

bassdeal

bassdeal

Jan 6, 2018
173
370
#1
I recently purchased a pair of used Invalid Link Removed. These seem to be very old and by their weight, must have an A-B not D-class amplifiers. They sound good with no EQ at all. I tested them using a smart phone headphone output into the line input.

The issue I am having is I am getting low volume out of them even though the input overdrive light comes on. I set the level (total output) control full on then raise the line level (input gain on the 1/4" input) until the overload light starts blinking (sound source is commercially recorded material). The output is moderate living room stereo level. At 200W RMS, even with a somewhat inefficient speaker system (this is a guess that it is inefficient), I expected a bit more.

I do notice driving the speaker a little harder where the overload light is on a bit more does not seem to distort (at least to my hearing).

I am not a fan of powered speakers (my PA gear is old, totally passive speaker/separate amplifier-based, sounds good, reliable, and I am not about to replace it) but I was playing bass for a band with a powered-speaker-based PA (I used a bass head with a passive monitor) and now in a band where the rehearsal space's PA is powered-speaker based and I need to supply my own monitor.

For the monitor application, one of the speakers should be OK but I still would like to figure out why the output is so much less than expected. Does anyone have any experience with these?

BTW I am traveling and have not had an opportunity to test using the XLR input.

Please forgive me for the long post.
 
#2
I seriously doubt a smartphone headphone output is going to drive those..nowhere near enough voltage/current. Probably why you can’t hear much volume.
 
#5
I ran a 1/4" cable from the Master Out (summed stereo out) of a Peavey MD II mixer to the 1/4" Line In of each DS-12 speaker, one at a time. Good gain from the mixer (~unity on main outs). Overload light came on about the same volume level.

I am surprised by the lack of volume but it is what it is. Still useful for some of the applications I had in mine. I am not complaining. They work, sound surprisingly good, and I got both of them for $60US.
 
#6
Finally got some time/equipment to test this out some more.

Drove a Harbinger S12 sub with a Peavey MD II mixer and had the filtered outs of the sub going to the DAS DS-12s. Since one of the DS-12s has a missing it's XLR input, I used the 1/4" line-in connectors on both DS-12s each with a XLR->1/4" transformer. Worked great! The DS-12s were loud and proud and the single S12 worked real well with it. I felt I could push this system harder but doing this outside in an urban environment.

So it seems I needed to get more gain into the DS-12s but interestingly, the overload light was not coming on when it did when connecting the phone's headphone out directly to the DS-12s. An impedance issue?

Thanks for the help!
 
#8
ezstep said:
Just a question. You were running 1/4" cables into the speakers. From what I see on the link you provided (it's hard to see), does it require TRS cables instead of simple TS cables?
Click to expand...
Humm good point. I can see the document fairly clearly (could download it but I am very weary of "free" PDF downloads) and it does say "Balanced Differential for both lLne and Mic I did not catch that. Thanks for pointing it out.
 

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