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Sucky PA gets Cops attention!

#41
PauFerro said:
It was fine to my ears. when I used it for a smaller gig with about 100 people.

Then, about two weeks ago I got booked for a huge auditorium (700 plus people) and I was concerned it wouldn't have the power.

So, I recently upgraded to a set of LWave 15"'s from seismicaudio....

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They are heavier than your Yamaha's, but there was an $80 off deal (total cost to the door was $420), and the Frequency Response was deeper into the low end than any other speaker in that price range I could find at the time. 38 Hz - 20 kHz -- as a bass player, I wanted to be able to play through it on gigs when I didn't have the subwoofer to borrow from a friend.

The Kustoms can either daisy chain out the back of the powered speaker that connects to my passive mixer main outs (I checked with seismic to make sure I wouldn't blow anything), or I can run the Kustoms through a monitor channel from my Behringer passive mixer and a Crown amplifier.

My next stop is my own subwoofer when the time is right, with the right band...
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BTW 2 powered speakers on a stick would not cover 700 eople unless it was dead quiet in the room and the PA was for announcements only. For reference in a room that size my country/rock band would be using a minimum of 4 powered subwoofers and 4 powered 3 way tops. We would be pushing the PA pretty hard.
 
#42
modulusman said:
BTW 2 powered speakers on a stick would not cover 700 eople unless it was dead quiet in the room and the PA was for announcements only. For reference in a room that size my country/rock band would be using a minimum of 4 powered subwoofers and 4 powered 3 way tops. We would be pushing the PA pretty hard.
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Heck, the one venue I play that holds up to 1,000 had SIX dual-18" subs under the stage, and who knows what's flown from the roof - it's dark up there, so I can't tell exactly what they are - but there's at least six 15's + horns per side.
They also have about a dozen amps - QSC/Crown - in their amp rack, running all those puppies. Speakers on sticks wouldn't cover the dance floor.
 
#43
This will be a learning experience for us. We will have my two powered speakers, two passive monitors powered by an amp, and two more JBL EOn 15" powered speakers. It's jazz, so no subwoofer for this particular venue. We'll see how it goes. I've had success with putting the passive monitors behind us when we perform, rather than facing us, which could also amplify the sound to the audience. With only three of us, it hasn't been an issue in the past. We are doing background music this time, so it's not as critical as in a live band/dance/singer situation....
 
#45
BurningSkies said:
I love the suggestion that what defines a PA as sucky or not is based upon whether the cops bust you or not.

Interesting threshold to choose.
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You missed the point. It was a jab at modulusman's idea of what a 'real' PA should be. But the bottom line it it's a decent 'small' PA and is quite functional with an added subwoofer. Whoever called the cops lived a ways away from my house since no one on my block complained. Admittedly, we were loud and I didn't have the system fully cranked at all. I laugh at the comments though as I don't give a rats @$$ about anyone's opinion of my PA. The only one complaining about it doesn't know me, has never heard it and lives in another state.
 
#46
DWBass said:
You missed the point. It was a jab at modulusman's idea of what a 'real' PA should be. But the bottom line it it's a decent 'small' PA and is quite functional with an added subwoofer. Whoever called the cops lived a ways away from my house since no one on my block complained. Admittedly, we were loud and I didn't have the system fully cranked at all. I laugh at the comments though as I don't give a rats @$$ about anyone's opinion of my PA. The only one complaining about it doesn't know me, has never heard it and lives in another state.
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If you are referring to me. I have heard those Kustom 15 speakers before. You think their decent I think they sound like crap.
 
#51
Here's a vid of us messing around before everyone else arrived. Kick drum was miked. Keys and bass DI'd in the system. We weren't turned up that much at this point. Sub signal was taken from the preamp out on the mixer into my power amp. It has a dedicated sub out but I wasn't getting a signal. Maybe because I had speakers plugged in. Sub has a built in crossover. I have 2 but just used 1. Will def use both next time.

 
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#54
Just as a note, be careful with playing on 'earth'. I carry some rubberized rugs in my car for just such situation to give a modicum of insulation from grounding problems and accidents. One of my bands had a contract clause saying that the 'venue' for any party had to provide a platform or 'stage area' that was not earth.
 
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#55
BurningSkies said:
Just as a note, be careful with playing on 'earth'. I carry some rubberized rugs in my car for just such situation to give a modicum of insulation from grounding problems and accidents. One of my bands had a contract clause saying that the 'venue' for any party had to provide a platform or 'stage area' that was not earth.
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Hmmm.....thanks for the tip. My cab was on wheels, if that makes a difference. I do have several rugs I do use but I didn't this time. The drummer brought his to use.
 
#56
DWBass said:
Hmmm.....thanks for the tip. My cab was on wheels, if that makes a difference. I do have several rugs I do use but I didn't this time. The drummer brought his to use.
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Grounding quite literally could be a killer. Be careful. I have those doormat/rugs that come in 4x6 or slightly smaller from Home Depot, etc. that are rubberized on the back...that I keep in the trunk as both a trunk liner and for use as isolation mats or as a drum rug in a pinch. One bad ground on an amp, outlet, etc...
 
#59
DWBass said:
When I moved south I thought Portsmouth would be a good fit but I didn't like what I saw in my price range.
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Location, location, location....I like your neighborhood much better.

We got busted in Running Man / Yorktown (Victory Blvd headed towards Poquoson) a few years back. It was a pig pickin' so we fed the officers and promised to behave. Sound must travel better in the upscale neighborhoods as we found out.

Riis
 
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#60
DWBass said:
We usually do. I think it was the folks on the next block over behind our house. My sister in law went by all the neighbors on our street and all said the music was no problem and they were enjoying it! Admittedly, we were cranked up and I was thumping away but it was 3 in the afternoon! Who the hell complains at that time!? The cops were nice though but they did say if they had to come back they were gonna arrest me! Unbelievable! SMDH
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Wha!? Can they do anything before 11pm? I thought otherwise on a weekend (if not happening all the time) the cops would borderline ignore it unless all the noise was gunfire lol

Edit: @jgroh pretty much sums it up I guess. That does stink. Again I think many cops would be reasonable if they otherwise never get calls about you and if/when they show up they see most of the neighbours are there and it isn't hopefully at a volume better suited to a 200,000 person festival.
 

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