T39, Jack 10, and Wedgehorn PA review

[LiefStevens]

I played my first gig last night with my newly built BFM system. It consists of a pair of 3012lf loaded 23" T39s and a pair of 2510 loaded Jack 10s with melded arrays. It is replacing a powered Mackie system. The gig was a large wedding (350 guests) in a good sized ballroom. It was a seven piece band consisting of bass/vocal (me), guitar/vocal, e-drums/vocal, female lead vocal, male lead vocal/percussion, keys, and sax.

Before doing the gig I setup a single Jack and T39 outside and used REW to set the eq in my XTi4000.

At the gig there was a free corner so I stacked the subs and corner loaded them. The Jacks were on poles on either side of the tiny stage they gave us (8'x10' lol). The subs and mid-highs were power off a single Crown XTi4000. I used 2 Mackie SRM450s as monitors (should have wedgehorn 10s soon). I ran all of the vocals and instruments through the FoH.

In a nut shell the system sounded great. Very clear with good dispersion. I was particularly impressed with the subs. The kick was thunderous without being muddy or overwhelming. On my previous system I rarely put the bass through the FoH because it sounded bad. With this system it was clear and sat well in the mix. I'm also using a Jack 210 for a bass amp. Everyone in the band commented on how much better the new PA sounded so I am very happy.

We are very busy atm so a with report back after a few more gigs.

In the future I'm planing on replacing the Mackie monitors with Wedgehorn 10s and the Jacks with DR200s.

Thank you Bill for your great designs and plans. I have have had a good time building them and just wish I had more time to build.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

In the future I'm planing on replacing the Mackie monitors with Wedgehorn 10s

Overkill. You don't need monitors with the same capability as your mains.

[LiefStevens]

We are using edrums and need to be able to hear them. Right now everyone is complaining about not being able to hear the kick on stage. Also have bass, keys, guitar and sometimes 3 piece horns in the monitors. May also build some smaller wedgehorns.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

We are using edrums and need to be able to hear them. Right now everyone is complaining about not being able to hear the kick on stage.

You may make it worse, unless your subs are at least 30 feet away from the stage the monitors should be high-passed at 80 to 100 Hz anyway, making the extension of the W10 moot. If the edrum backline amp is inadequate then fix that.

[LiefStevens]

Currently we have no edrum back line amp. He is using head phones but would like to stop. Bill what would you recommend for our stage setup?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Currently we have no edrum back line amp. He is using head phones but would like to stop.

That explains all. Maybe one W10 for the drums, then if you still need more drum midrange and HF presence on stage W8s will handle it.

[nutdog]

Thanks for the review. I've got a thread on here asking for advice about a similar system so this is very timely and helpful.

[LiefStevens]

Now that I have used this system for 20+ gigs I thought I would post and update.

The T39s blow me away! They are by far the best subs I have ever used. They are a huge upgrade from the Mackies I was using. The bass frequencies sound clear with out being overwhelming. With the Mackie's I hated how my bass sounded through the FoH but with the BFM speakers it sounds like my amp only bigger. For bass I'm using a Jack 210 bass cab and running into the board with a high pass filter. With the bass sounding so good through the FoH I'm able to keep my stage amp at a lower volume.

Our e-drums are working out great. They are fast to setup and sound great. Our drummer has stopped using IEMs and is now using a WH10. The Wedgehorn 10 thumps but is also massive. It's a great monitor for a drummer but I now agree with Bill that it would be overkill for the rest of the band. I was thinking of using WH10s for the rest of the band because we were having trouble hearing the kick but that was when we were using the Mackie system. With the T39s the kick is very present so I think all we need is 3 WH8's or maybe WH6's (still using the Mackies for now).

The Jack 10's also sound really good and I love how small and light they are. Our sax player dubbed them "Lief's lunch boxes". I can easily carry one in each hand. The subs with their tilt back casters are also super easy to move.

For set up I have been putting the J10s on stands on each side of the stage. The t39s are always together, usually placed along a wall, occasionally in a corner, and once just stacked (outdoors). I have yet to build a v-plate but will at some point.

The BFM system was a great move for us. I am really happy with the portability and sound.

I have been getting a lot of positive comments on my system.

[Tom Smit]

Excellent!

[mattaudio]

What about in-ears for the drummer and bassist, along with shakers? Then the musicians downstage would probably do well with WH8s and the LF bleed from the subs.

[doncolga]

Excellent!

+1 Great man! Applause!

[LiefStevens]

What about in-ears for the drummer and bassist, along with shakers? Then the musicians downstage would probably do well with WH8s and the LF bleed from the subs.

When done right IEMs can be great. We have talked about using them but I don't think with our current setup and our type of band (wedding) it would work well. We don't have a dedicated sound man. It's just me, playing bass, singing, calling songs, running sound, and lights. I need to hear what is going on and I can do that with IEMs. The drummer felt disconnected from the rest of the band when he was wearing IEMs. He much prefers having a monitor.

We have managed to reduce our volume (when needed) by using the e-drums and our guitar player has started using a Pod and no amp.