Haunted House Multi-Room set up

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Badblood
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Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#1 Post by Badblood »

Hello all, it's been a while since I have posted on here. Still loving all my BFM cabs.

So to the point. I am a member of a local non profit and we put on a pretty large haunted house every year. 13-17 "rooms" each with their own soundtrack. I do this using software, several usb sound cards, and 4 Behringer EPQ304 amps. (75w x 4). I am having a problem with the "off the shelf" speakers that have been donated or bought at goodwill etc. blowing rather frequently. I cannot hear any audible distortion, the amps do not clip, etc. Most of the speakers say they are rated at 100w (yeah I know lol).

I am wanting to build a suitable BFM cab for each room without breaking the bank. They play at a medium to high volume for roughly 4 hours at a time for 16 days a year. And need to have a good range. (thumps, growl, and screams) And they need to be relatively small so they can be hidden easily in the room.

I was thinking TLA or SLA but I am worried about the overall response without a sub. Maybe a Jack or Simplexx will do a better job? I know the Titan48's and Otop15's I have are pretty bullet proof. Just a little pricey and large for what I need.

I appreciate your input. Thanks.

CoronaOperator
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#2 Post by CoronaOperator »

Badblood wrote: Maybe a Jack or Simplexx will do a better job?
Along with the Jack and Simplex, the Omni 12 and 15 fullrange cabinets are well ... fullrange as well.
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2 x 29" width dual Lab12 Tuba60
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2 x DR250 2510/asd1001
For best results, point the loud end of the array towards the audience

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Tom Smit
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#3 Post by Tom Smit »

How low, in the frequency range, do you want to go? Have you measured the lowest desired freq.? (use Audacity). the reason I'm asking is because, if "Goodwill" speakers were good enough, then I figure that an SLA with 5 or 6" drivers may suffice.
TomS

Badblood
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#4 Post by Badblood »

Honestly I am thinking around 100Hz should be low enough. I am not reproducing music just sound effects. I think the lowest frequency track has thunder on it. Not wanting to blow them away just need the background noise at a good volume and it not sound too canned. And size does matter. We have pretty low ceilings so I can't hang anything, it has to be integrated into the room design to hide it.

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Bill Fitzmaurice
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#5 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

You may not think you need subs, but the constant blowing of speakers says to me that you do. I'd do SLAs with Table Tuba LS, which can either be stood in room corners to minimize lost floor space or laid down against a wall to double as a bench.

Badblood
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#6 Post by Badblood »

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote:You may not think you need subs, but the constant blowing of speakers says to me that you do. I'd do SLAs with Table Tuba LS, which can either be stood in room corners to minimize lost floor space or laid down against a wall to double as a bench.
That would be ideal, but I am afraid it would be cost prohibitive right now. I would also have to have passive crossovers on everything 16 driveracks would be extremely cost prohibitive. Maybe sla's this year and subs next.

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Bill Fitzmaurice
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#7 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

Badblood wrote:16 driveracks would be extremely cost prohibitive.
Use 16 of these instead:
http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-aud ... r--300-802
This gives you a low passed sub amp with a high passed output to the mains. The high pass is only 1st order, but for what you're doing that should suffice.

Grant Bunter
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#8 Post by Grant Bunter »

Unless you can buy a heap of drivers at close out, enough SLA's to cover 16 rooms is going to cost you a bundle!
I'm half wondering if the rooms all play different sounds?
And if that's the case, can some of these sounds/rooms be covered with full range cabs?

I understand the need to be able to hide the cabs, but also the need to be able to afford the builds required on a short and long term basis. If you can get away without subs in some rooms by using full range cabs, that would have to be a good thing...
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Badblood
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#9 Post by Badblood »

Grant Bunter wrote:Unless you can buy a heap of drivers at close out, enough SLA's to cover 16 rooms is going to cost you a bundle!
I'm half wondering if the rooms all play different sounds?
And if that's the case, can some of these sounds/rooms be covered with full range cabs?

I understand the need to be able to hide the cabs, but also the need to be able to afford the builds required on a short and long term basis. If you can get away without subs in some rooms by using full range cabs, that would have to be a good thing...

Each room will have it's own sound track after the re-vamp. Yeah every way I look at this, it gets into big bucks. I am about to give up on it. I think I am going to have to do a couple rooms a year until I reach the final goal.

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James Champer
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#10 Post by James Champer »

Don't know that I would give up so easily. I think I would be whipping up a bunch of the SLA Pro's using the full range Alpha 4-8's. At 2 for 30 bucks (http://www.parts-express.com/eminence-a ... --290-4012), using no tweeters and a bunch of arauco plywood, you could have some relatively cheap workhorse boxes that are great for small rooms, and easy to hide (roughly 13x9x9 or 25x9x9).

Sure, you won't get the walls to rattle, but it would be nice to have just one voltage limit to contend with and I think they would do a good job with scare effects.

Of course, if you absolutely must have the thunder rumble the floor, then yeah, could get quite expensive.

There are always T18's that can use drivers in the $35 to $50 range :P
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Badblood
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#11 Post by Badblood »

Not really wanting to rumble the floor with thunder or it be so loud that it carries to the next room. The room wall are only osb plywood. We redo the maze every couple years. An example of our sound effects is ring around the rosy sang by children in a room full of creepy dolls. The loud part is when the actor jumps out and the people scream. Carnival music played in the clown room. Chains and whips in the background of the torture room. Stuff like that, doesn't need to be loud, just help set the mood.


One of our volunteers came up with the idea of using 6x9 car speakers in boxes, guess he found some kenwoods on amazon for dirt cheap. That might fit the bill, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

Badblood
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#12 Post by Badblood »

Not really wanting to rumble the floor with thunder or it be so loud that it carries to the next room. The room wall are only osb plywood. We redo the maze every couple years. An example of our sound effects is ring around the rosy sang by children in a room full of creepy dolls. The loud part is when the actor jumps out and the people scream. Carnival music played in the clown room. Chains and whips in the background of the torture room. Stuff like that, doesn't need to be loud, just help set the mood.


One of our volunteers came up with the idea of using 6x9 car speakers in boxes, guess he found some kenwoods on amazon for dirt cheap. That might fit the bill, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

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whines
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#13 Post by whines »

Badblood wrote:Stuff like that, doesn't need to be loud, just help set the mood.
Hunh. I wonder how the speakers are being blown? Someone cranking up the volume when no one is looking?

If you EQ out the bass (and it sounds like you don't need it) it'll make it easier on whatever speakers you use.
2xJ15, THT, 4xT39 3012 (2x15", 2x20"), 2xSLA Pro, 2x short SLA Pro (Dayton), W6

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James Champer
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#14 Post by James Champer »

After some thought- for 13 to 17 rooms, (17 to 34 speakers?) OSB walls, and a tight budget, I don't see any reason to discard the 6x9 auto speakers in cheap (but well thought out) boxes as a solution.

If they are identical, at least they will be easier to hide, easier to store, will be far less expensive and you can better plan your power, thus you *should* be able to keep from blowing through them.

The key here is coming up with an amp schema, built for the amount/type of identical boxes planned, and that is bulletproof. A brickwall limiter, set to 10% lower than max voltage acceptable by your chosen drivers (with source/amps at max volume), is vital here so no one can ever crank it to failure.

At that point, if it's not loud enough, you will probably need to add more boxes. Something to think about when you are designing your amp schema. (scalability).
Retired Authorized Loudspeaker Builder - Indianapolis, IN

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Svartrose
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Re: Haunted House Multi-Room set up

#15 Post by Svartrose »

If you are using pre-recorded sounds, then you can use a high-pass filter on it. Just using free software like audacity. Maybe 'goodwill' or other cheap speakers will do then. You can even lower the volume, to loud enough. That way you create some kind of limiting. It won't cost you anything, accept time.

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