Outdoor Events Review, OT12 and T39

[mlkras]

The event that I wrote about in the OT section last week went off on
Saturday without a hitch. My company provided the sound system for free as
a contribution to the cause. The event took place at a Park in Boston
adjacent to the Charles River and was attended by about 3000 people. The PA
was used for both announcements and for a series of bands throughout the
day. The site was a bit challenging in that the three foot high stage faced
into trees throughout the attendee area. Additionally the wind was blowing
pretty briskly.

I brought four OT12 and two T39 (24 inch) to the event. The OT12s were stacked corner
stage as recommended by Bill. They have 2512 drivers and eminence 2005
drivers on JBL horns. The subs were V Plated and placed under the stage,
which gave the stage a nice thump. The top portion of the rig was powered by
both sides of a QSC 1804 and the subs were powered by a QSC 1104. I set it
up this way since I knew ahead of time that there would probably not be
enough sub for the job to get real loud and I want absolute quality on the
top end. Subs were crossed at 125 and the top amps were limited at 45 volts
(250 watts) and the subs were limited at 400 watts each. I think the subs
under the stage helped a lot.

The eq of the tops was done prior to the show in the circle outside my home
using a drive rack. Speaker management only was done with a Behringer DCX
2496. We used a little bit of compression on the output side of the board to
get a little more volume while using the limiters on the DCX, which to my
ears are pretty inaudible at light limiting.

The equipment performed very well and we still had good speech
intelligibility at 300 feet through the trees. The music was a little light
at that point.

I have over the years crabbed a bit about the OT12 speaker but once I got
the wiring on the xovers correct they really required only a little eq to
sound terrific. Additionally in testing them against a motley array of
commercial speakers that I still have around the shop, they are about 12 db
more efficient. In the sun at mid day the amps were cool to the touch while
the live acts were playing. My level comparisons were incidentally done at
2k to avoid the nasty 1200 hz notch, which is to tell the truth inaudible.

The entire rig fit into a mini van and a half and could have been easily set
up by me alone. Hopefully by next year the rig will double in size. I could
not have been more pleased and at my price, the event sponsors invited me
back next year.

[z-audio]

The event that I wrote about in the OT section last week went off on
Saturday without a hitch. My company provided the sound system for free as
a contribution to the cause. The event took place at a Park in Boston
adjacent to the Charles River and was attended by about 3000 people. The PA
was used for both announcements and for a series of bands throughout the
day. The site was a bit challenging in that the three foot high stage faced
into trees throughout the attendee area. Additionally the wind was blowing
pretty briskly.

I brought four OT12 and two T39 (24 inch) to the event. The OT12s were stacked corner
stage as recommended by Bill. They have 2512 drivers and eminence 2005
drivers on JBL horns. The subs were V Plated and placed under the stage,
which gave the stage a nice thump. The top portion of the rig was powered by
both sides of a QSC 1804 and the subs were powered by a QSC 1104. I set it
up this way since I knew ahead of time that there would probably not be
enough sub for the job to get real loud and I want absolute quality on the
top end. Subs were crossed at 125 and the top amps were limited at 45 volts
(250 watts) and the subs were limited at 400 watts each. I think the subs
under the stage helped a lot.

The eq of the tops was done prior to the show in the circle outside my home
using a drive rack. Speaker management only was done with a Behringer DCX
2496. We used a little bit of compression on the output side of the board to
get a little more volume while using the limiters on the DCX, which to my
ears are pretty inaudible at light limiting.

The equipment performed very well and we still had good speech
intelligibility at 300 feet through the trees. The music was a little light
at that point.

I have over the years crabbed a bit about the OT12 speaker but once I got
the wiring on the xovers correct they really required only a little eq to
sound terrific. Additionally in testing them against a motley array of
commercial speakers that I still have around the shop, they are about 12 db
more efficient. In the sun at mid day the amps were cool to the touch while
the live acts were playing. My level comparisons were incidentally done at
2k to avoid the nasty 1200 hz notch, which is to tell the truth inaudible.

The entire rig fit into a mini van and a half and could have been easily set
up by me alone. Hopefully by next year the rig will double in size. I could
not have been more pleased and at my price, the event sponsors invited me
back next year.

Just wondering what JBL horns did you use..

[mlkras]

They are the horns from the JRX series. This is the horn that is used in the audiokarma project. In the JRX series they do not sound particularly good in the JRX since they use an inexpensive driver. The combination with the eminence 2005 is to my ears quite good. I also intend to build the diffraction horn in the most recent OT12 plans and try that as a comparison.

As we say here in Massachusetts. light dawns over Marblehead, the decision to use compression drivers rather than the piezos involves a significant increase in the weight of the cabinets for the driver and the coils but I like the sound so I lift with my legs.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I also intend to build the diffraction horn in the most recent OT12 plans and try that as a comparison.

With only one cab per side the JBL horn will probably sound just as good as ours, possibly even better. But the JBLs, or any CD horn for that matter, will not couple with two or more cabs vertically stacked.

[Tsloms]

Do you have a build thread for these OT12's? How did you end up mounting the horns in/on the OT's?

I have been looking at building either the OT12's or OT15's with the JBL horns which I already have from another Ewave build or some QSC HPR152 horns which are currently on order. These will be for a killer home theater application.

[djtecthreat]

Nice to see another New England'er with BFM cabs! Glad your gig went well and the OT's did the job for ya, any pics of them?

[mlkras]

I will try to post some pics but all I have is a quick shot of the first band and the speakers stacked on each corner of the stage. Kind of boring.

Recent update from the Department of Parks, there were 5000 people at the event. Not all of them were listening to the music but we had a substantial crowd around the stage, but no closer than about fifty feet. Everyone there seemed to hear the speeches and announcements. A little bigger rig next year. As quite a number of folks have said on the forum, four OT12 really do outrun a pair of T39s even with the v plate.

DJTechthreat, perhaps I could cross rent from you next year?

[djtecthreat]

DJTechthreat, perhaps I could cross rent from you next year?

Certainly, I specialize in large events. Give me a buzz with what you need, when you need it. If it's not out- it's yours.