DR200 and T39 Sound System

[Gauss]

Loud and clear. That's what this system does. It makes every little thing obvious, including speaker placement and cancellations. The builds were slow, as I borrowed tools and help from family, friends and neighbors. The sound is awesome, during the latest tuning session I spent so much time just playing music because I was loving the sound. It reminds me of an large outdoor jazz festival I attended once, crisp and full. The dispersion on the DR200s is very wide, but there is a bright spot in dead-center where the melds meet. I'm surprised by how well the sound carries over a distance. There is absolutely no mud in this set-up.

Here are some videos I made of my setup, and a picture of how it fits in the old van. Of course the camera highlights the vocal range, drops the bass, and sounds hollow in general, but it gives you an idea of dispersion and volume. Using my Titan 39, I've always worried about reaching the max and blowing the speaker. Having measured it with a voltmeter, I am no longer worried about that. The output is incredible (did I mention clear?), and a single T39 is enough for my gigs. In these videos I'm running the subwoofer at 15db higher than the tops, through one side of a Crown XTi1000.

Showing off my work:


Exploring the dispersion:


Checking the subwoofer's output:


The system fits in the back of my van, with my rack and cable box fitting on top the Titan. The DR200s are on the folded bench seat.

[Zack Brock]

Very nice review Gauss!

I like your build quality and your videos.

[Drey Chennells]

Very nice review Gauss! :clap:

I like your build quality and your videos.

definitely! very nice.

[Turntablist]

A spectacular vid of the DR200s! It shows exactly how they work in practice!

[Gauss]

Thanks a lot guys. I just got back from an outdoor youth event where I played music. I'm so impressed with this set-up. We played games over 100 yards away and the sound was still crisp and the bass thumping. The amp was on full, the mixer was on 2 (rotary style). I ran a test tone at the end, and found that my limiter works well, holding the xti1000 at 46 volts when I cranked up a 60hz sine wave. The on-axis bump in the highs was not noticeable at all -- it sounded great everywhere.

[Gauss]

Another real world situation: I set-up my DJ system for a youth car wash. The main audience was between 30 and about 150 feet, spread wide in a parking lot, and I had my T39 against a wall with the mains facing opposite directions. It was great, just below concert level, volume-wise. People were able to talk and be heard without yelling, because of the clarity. I cranked it up, did a walk-around, and found it to be way too bassy. Since the audience was closer than the other outdoor event I did, I brought the sub level down to 9db (from 15db) over the output of the DR200 mains. It blended much better, but still had the dance-driving thump. The poor kids had no choice but to dance. A couple people got out of their cars to join in. I love these speakers, but they're spoiling me. Now I find it irritating listening to music in the car or on cheap headphones.

[bzb]

Did you have to EQ the DR much in the XTi?

[Tom Smit]

I love these speakers, but they're spoiling me. Now I find it irritating listening to music in the car or on cheap headphones.

Guass, you gotta' build an AT!
I know what you mean by being spoiled.

[Gauss]

I used 6 of the parametric EQ's to make the curve I liked best, with a maximum change of 8 db (IIRC) to bring the sensitivity of the piezo array down (especially knocking off the hump at 10k), and smooth a couple of bumps in the woofer range. I started with the SPL chart and adjusted with the Bink CD, trying to get a flat response. Overall my speakers matched the original measurements pretty well (once I figured out the polarity and cancellation problems I had in my first test set-up). Before I set up the EQ on the XTi, I thought it sounded a little off in the highs and vocal range. I kept playing with the treble band on the mixer, turning it down to control the extra crispness and then back up to get it back. I think it was the bump at 10k that was standing out. I don't know if anyone else who heard them noticed.

I've been dreaming of an AT (I even started a couple of daydream threads) but I'm happy to be done woodworking for a long while. I much prefer the products to the process.

[Robby Hoinsky]

So, according to your video, the T39 will frighten little girls at 27V? lol

[NCcrashman]

"Ohhhhhhh what a night...Oh yes it's ladiesss night"..hahaha...oh snap! Thats muh jam!!

Nice rig brother!!
Patrick

[Gauss]

Thanks. I just glued in the new dispersion bar, and it sounds great. I'm going to have a friend come out and help me set-up the EQ again in my XTi. For some reason, my DR's have been a little quirky, not sounding as 'natural' as direct radiators. Almost like some sounds are 'behind' others in volume, like a background vocal will be way too soft. I'm pretty sure it's an EQ issue. He's going to bring his JBL tops to A/B and we'll figure out what I've been missing. I've also found my outdoor crossover levels are way too hot for indoors.

[Gauss]

After an extensive EQ'ing session, where my friend and I used his JBL jrx15 (I think that's the product name) top as a reference, I made some videos. I am really happy with the sound I have now. We went through each channel of Bink's CD and tried to match the DR200 to the JBL with only the 8 bands of EQ in the Crown XTi, and then went back to adjust to taste. The JBL sounded rock (like always) with a scoop in the upper mid/highs, where the DR200 had a fuller top end. The sound was run from my computer to a mixer, where the left channel fed my Crown XTi1000, which had the DR200 and T39 subwoofer, and the right channel went to my friend's Crown XTi2000, which had the JBL running full-range. We panned the sound to match what the camera was recording. I wish my camera was better, but at least you can hear differences.

First, I recorded the dispersion, to compare the diffuser with the dispersion video I made without a diffuser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSlwx3QS43Y

Next, I recorded a simple comparison of the two set-ups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDI2xQFYxnI

[Radian]

Gauss,

Nice videos. They get the point across just fine. Great job on your cabs too. One day I'll have DR200's to play with. I also agree, the diffuser is a welcome addition. Man, quite the difference between the two cabs, huh? I bet if you had two multimeters hooked up to both cabs side-by-side, the difference would be even more apparent.

[Dave Non-Zero]

The difference is even more apparent when you crank it, because the 200 will still sound sweet right up to the max whereas the JBL (spits) will start chucking out great gooey globs of distortion. Ewwww. great job. Enjoy!