Trip report: T60 pair

[pond]

Simply put, oh. my. gawd.

Had my first gig with my new sound system (2x EV ELX112P's and 2x 27" T60s with Lab-15s), and hoooooboy did it go well. I was set up in a hall maybe 30' x 50', 25' ceiling, and finally got a chance to let my speakers breathe. I broke a wine glass testing in my basement at around 30v (it vibrated off the rack). I'm running the T60s off an XLS1000, which tops out at about 45v, and the amount of bass pumping out of those babies was INSANE! I had the cabs sitting on the floor, shooting into the crowd because I couldn't corner load because the corners of the room were staircases going up to the stage, I know I know wrong wrong wrong, but even with whatever frequency I was getting nasty cancellation at from bouncing off the back wall, they still sounded incredible. I did a frequency sweep from ~1000Hz down to 25Hz when I was doing a sound check, and people all over the multi-acre event were asking me if a space ship had landed or something. I got nothing but compliments on the bass all night long. (Added bonus, with the cabs essentially in the crowd, I found that chicks seemed to love jumping up on them and dancing like crazy.) The Duratex finish held up fine against floor-grime and a few drink spills too.

It was my first time using the EV tops as well, and the difference from my previous Behringer B215A's was HUGE! I don't care what anyone says, I can definitely hear a difference between an ABS cab and a wood one. The fullness of the sound was thoroughly impressive as well. I was torn between getting a pair of QSC K10's and the EV's, but the guy who I spoke to from where I ordered them from heavily recommended the EV's. Very glad I listened to him, saved me a few hundred $$ too. Even going from a 15" woofer to a 12" one, the low end is just so THICK! I'll be using just the tops this weekend for an outdoor wedding party, and I'm sure they will be more than adequate, since rave-bass is not required. I don't think I engaged the clip/limit light on the PAs once all night, and with the Tubas handling everything below 100Hz, the tops go LOUD. 130dB @ 1m according to the specs, and that is almost too much. Horizontal coverage was great too, music sounded fine no matter where I stood in the room.

Didn't get a chance to take pictures, sadly. Can't wait til my next chance to use the full system, don't know if I dare get a more powerful amp to get me up to 60v on the Tubas though..

[Bruce Weldy]

I don't care what anyone says, I can definitely hear a difference between an ABS cab and a wood one.

Not to mention, there may be a wee bit of difference between the components in the EV vs. the Behringer.....

[subharmonic]

I don't care what anyone says, I can definitely hear a difference between an ABS cab and a wood one.

Not to mention, there may be a wee bit of difference between the components in the EV vs. the Behringer.....

I once thought my Berry 415DSP sounded pretty good. We had a simple listening party with a Berry 215, Berry 415, QSC K10, DR200, Otop12, and DR250. That was the pecking order and the SQ jump from one to the next was significant. (note the DR200 was bought and has since been opened to reveal a lot of issues. So once I have some time to give it a good once over maybe the pecking order may change)

If anyone reading this is thinking you can run BFD bottoms and commercial tops (within reason Funkion, Danley, etc would be getting there) without missing much you are sorely mistaken. They are a giant leap forward just like the bottoms.

[Grant Bunter]

Hey Pond,
Sounds great

Just wondering, even though your amp topped out at 45V on the T60's, did you run a limiter anyway?

[pond]

Hey Pond,
Sounds great

Just wondering, even though your amp topped out at 45V on the T60's, did you run a limiter anyway?

Oh yes, absolutely. Everything runs through a dbx Driverack 260. Though it's around 45v program, it can probably spike way higher.

[pond]

Actually I take that back, turns out my mixer was just a huge piece of shit. I got a new mixer, and was able to get ~75v out when I sent the maximum signal I could muster through it.. good thing I didn't have speakers connected when I was setting the limiter ;p

[Jasen Chandler]

If anyone reading this is thinking you can run BFD bottoms and commercial tops (within reason Funkion, Danley, etc would be getting there) without missing much you are sorely mistaken. They are a giant leap forward just like the bottoms.

I disagree. Our 4 k10s pair very nicely with the 4 t30s. Every time I use the 6 KLAs I leave thinking I need four more t30s (granted I'm the only one who thinks this, the sound is mind bending).

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I disagree. Our 4 k10s pair very nicely with the 4 t30s.

They probably do pair nicely. But they're not DRs or OTops, and that's the point
subharmonic was making.

[subharmonic]

Exactly. I am not knocking the k10s by any mean. They are great sounding cabs, but for the price of one K10 not only could you build 4 otops and smoke them in output (yes yes I know you need an amp) but the SQ is not upto snuff compared to the otop or an effed up DR200 for that matter.

[MissileCrisis]

*

[byacey]

Actually I take that back, turns out my mixer was just a huge piece of shit. I got a new mixer, and was able to get ~75v out when I sent the maximum signal I could muster through it.. good thing I didn't have speakers connected when I was setting the limiter ;p

You have to be careful you aren't taking voltage measurements while something in the signal path is clipping. With many digital meters, they don't read true RMS voltage if the waveform is non-sinusoidal.

[Bruce Weldy]

Seems to be another "Attack of the Zombie Threads" starting up again.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Seems to be another "Attack of the Zombie Threads" starting up again.

+1. It's way past time for someone to shit or get off the pot.