New Build - T30s and then Otops to follow

[Chris_Allen]

You can drive them harder but you are risking your drivers. If you could guarantee a clean, no spike signal change, they could probably take it but honesty, it's not worth the risk. Live with the limit and build more cabs. I understand there is more cost involved and transport logistics but 4 cabs sound much better than 2.

The only saving grace with tops is that you will hear them distort when you've hit the limit.

[escapemcp]

You can drive them harder but you are risking your drivers. If you could guarantee a clean, no spike signal change, they could probably take it but honesty, it's not worth the risk. Live with the limit and build more cabs. I understand there is more cost involved and transport logistics but 4 cabs sound much better than 2.

The only saving grace with tops is that you will hear them distort when you've hit the limit.

Many thanks for that answer and not a straight, out and out, DON'T DO IT type answer. I did run them a little too hot on the first party when I wasn't working out my limits correctly. Both subs and tops limiters were 1-1.5dB too high The tops afterwards were kicking out heat like (direct) radiators!

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

You can drive them harder but you are risking your drivers. If you could guarantee a clean, no spike signal change, they could probably take it but honesty, it's not worth the risk. Live with the limit and build more cabs. I understand there is more cost involved and transport logistics but 4 cabs sound much better than 2.

The only saving grace with tops is that you will hear them distort when you've hit the limit.

Many thanks for that answer and not a straight, out and out, DON'T DO IT type answer. I did run them a little too hot on the first party when I wasn't working out my limits correctly. Both subs and tops limiters were 1-1.5dB too high The tops afterwards were kicking out heat like (direct) radiators!

Picture worth thousand words: This is what can happen when you don't limit:

[sine143]

limited to 55 volts

think eminence is on my side though. they said it looked odd.

[escapemcp]

Oops.. Duplicate post.. Sorry

[escapemcp]

limited to 55 volts

think eminence is on my side though. they said it looked odd.

Yeah, my subs are never going to be going over 50, but to my novice brain, the Otops could give a little more due to the thermal limit being 100W higher than the 150 they are currently limited to and so that only (?) leaves the mechanical limit to worry about. The 2512 doesn't have to compress anything like the air that the lab12 in my tuba has to... I cannot imagine there is much resistance from the short horn which would shred a driver... Hence my question. If I am wrong I am happy to stand corrected... I'd rather know the truth than look good (the same reason why I am here and not following the usual free party route and buying 18" lumps to make my noise). Sorry if I am being a bit of a timpbiscuit, but that limit seems pretty low and my quizzical 'amateur engineer' brain wants to know why!!
Many thanks

[sine143]

limited to 55 volts

think eminence is on my side though. they said it looked odd.

Yeah, my subs are never going to be going over 50, but to my novice brain, the Otops could give a little more due to the thermal limit being 100W higher than the 150 they are currently limited to and so that only (?) leaves the mechanical limit to worry about. The 2512 doesn't have to compress anything like the air that the lab12 in my tuba has to... I cannot imagine there is much resistance from the short horn which would shred a driver... Hence my question. If I am wrong I am happy to stand corrected... I'd rather know the truth than look good (the same reason why I am here and not following the usual free party route and buying 18" lumps to make my noise). Sorry if I am being a bit of a timpbiscuit, but that limit seems pretty low and my quizzical 'amateur engineer' brain wants to know why!!
Many thanks

thats a 3015lf in a t48, so thats why it can take the more than 50 (granted billd does point out its a good idea to limit 10 volts lower than the max)

[escapemcp]

Sorry to drag up my old build, but I am still putting the finishing touches to the rig. I mentioned before that I was having issues running SPDIF into the AES/EBU of the DEQ. I could directly connect with a 1.5M phono to XLR lead, but as soon as I put it through a couple of my patch panels, I started getting audio 'glitches' and brief dropouts. Reading up on the topic, it seemed that this was being caused by the impedance difference between SPDIF (75ohm) and AES (110ohm).

I took a risk and bought a Neutrik impedance converter NADITBNC-M here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350831922628? ... 1497.l2649

For less than £20 delivered to my door, I thought it was worth the punt. I'm glad I did! I tested it tonight. I ran out of the SPDIF of my mixer using a standard phono cable (not even a coax one!) into the Neutrik box and then out of the Neutrik box to my patch panel in my dj flight case. Then to test I ran it through 6 XLR cables totalling about 30M, in through another patch panel (and my dodgy soldering) and into the DEQ. It worked flawlessly for 3 hours.

Hope this helps someone who may be thinking of digital connections when using the DEQ. If you are in the US I think the Canare one does the same thing, and there's a guy on US eBay who has loads for sale for about $20. He ships worldwide. If you are not using the DEQ but some other make/model then YMMV, as apparently the input on the Berry is quite tolerant of wrongly formatted AES signals (this converter will not make any difference to the formatting of the datastream)

[miked]

Happy to hear you found a fix to your input woes. I read all the trials and tribulations you were going through, but couldn't offer any fix action that hadn't already been mentioned.

[escapemcp]

Happy to hear you found a fix to your input woes. I read all the trials and tribulations you were going through, but couldn't offer any fix action that hadn't already been mentioned.

It wasn't a major headache as I could always use 2 XLRs for my inputs, but reducing a D>A/A>D stage and simplifying my wiring made it a target worth striving for It was also something new rather than just using boring old XLR again!!

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

limited to 55 volts

think eminence is on my side though. they said it looked odd.

A few years back a production run of the now discontinued HL-10 driver had the same issue, which Eminence fixed, and they did replace the defective drivers.

[Bruce Weldy]

It was also something new rather than just using boring old XLR again!!

I love my boring old xlrs.....

Just built this last week to run from the snake to the rack. No more running individual cables for FOH and Monitor returns.

[MissileCrisis]

Unfortunately in the US it appears to run about 50 bucks... At that point its probably a better Idea to make some good ol' analog interconnects with neutrik ends.

[escapemcp]

Unfortunately in the US it appears to run about 50 bucks... At that point its probably a better Idea to make some good ol' analog interconnects with neutrik ends.

The canare ones I mentioned are being sold by some bloke in the US on ebay. $21 I think.... even I was thinking of buying one of those (as he only charges about $11 shipping to the UK!).

OK, update (I think it may be time to call it on this thread after this!):

Got the speakers in the garden last weekend thanks to the nice hot weather (up to 30 degrees) we have been having recently and FINALLY got a decent RTA on them - previous attempts were thwarted by the wind I then tested them (without the subs) and holy sheet, I was not expecting that! They sound gert lush with a topping of ermagehrd (Bristol speak innit). I can hear all the blips and squeaks (Psytrance) and it just sounds effortless as many other people have said on here. Tried it with a few other genres and the results are equally as impressive.

I was thinking previously that because Psytrance doesn't really have any 'real' sounds, then bad speakers could 'hide' their inaccuracies much easier in this genre, as you never know what that bleep or squeak is really supposed to sound like (as opposed to a guitar in a 'normal' track - everyone knows what a guitar sounds like). Despite this, my tunes are leaping out at me... the soundstage is impressive, almost as I'm there in the room with the bleeps and the squeaks and it just sounds 'right'... no better than right, it sounds like aural sex (which is what the genre is supposed to sound like... the bass and kick to get your body moving and the bleeps and squeaks to get your mind moving )

I am now just finishing off the build tonight by painting the braces (admittedly, the subs have been 'finished' for weeks, but not fully painted). Then I can call it a day on my first BFM build.... and I can start planning the second

As a total plus, I managed to score some racking from work, so for those who saw the pic of the messy garage before, my garage is now looking much more organized... much more like a workshop... much more like somewhere where speakers are born



The pile o'stuff in the middle of the garage has to still be re-arranged on the racking. I now have another rack in the corner of the garage (next to the genny/garage door) for all the paint (talking of paint, notice the nice sealed floor also ) By next weekend, I am looking at a clear garage, with tools all organized and ready for another speaker pregnancy

Oh and on another note, one of those Celestion Ditton 44 speakers have a nasty noise coming from the woofer when you turn it up and it feels like the coil is rubbing. They have been sitting in storage for ages (10 years) in their boxes and it may just be crud on the coil, or it may be a blown coil. Based on this extremely limited (i.e. no) info, does it sound like a recone or may there be another way to get them going without the expense? Any thoughts or tricks to try please? Note: they are getting sold off, so if anyone is interested please give me a shout

[Tom Smit]

Got the speakers in the garden last weekend thanks to the nice hot weather (up to 30 degrees) we have been having recently and FINALLY got a decent RTA on them - previous attempts were thwarted by the wind I then tested them (without the subs) and holy sheet, I was not expecting that! They sound gert lush with a topping of ermagehrd (Bristol speak innit). I can hear all the blips and squeaks (Psytrance) and it just sounds effortless as many other people have said on here. Tried it with a few other genres and the results are equally as impressive.

Awesome1

I am now just finishing off the build tonight by painting the braces (admittedly, the subs have been 'finished' for weeks, but not fully painted). Then I can call it a day on my first BFM build.... and I can start planning the second

Home theatre?

As a total plus, I managed to score some racking from work, so for those who saw the pic of the messy garage before, my garage is now looking much more organized... much more like a workshop... much more like somewhere where speakers are born

Congratulations.

So, it appears that getting involved with BFM cab building leads to cleaner, tidier shops.