Omni12TB (2*10)- First Live gig

[MarcBass]

G’day Guys,
I finally got the OT12 – 210’s out to a live gig with a 4 piece rock band in a small venue. They do the job very well with enough volume and clarity. They have a smaller pack space than the rig I had been using, being a perfect fit with a pair of W8’s standing up across the back of the panel van. (Not using a sub also means one less amp.)
The rig used on Friday night was: Yamaha MG166 desk, DBX Driverack PA+, Yamaha PS350S amp and 2 O12 (2*BP 102). Foldback uses a DBX Driverack PX, Peavey CS800s amp and a pair of W8 melded array wedges. If anything the Yamaha power amp was a tad more than required for the job. (I might try the Peavey for FOH next gig.)

Clarity:
The O12, with APT 150 horn is very clear and crisp. The drum kit overheads never sounded so crisp and they managed to push the vocals through the mud of stage volume created by a Marshall stack with the bass turned up and a Peavey TNT bass amp with the bass knob cranked. The other notable thing for small venues was the dispersion of the mids being far wider than the Peavey HiSys they replaced.

Volume:
When setting the O12’s up in open air I was getting readings in the 120’s on my SP meter at 1 meter with CD’s playing at full tilt (just below distortion). The levels dropped off as distance increased, as expected, but the clarity never changed. Perfect for one of our open air gigs that requires 85 dB at 30 ft. (Plagued by library volumes even outdoors!!!!!)

Format:
These are the Tall Boy version using 2 * BP102’s. They weigh in at 27.5 kg. (Similar to the Peavey Hysis and lots lighter than the Peavey SP2’s.) I expect they would be lighter if I had used the 3012LF but I was lured by the flatter SPL curve of the 2*10 configuration.

First impressions:
So crisp and clear!! The dispersion is phenomenal!! Manageable as a 1 man lift Adequate volume for 90% of gigs.

Thanks Bill and TimA for the design and the development.

[Grant Bunter]

Marc

Good on ya mate...

[jimbo7]

Those look great. Did you wanna see through the speaker grill covering, or is it just the flash?

[MarcBass]

Thanks Grant. The woodworking is slowly improving. Not quite up to you yet, will have to settle for Omni Tops as the next build.

Jimbo, the grill was a very quick knockup using pet-screen. I'll order some perf plate this week. Originally, yes, I did want it see-through. The baffle is finished with gloss clear.

On a side note; I ran a bass guitar through one in the shed using a MarkBass LMII. Great tone but had to be careful as the amp (500w @ 4 ohm) had the capacity to overload the bin.

[Grant Bunter]

Nothing wrong with your builds!

At least you have live gigs to use gear at lol...

[Tom Smit]

I'm looking forward to a few more reviews from you.


Thank you for providing the weight (60.5 lbs).

[MarcBass]

Nothing wrong with your builds!

At least you have live gigs to use gear at lol...

*laughing* yeah, I used to be the bass player. Have been "re-deployed" as sound guy in a change of line-up. The drummer is most unimpressed, just can't lock with the new bass player. But averaging 2 gigs a month with the pub rock show and 1 open air gig each with both the country outfit and the blues show. The upside is that I can now concentrate solely on sound ....

Thanks Tom, you actually planted doubt in my mind as the build progressed. I still vaguely wonder if I should have gone with a pair of J210's. The obvious answer is "build both and try them"! But, I'll build a pair of Tops t compliment the T39's first.

[Grant Bunter]

*laughing* yeah, I used to be the bass player. Have been "re-deployed" as sound guy in a change of line-up. The drummer is most unimpressed, just can't lock with the new bass player.

Wow, that's an unexpected twist in the tale!

I'm sure you'll do just fine in your "new" role...

[MarcBass]

It's all good mate. My heart belongs to the blues and I prefer playing fretless anyway. It's really a guitarist thing; new guitarist (great bloke) needs to hear a guitarist playing bass rather than my R&B style, puts him off when he plays lead .... *laughing* (Think early AC/DC).

Trouble with sound in these small pubs is I'm still on, or right beside, the stage instead of infront. So it's positionally similar to mixing while playing. The wider dispersion of the O12 compared to my old Peaveys makes the poor position less of a hassle.

[Tom Smit]

Thanks Tom, you actually planted doubt in my mind as the build progressed. I still vaguely wonder if I should have gone with a pair of J210's. The obvious answer is "build both and try them"! But, I'll build a pair of Tops t compliment the T39's first.

Yikes! I didn't mean to do that. What did I post to cause the doubt?

[MarcBass]

G'day Tom,

Over in the Omni Section, "Omni Full Range Questions: Sub:Top ratio and expected SPL" Thread. Bill recommended top style alternatives to go with my T39's in library volume gigs. J10's were mentioned and I posted a plot. You pointed out I had plotted J210 and mentioned less EQ and more SPL.

I have a leaning to the smoother EQ of multiple drivers but could not face building 4 horns. As it is I built 3 horns after seeing AllThumbs' O15 build. (I actually have 2 * 3012LF's sitting here but went 2*10 for the smoother EQ and +3dB in the lower section.)

You were just the last post re J10 in the tread. Hence stuck in my mind as I finished the O12's off. *laughing*

[Tom Smit]

Haha, you built one less horn!

Continue the fun!