Hello from Coventry, UK

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glennfandango
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Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2019 10:47 am
Location: Coventry, UK

Hello from Coventry, UK

#1 Post by glennfandango »

Hey everyone, hope you're all well.

Love the boards here and reading about and seeing everyone's creations. The reason I found this website is slightly random, I'm getting married next year, and being a DJ and knowing a lot of people who are either DJ's or heavily in to music who will be attending, I decided that it'd be cool if we could run the music between us on the big day. However, I don't own a sound system of any sort, I have decks, mixer etc, but no speakers. After doing a bit of browsing online looking at speakers to buy, I found this website. I'm interested in building some Jacks as they seem the best suited to what I need (They also look pretty cool!) I could also donate them to a local bar that I DJ at after the event, as it would also meet their needs and hopefully drastically improve their sound.

I'm planning on building the cabs myself, but I was just wondering about acquiring the other components here in the UK, does anyone from the UK know of any good suppliers, or is it a case of getting everything shipped from Parts-Express??

Cheers
Glenn

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Bill Fitzmaurice
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#2 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »


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Tom Smit
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#3 Post by Tom Smit »

Welcome to the forum!
As you may have noticed, you are not the only one from the UK. :)
TomS

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Charles Jenkinson
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#4 Post by Charles Jenkinson »

Hi there Glenn,

Welcome.

I started out building J12L's, for bass guitar and general PA. I didn't particularly run them with the bass cranked, but felt like I wanted more bass, and when that happens subs are the way. I heard that the experienced DJ's tend to run bass about (of the order of) 10dB higher than everything else and that's where I end up as well after EQ'ing flat, so it may be worth considering which tops go better with that now, and picking the right subwoofers also - Tubas for EDM. I.e. Jack's are not typically tops to run with subs though they handle it fine, they are just an unnecessarily bigger box.
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LelandCrooks
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#5 Post by LelandCrooks »

Welcome.
If it's too loud, you're even older than me! Like me.
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88h88
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#6 Post by 88h88 »

glennfandango wrote: Fri Aug 23, 2019 7:46 am I could also donate them to a local bar that I DJ at after the event, as it would also meet their needs and hopefully drastically improve their sound.
Hi Glenn, would this bar be Inspire by any chance? I love the place but the sound there is the worst. Also hello from er, Rugby...
4xOT12s, 2xT39s@22", TTLS@18", 2xT60@18"

glennfandango
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Location: Coventry, UK

Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#7 Post by glennfandango »

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

Charles - Thanks for this, hopefully once I've completed the build of the Jacks it'll give me the confidence and a bit of experience to move forward and build the subs and experiment further from there.

88h88 - It would be Inspire! What a small world we live in eh. Great bar, atmosphere, just the sound is lacking a little, the top end is often pretty unbearable by the end of the night.

88h88
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#8 Post by 88h88 »

It's fair to say the sound there has been awful for many many years to the point where I've been known to just unplug ones side of the outside speakers for some form of peace. Indoors is just a perfect example of how not to install speakers. 4 high up on the walls facing each other, shrill as all f*ck... I adore the bar but the sound is complete wank to the point of being off-putting, I feel for the poor bar staff too, being in there for hours at a time isn't good for their hearing.

*edit: I'll add that I too wanted to improve the sound of the joint but never got round to approaching Mick about it years ago. I remember the speaker wiring running up the walls was basically bell wire...
4xOT12s, 2xT39s@22", TTLS@18", 2xT60@18"

Bruce Weldy
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#9 Post by Bruce Weldy »

88h88 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 10:22 am I remember the speaker wiring running up the walls was basically bell wire...
Maybe it's a 70 volt system? :shock:

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glennfandango
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#10 Post by glennfandango »

Unfortunately I'm not really sure what they can do about the sound outside, maybe just speakers on stands? Guess they run the risk of them been knocked over onto someone. Inside, ye, not ideal really, I think there's only two speakers left in there now, I'm no expert so I wouldn't really know where to place them to improve things. I've just ordered the plans for Jack 15 and Tuba30 based on the advice I've received here, maybe once I've built them we could get our heads together and figure something out? I'm DJ'ing down there in September so I'll have a word with Mick then, I've always thought, with improved sound, it'd be an awesome Japanese style listening bar.

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Charles Jenkinson
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#11 Post by Charles Jenkinson »

I'm interested in who the 'we' might be and how that might go, with the kindest of thoughts and for all the right reasons. :-)

The quantity of establishments - bars, restaurants, cafés - with crap sound, and a management who care less to do anything, runs fairly high; probably about 95%.

Really, a revelation that has some priority and efficacy is required - it cannot be bought, sold or persuaded into being. It is a ministry of sound.
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glennfandango
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#12 Post by glennfandango »

Charles Jenkinson wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 6:30 am I'm interested in who the 'we' might be and how that might go, with the kindest of thoughts and for all the right reasons. :-)
Haha, anyone who is willing to help!

Agreed on your other point Charles, it's such a shame, the bar that myself and 88h88 are referring to is housed within a church that was bombed during the blitz of Coventry, leaving only the spire. An amazing space which I feel could really be taken to the next level if the sound was taken into consideration.

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Charles Jenkinson
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#13 Post by Charles Jenkinson »

It's the capture and demonstration of what that next level is. People are very good at that on here. It's what the payback is worth in the money-effort-time sense - the manager has to see £ signs before his eyes.

P.S. Don't you need SLA's looking at photos of the place...? i.e. I missed the Jack15 recommendation. SLA's are better in reverent spaces (aghem), but they don't do bass. They might be loud enough for your wedding do and an Inspire demo though - but you are committed to subs. ...maybe small-driver SLA / TLAH's for an install and a hidden away T60 to get that reminiscent organ rumble.

PPS: I think one would definitely need to auto-EQ in that place. ...I like pink noise, but some punters think you're being a right tit.
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88h88
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#14 Post by 88h88 »

The problem you have with Inspire is it's a tiny stone block building, a listed one at that. So you have the issue of stone reflecting sound and the fact you can't legally poke holes in the building itself to improve the acoustics. Outside you improve simply by having decent speakers ran through decent cable through a touch of DSP and a decent amp. To be honest you could probably improve the kit there now by just throwing some DSP at it.

Indoors is too tiny a space to do much with, going louder isn't what you need in there at all as it just reflects off everything. If I'm in town any time soon I'll wander over and take a look, I was there a couple of weeks back on a Saturday and the sound was still awful. I've been thinking about a properly done listening bar recently too, Inspire's honestly too small to do it in and you'd need to treat the space properly which just isn't going to happen as it's listed.

Private message me if you want to have a chat about it, my friends and I put some events on at Taylor John's/The Tin years ago with my kit which was an interesting learning experience.
4xOT12s, 2xT39s@22", TTLS@18", 2xT60@18"

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Charles Jenkinson
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Re: Hello from Coventry, UK

#15 Post by Charles Jenkinson »

Agree with the DSP / EQ comment, even for temporary setup.

Listed status seeks to control / prevent major structural alterations including changing appearance. I don't see fixing speakers or sound treatment as being in that category, if brackets etc. can be fixed into (sufficiently wide) cement joints particularly where there is stonework, less important on brickwork. Mick & local council building control would decide about obligations re: install.
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