OTop 8s and a pair of T39s

[J_Dunavin]

It's been quite a couple of weeks of long nights and full weekends in the garage getting these to a playable spot. There is quite a bit of finish work to do, but now there is no need to rush now.

Here are some details of the gear before i get to the review:
Driverack PX for signal processing, QSC CX502 on the Otops and a QSC GX5 on the T39s.
The Otops are loaded with two Eminence Beta 8a and two Eminence ASD 1001b compression drivers.
The T39s are 20" wide and loaded with Kappalite 3012LFs

The OT8 is a great design! it wasn't difficult to build and I really like the form factor. It's much easier to load in and out of a car than my DR200s I had, much easier to carry and really are not heavy.
Friday night we had an event with a few speakers, some solo singing, followed up with a youth dance that night. Saturday we worked with our youth group and did a "play in a day". The groups were previously assigned and I had our own group of youth to help run wires, set up lights, run a spot light, front of house, and all that. During the day we did a bunch of sound checks with 5 microphones, electric drum kit, guitar, violin, and tape in for some background music and music during the show (my Alesis multimix 12usb board was pretty close to maxed out on inputs!) The evening was spent helping the kids run front of house and lighting.

All of the speaking portions of the event were very smooth (very little EQ required on the highs), the sound carried very well as in all the way back to the other side of the gym, and the sound quality was just spot on!
The dance on Friday night went very well too, even though i had the system turned way down all weekend as i was worried about first time out. (I did "break in" the drivers with a tone on the bench, but still wanted to be cautious)
The T39s really are awesome! I know there have been a lot of reviews on them, but the really are something totally different! I know it's cliché to describe them in this way, but the bass was crisp and had great low end punch. I have previously built T24's and T45's thinking i needed more low end extension, but i didn't miss a thing. MAYBE a couple of songs on the T45's you could really notice that extra low end, but the T39 is smaller and therefore lighter with, i gotta say, just as much output.
The combination is superb! Anyone who is considering a mid size PA system should definitely put this on the top of their list.

I'll edit this if i can think of more to write, and here are a few pictures from the day. I even got my oldest to come help
We got a ton of compliments on the sound! Even our special guest speaker Lexi Walker told us how awesome it sounded
Not the best set up, but it worked...

Practice, and you can see both OTops with the T39s on the far end of the stage.

One of the youth running front of house... with a watchful eye

SHOWTIME

Son, are you really eating next to the board ?! (he was careful, and more importantly i got him away from video games. He did help with the build as well)

[AntonZ]

Son, are you really eating next to the board ?! (he was careful, and more importantly i got him away from video games. He did help with the build as well)
front of huose.jpg

Evidence suggests that Dad set the example and has been eating right in front of the board

Nice job, good to trust the youngsters with their share of the work. Well done and thank you for sharing.

[Tom Smit]

Great report! Thank you!

[J_Dunavin]

Evidence suggests that Dad set the example and has been eating right in front of the board

Who me?? never

I wanted to add to the review that compared to my Dr200s i would say the OT8 is somewhere in the middle of 1 and two DR per side. It's for sure more than one per side, but not quite the same as a pair of DRs per side.... that was as good combination. That being said i REALLY love the sound of the OT8 and it's size compared to the DRs. They really are perfect for the weekend guy, like me, who does an occasional wedding, backyard parties and such.
I am planning on testing this set up outside, especially with the weather improving around here.
If ya'all remember i got the cops called on us when I was demoing the last system, when i was trying to sell it.... probably the best selling pitch ever

This new system is much smaller of course, but so far i am really in love. It's much more manageable, and just sounds sooo good!

[Tom Smit]

Is that the same son?

[J_Dunavin]

Nope that’s our youngest, taken two years ago.
Here’s our oldest, helping dad with the first four T24s I built, back in July 2011. ( I think I built my first BFM cab , pair of DR 250s, back in 05 or 06 I think )

[Tom Smit]

Thumbs up.

[J_Dunavin]

Of course I forgot to snag a picture, but I ran this setup outside today, same location as you can see with the previous set up.

The OTop8 and T39 combo sounded great outdoors as well! The sound carried really well sounded crystal clear.
I will say that the OT8s did outrun the T39s though, which were V plated on the ground, no boundary loading.
In this case I could of used another set of 39s, but that's just a little beyond the scope of what I am trying to achieve with this much smaller set up. It's no six DR200 kind of thing, but it sure does sound nice.
Even had a couple of neighbors compliment on the setup.
After we rocked out on the corner for a while we moved just one top and one 39 to the back yard, loaded the 39 up against the house and it also sounded fantastic. If anyone was looking for a simple back yard party set up, i can't see how you could go wrong with one of each.