Hello from Prescott Arizona

[dlv]

Hey all! First post here.

I'm a retired electrical/software engineer by trade and career. I've been a hobby recording/live sound engineer for 30+ years. A lot longer than that if you want to count my early days as a kid building guitar stomp boxes all the way back in the 70's & 80's.

I say "hobby" because I've never done it for a living but I've worked with quite a few who do over the years in various settings. Currently I run sound for a couple classic rock "OG" bands around the area I live in. The band PA I'm working with now is not much to talk about. That said I do run a pretty nice Nexo rig at a church I attend. I'm looking at doing something to replace that live band rig. Now I do love that Nexo but I don't have that kind of coin to throw at a hobby PA so I've landed here in my research on going the DIY route. I'm a big DIY person. I'm pretty decent at woodwork and I've also got a home metal shop (lathe, mill, welding etc.). I'm currently in the finishing stages of a project building a CNC plasma table. Not that I'll need that for a PA build! Just to say I'm into DIY.

Been reading up on a lot of the build threads and info threads. I've put an order in for a set of Titan48 and DR250 plans and hope to start out getting my feet wet first with a pair of the T48's in 24" width. I'm planning to load them with LAB-15's. I'm a buy-once-cry-once guy as well and I've learned not to skimp on things like drivers. I've got access to a QSC 3102 I plan to drive them with. My thinking is if I put the 2xT48s on one side of that amp and when I get them built, run a pair of DR250's on the other side. I run my live setups in mono 100% of the time. Curious what any of the community here thinks of that pairing. I could potentially add another QSC3102 to the rig if necessary and will if/when I go to 4 subs and 4 tops (my ultimate goal). The max voltage gain on that amp is rated at 35db @ 8 ohms and it's rated to drive 2 ohm loads. Seems like plenty of amp for the 2 subs + 2 tops.

I'm sure I'll have lots of questions when I get into this but for now that's it.

Super glad there's a community like this and looking forward to getting going on this.

[Tom Smit]

Hi div, and welcome to the forum!
That route is a most excellent way to start! If you are doing outdoor shows, you should add another pair of subs so that you don't run out of bottom end.
Looking forward to reading about your build.

[Seth]

Hello and welcome to the forum, I'm Seth.

A little feedback (poor choice of words, I know) on your current plan, which isn't all too bad to begin with:

If the primary use is going to be for live music, you can save quite a bit of pack space as well as open more deployment options if you go with the T39. If the subs will also be used for playback of modern recordings, stick with the T48.

Build your subs as wide as you can possibly manage to transport/stow. One 36" wide T48 has the same output potential at 40Hz as two 24" T48's. Build wide and let the cab design do all the heavy lifting instead of the amplifiers. This is a larger benefit than it seems at first.

Build four subs right off the bat (falls under buy once, cry once). You could probably run 4 cabs per channel on that amp. Whether you need a second amp or not would depend how hard you're having to drive the one at various venues. If you find you're never pushing the limits, ya might just stick with the one amp.

These are all just my opinion and the direction I would personally take if I were in your shoes. However, you're not likely to be disappointed with your current plan either.

Please keep us posted as this comes together and feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

[dlv]

Hello and welcome to the forum, I'm Seth.

Thanks! I'm Dave (should have had that in my first post!) Used to live in your neck of the woods, in Chico, before we moved to AZ.

If the primary use is going to be for live music, you can save quite a bit of pack space as well as open more deployment options if you go with the T39. If the subs will also be used for playback of modern recordings, stick with the T48.

Build your subs as wide as you can possibly manage to transport/stow. One 36" wide T48 has the same output potential at 40Hz as two 24" T48's. Build wide and let the cab design do all the heavy lifting instead of the amplifiers. This is a larger benefit than it seems at first.

Rig will see a mix of live and recorded music. Mostly doing live now and it is usually classic rock stuff for the bands I currently work with (lots of us old retired dudes around here) but I want to have the option of hiring out for DJ gigs etc too. Unfortunately 36" is probably not gonna happen. Right now 24" seems to be the best option for me. I know I'll end up with 4 subs going that way and point taken, plan on just building all 4 when I'm at it. Makes a lot of sense.

Along that line regarding the amp I am probably going to go with a 3602 on the subs save the 3102 for tops. Overkill? Maybe, but can you really have too much headroom?

Really appreciate your input and what I'm getting from others too. Plan (for the subs at least) is getting clearer. I'll start a build thread in a month or so when I return from some travel and get my materials.

-Dave

[Seth]

Unfortunately 36" is probably not gonna happen. Right now 24" seems to be the best option for me.

Happy to have you here, Dave

Yeah, 36" wide T48's are a very large package. If 24" is as wide as you can go, so be it. But, if you can build the 25, 26, or 27" wide, it's worth doing. 30" wide has been a popular middle ground over the years.

The 3602 is the better choice.

[Radian]

Welcome to forum! OP PM sent. Check your inbox please.