Expanding the fleet. Change my mind. 4×T48 + 2×DR280?

[Slippingrealities]

Hi all,

I’m currently running 2 × Titan 48s loaded with Eminence Kappalite 3015LFs. I built them about 8 years ago for outdoor parties and they’ve been excellent. Very happy with the output, efficiency and general horn-loaded nonsense.

I’m now part of an outdoor music community, which has me looking seriously at expanding my system. I’d appreciate some sanity checking before I commit.

Current system:
2 × Titan 48
3015LF loaded
2x Tops, usually rentals like JBL 715's.
Used mainly for outdoor electronic music / party duties

Proposed Stage 2 system:
4 × Titan 48
2 × DR280 tops

DR280s likely loaded with:
- Eminence Kappalite 3012HO woofers
- Eminence NSD2005 compression drivers
- Passive internal crossover

System DSP/amp likely to be a CVR DSP-1004, running:
CH1: 2 × T48
CH2: 2 × T48
CH3: DR280 L
CH4: DR280 R

The intended use is mostly outdoor parties in the 100–300 person range, with electronic music doing most of the heavy lifting. I’m not trying to build a touring rig or commercial hire system, but I do love building speakers and want something properly capable, efficient and clean.

I’ve been around a lot of Funktion-One rigs over the years, and BFM was my original gateway into chasing that kind of horn-loaded performance on a more achievable DIY budget.

My thinking is:
- I already have two T48s and love them, so adding two more seems like the obvious low-end move.
- Since I only want to build one pair of tops, the DR280 seems to make more sense than the DR250.
- The DR300 seems excessive for this use case.
- I briefly looked at MEH/JMOD-style designs, as a friend is very keen on them, but that feels like a different ecosystem and would probably make me want to rebuild the subs too.
- The DR280 + T48 path feels like the most coherent expansion of what I already have.

Questions for the hive mind:
1. Is 4 × T48 + 2 × DR280 a sensible target system for this kind of outdoor use?
2. Would you agree that DR280 makes more sense than DR250 if I’m only building one pair of tops?
3. Any reason not to use Kappalite 3012HO + NSD2005 in the DR280s?
4. Any concerns running the whole system from a 4-channel DSP amp, with two T48s per sub channel at 4 ohms? We already have access to a CVR DSP-1004, which is much more user-friendly than my current QSC GX7 + DriveRack PA+ setup (and I'll still need another amp).
5. Any deployment advice for this setup — sub placement, crossover point, limiter settings, cab stacking, etc.?

I’ll be in the US at the end of August and am leaning toward buying all the drivers while I’m over there and bringing to bring them back with me to Australia. So now is probably the time to talk me out of doing something stupid.

Or at least help me do the stupid thing properly.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I agree 2xDR280 is the one to go with 4xT48. With DR250 you'd need four.

[Keryn O'Shea]

1. Is 4 × T48 + 2 × DR280 a sensible target system for this kind of outdoor use?

Totally

2. Would you agree that DR280 makes more sense than DR250 if I’m only building one pair of tops?

Absolutely

3. Any reason not to use Kappalite 3012HO + NSD2005 in the DR280s?

None

4. Any concerns running the whole system from a 4-channel DSP amp, with two T48s per sub channel at 4 ohms?

None, l use a D-2004 with a near identical setup with no problems.

5. Any deployment advice for this setup — sub placement, crossover point, limiter settings, cab stacking, etc.?

The 280s are awkward to lift onto a pole by yourself, easy with two people. Otherwise if you follow the guidelines for setup you'll have no problems
How wide are your current T48s?
Which part of Australia are you living?

[Keryn O'Shea]

I’ll be in the US at the end of August and am leaning toward buying all the drivers while I’m over there and bringing to bring them back with me to Australia...

Do you have room for a couple of hundred 1016s

[Bruce Weldy]

Couple of things....

1. The NDS 2005 is no longer in production. Hasn't been for a few years. You'll have to use the new replacement for it. But, I definitely agree with the 1.2K crossover option....

2. I just went through the manual on that amp. While it mentions a peak limiter (which every amp has to protect itself), there is nothing in the manual as to how to set a brickwall limiter. The software screens don't show anything that I could detect that would let you lock in the output voltage. So, keep the driverack.....you need it for the subs.

[Slippingrealities]

Thanks all. That’s exactly the sanity check I was after!

Very happy to hear the 2 × DR280 / 4 × T48 direction makes sense, especially if the DR250 route would really want four tops.

Good point on the NSD2005. I hadn’t realised it was no longer current. What’s the recommended replacement now for the DR280 1.2 kHz compression-driver crossover option? Is there a current Eminence part that drops into the intended crossover/design path, or is this now a case of using remaining stock if I can find it?

Also noted on the CVR DSP-1004 limiter issue. That’s very useful. I was hoping it could replace the DriveRack completely, but if the onboard DSP can’t do a proper output voltage / brickwall limiter then I’ll keep the DriveRack in the chain, at least for the subs. I have actually visited the CVR offices in China last year, which were quite impressive. I'll go back to them now and ask them directly about brickwall limiting.

So my revised plan for now is:
- 4 × T48
- 2 × DR280
- 3012HO woofers
- Confirm current best HF driver for the 1.2 kHz crossover
- CVR DSP-1004 as amp, but not relying on it for driver protection until limiter behaviour is confirmed

And yes, noted on the DR280s being awkward to lift solo. I’ll plan around two-person handling rather than pretending they’re little plastic tops.

Finally, I'm based in Melbourne. My T48's are little over 2ft wide from memory. I used a CNC to cut the parts and optimised everything to get the maximum width cabinet from 5x 8'x4' Birch sheets. Couple of pics attached from 2016 when I finished by T48's (screws are now black)!

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Recommended drivers for the 1 inch compression horn driver 2kHz crossover option are the PRV Audio D280Ti-B, Eminence ASD-1001B HF and LaVoce DF10.142LK or the equivalent, with maximum resonance 1.5kHz. If the 1.2kHz crossover is desired the Eminence F151M-8 and LaVoce DN10.142 drivers or equivalent, with maximum resonance 1kHz, are recommended.

[Slippingrealities]

Thanks Bill! I'll go do some research

On the topic of the CVR DSP-1004, I received a response from the dealer. "Every channel can set their own limit is sure, just want to make you a screen shot". The settings are also assignable per channel.

[Slippingrealities]

Recommended drivers for the 1 inch compression horn driver 2kHz crossover option are the PRV Audio D280Ti-B, Eminence ASD-1001B HF and LaVoce DF10.142LK or the equivalent, with maximum resonance 1.5kHz. If the 1.2kHz crossover is desired the Eminence F151M-8 and LaVoce DN10.142 drivers or equivalent, with maximum resonance 1kHz, are recommended.

Hi Bill, looking at the drivers options, I can source the LaVoce DN10.142 from Parts Express which is likely where I will get my other drivers, and at only 0.3 kg each they’re much more attractive for bringing four back to Australia in checked luggage than the F151M-8. Is the DN10.142s fully suitable for the DR280 1.2 kHz compression-driver option, using the same passive crossover component values shown in the current plans?

Would you expect any meaningful disadvantage versus the F151M-8 in this application, particularly in output or thermal headroom when matched with the Kappalite 3012HO woofer? I was originally thinking to keep the rig all Eminence, but that is a fair weight saving...

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The DN10.142 and F151M-8 are comparable. So is the PRV Audio D290Py-B.