Hanging DR280's Revisited....

[James R]

I recently attended a local show where a friend was mixing on a rental system. The owner of the system and I got talking and I told him my plans of the tops with piezos, and without batting an eye he said that's cool. He had some Yorkville tops that had piezos in them and they sounded great.Also he said he'd like to hear the tops when i get them done

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I recently attended a local show where a friend was mixing on a rental system. The owner of the system and I got talking and I told him my plans of the tops with piezos, and without batting an eye he said that's cool. He had some Yorkville tops that had piezos in them and they sounded great.Also he said he'd like to hear the tops when i get them done

The more knowledgable the person you're talking to the less likely he is to be judgemental.

[David Luscombe]

Hi,

First let me state I have nothing 'basic' against piezo arrays.
I haven't actually listened and compared a piezo array to the
recommended dual comparison driver and horn setup of the DR290.

I have some questions though.

David,
If I recall correctly your piezos replaced different compression drivers
then the recommended for the DR290.
I seem to remember the ones you used originally were B&C or JBL and
not the Eminence Neo 2005s. Am I right?
If so, then your original (or reference, for this matter) '290' was not actually
a 'true' DR290, and may have given a wrong impression in this regard

And one For Bill…
If the only difference between the 280 and the 290 is in the HF section,
and as the general impression here is that the piezos of the 280
do a better job (cost and weigh less, sound better etc.)
why not 'cancel' the 290 option all together?

Or are there other aspects or benefits of the 290 over the 280

This entire post smells like a person who doesn't like piezos. Sorry, but I don't buy your first statement. You spend the rest of the thread trying to disprove them. I suspect it has nothing to do with the venues you at which you work.

But that's ok, not everyone is sold right off the bat. It takes time to come to grips with it.

thats a little unfair!

i am in the same boat, i don't have anything against piezo arrays BUT when you have professional people using your equipment and are used to a certain sound and idea i don't have hours to dicuss the pro's and cons of peizo versus normal cd horns so it is easier to just build with horns and go with that.

last night at work we had one of australias top bands in and they bought a nexo alpha with them and that is what we have to compete and deal with, that style of sound. Normal Horns in a pro venue just makes life easy, not necisarily make sense but then thats life. it might be a bit like ribbon drivers in pro speakers it takes a lot of convincing regardless of whether it is better or not.

cheers david luscombe

[gdougherty]

David, do give the piezo's a run against compression drivers as the cost and weight difference is quite significant. Just build with grills as recommended. You could even build the new melded arrays and advertise them as a custom manufactured wide dispersion tweeter array providing exceptional integration between array elements. Nobody will be taking the grills off during a show so it shouldn't be a problem. It seems if someone would be fine with a custom cabinet then it shouldn't be a problem.

[Les Webb]

I can understand where David is coming from. Some people are absolutely going to hear with their eyes and preconceived notions and NOT the ears God gave them.

I've had people comment on how good the rig sounded before they found out it was piezo arrays only to change their mind after finding out. Sounds stupid but it happens.

If you must David, you must. But I would give the piezo arrays a try just for kicks and giggles.

Les

[N.Webber]

Hi,

First let me state I have nothing 'basic' against piezo arrays.
I haven't actually listened and compared a piezo array to the
recommended dual comparison driver and horn setup of the DR290.

I have some questions though.

David,
If I recall correctly your piezos replaced different compression drivers
then the recommended for the DR290.
I seem to remember the ones you used originally were B&C or JBL and
not the Eminence Neo 2005s. Am I right?
If so, then your original (or reference, for this matter) '290' was not actually
a 'true' DR290, and may have given a wrong impression in this regard

And one For Bill…
If the only difference between the 280 and the 290 is in the HF section,
and as the general impression here is that the piezos of the 280
do a better job (cost and weigh less, sound better etc.)
why not 'cancel' the 290 option all together?

Or are there other aspects or benefits of the 290 over the 280

This entire post smells like a person who doesn't like piezos. Sorry, but I don't buy your first statement. You spend the rest of the thread trying to disprove them. I suspect it has nothing to do with the venues you at which you work.

But that's ok, not everyone is sold right off the bat. It takes time to come to grips with it.

Tim,
I'm sorry this is what my post smelled like to you
You got me all wrong!

I really do stand behind my above 'first statement'.
I am seriously considering upgrading my six 290s to piezos and just doing some homework.

I don't see why my inquiry looked to you like disproving the piezo concept.
I was (and still am) looking for any input regarding the difference in performance
compared to the current compression drivers/horns I have on my 290s.

I am not new to DIY PA cabs and like many am not bothered by rider compatibility issues.
This is one of the reasons I went the BFM route in the first place
and why I am now looking positively at the piezo option.

I'm on your side on this!

Edit: If I was at a point before buying the HF elements my choice probably would have been simpler.


Nimrod

[DAVID_L_PERRY]

I can understand where David is coming from. Some people are absolutely going to hear with their eyes and preconceived notions and NOT the ears God gave them.

I completely understand his position also...just add grills, its as simple as that - you cant see the piezo's. But regarding the rider situation, again if that is his position he should not really be thinking along the DIY route unless you have very big balls.....it would be suicide to start advertising a DR290's rig as D&B C4 tops for example, even if they look similar from a distance ...tread carefully.

[David Luscombe]

this is not an issue about rider friendly. it is quite acceptable to have diy gear just so long as it sounds great and is within "normal convention". A lot of high profile production companys here in AUS use there own in-house designed and built gear. its just that you would never know because they badge them and they sound great but they stick with convention

cheers david luscombe

[LelandCrooks]

You have to go with what will make you a living. I rent equipment that I don't like but the clientele demands it. There's even some of that yellow and black D stuff hanging around my shops.

I'd still hide them behind a grill.