TLA's built and installed

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GeoffBass
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Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

TLA's built and installed

#1 Post by GeoffBass »

Hi all,
I finally got the two 10 x 6" TLA's finished and installed in my son's grade school auditorium. I made the mounting brackets from 2" square steel tube cut into "U" shaped pieces and bolted together. Each mating pair have a 10mm tapped hole, the nut on the inside is a locknut. This geometry allows for both pitch and yaw adjustment. 12 x 14# x 2" screws hold each bracket to the 10mm plywood panelling, that's barely 2 lb per screw! The cab's weigh about 25 kg or just over 50 lbs apiece, and are quite solid. The only give is in the wall panels. What do they sound like? Clear, crisp and direct, a huge improvement over the cheap Selenium 12" + large piezo wedges that were up on the wall previously. With a few dB of boost in the 40-60 Hz region, and all the way down cut below that, the sound has sufficient bottom end to satisfy the needs of the school. They are connected to a 500w per side amp, one side to each speaker. I cranked it up to the point where the timber floor was thumping, still crisp and clear! The school principal was very impressed, the near field effect is quite noticeable, the sound level anywhere in the audience area sounds much the same, which is how they were designed to perform. I have yet to hear them in a full auditorium, but some who have already have noticed the very big improvement. :D

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Tom Smit
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Re: TLA's built and installed

#2 Post by Tom Smit »

GeoffBass wrote:Hi all,
I finally got the two 10 x 6" TLA's finished and installed in my son's grade school auditorium. I made the mounting brackets from 2" square steel tube cut into "U" shaped pieces and bolted together. Each mating pair have a 10mm tapped hole, the nut on the inside is a locknut. This geometry allows for both pitch and yaw adjustment. 12 x 14# x 2" screws hold each bracket to the 10mm plywood panelling, that's barely 2 lb per screw! The cab's weigh about 25 kg or just over 50 lbs apiece, and are quite solid. The only give is in the wall panels. :D
A pic would clear this up in my head for me (hint,hint) :roll:

Good to hear about the good sound :D

TomS

GeoffBass
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Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

#3 Post by GeoffBass »

Look up GeoffBass in frapper, there's pic's of the cabinet as installed, and of the top and bottom mounting brackets. I just haven't worked out how to post them on here yet! :oops:

I have had the opportunity to hear them in action with an audience, a bit of careful tweaking at the bottom end and in the midrange brought the system up nicely, enough bottom end for the relatively low spl's that the system requires. It also revealed some shortcomings with the wireless mic they use, a definite deficiency in the high frequencies. The even coverage and clarity of the system is very evident, I wish I had done this years ago........ :)
Builds so far:
2 x 10x6" TLA's
2 x OT115's
2 x 8x4" TLA's - ~180 deg. coverage!

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DJPhatman
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#4 Post by DJPhatman »

Does this help?
Image
I know money often seals the deal, but seriously, quality is an investment, not an expense... Grant Bunter
Accept the fact that airtight and well-braced are more important than pretty on the inside. Bill Fitzmaurice

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Chris_Allen
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Location: Huddersfield, UK

#5 Post by Chris_Allen »

Nice build Geoff. I noticed you didn't join the piezos.

Chris.

GeoffBass
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Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

#6 Post by GeoffBass »

Thanks DJPhatman, I'll get my head around it sooner or later, I've just been way too busy lately!
Yes, I didn't join the piezo's, apart from not having a lot of time available (it took about 2 months or so for me to finish them!) I wanted to see how the most basic arrangement performs. I am sure that joined piezo's will sound even better, but this still sounds really good. The 6" are LPF'ed at 3.5 kHz, the only thing I had to tweak was around 1-2 kHz, by about 2 dB or so. Up close, you can hear the individual horns, but once you are about 10' away, the sound is one, big and clean. The cabinet is open at the bottom, I folded the grille so that it returns to cover the vent, keeping curious hands out and keeping the fairly dense polyester insulation in place, not that it will move anyway.
The brackets are like the universals on your car's driveshaft, I put flat washers between the mating "u"s so that they are smoothly adjustable and the paint does not scratch.
If I ever build any more of these, the vent will be at the back, keeping the grille plain and simple. Main thing is, they really do the job they were made for, not high volume, just even coverage with good sound! Thanks Bill and everyone else who put up with my lack of experience!

My next build is 2 1x15 OT15's, these will have melded arrays, though probably switchable, as they are mainly for bass and keyboard. Eventually, they will both be used by the keyboard for stereo output, and, if I'm not entirely satisfied with the sound, an O10 will be my next bass cab after that. I'll wait and see!
Builds so far:
2 x 10x6" TLA's
2 x OT115's
2 x 8x4" TLA's - ~180 deg. coverage!

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DJPhatman
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#7 Post by DJPhatman »

GeoffBass, Just do a quote from my post. That will show you how to post a pic. The URL for the pic comes from the WEB POSTED pic properties. Just right click on the pic that has been posted, left click on properties, then copy the pic's URL that is listed in the properties.

And you're welcome! :D
I know money often seals the deal, but seriously, quality is an investment, not an expense... Grant Bunter
Accept the fact that airtight and well-braced are more important than pretty on the inside. Bill Fitzmaurice

GeoffBass
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Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

#8 Post by GeoffBass »

Thanks for the tips!
Next will be 2 x OT15's, I've got rid of my oversized, overweight JBL 1 x 18" + 2 x 12" 225 lb rig on ebay, so now I can get the ply and get started!

Cheers,

Geoff
Builds so far:
2 x 10x6" TLA's
2 x OT115's
2 x 8x4" TLA's - ~180 deg. coverage!

gdougherty
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#9 Post by gdougherty »

What's the use for the OT15's? I used 2 OT12's for a small ooutdoor wedding yesterday with no sub, moderate volumes and a bit of kick to the low end EQ and they did just fine. They're smaller, lighter and the midrange will do better. In either case, for a real system with real bass requirements I'd team either speaker with subs to handle the bottom end. For accoustic music I'd be fine with just OT12's alone.

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Dave Non-Zero
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#10 Post by Dave Non-Zero »

as far as i know, the OT15 was mainly designed to be able to use old 15s that people already had that needed a home. It doesnt have any real inherent advantages in itself over the OT12 (and plenty of disadvantages) but it is more tolerant of driver spec. I for one would never build a speaker intended for mid reproduction that used 15s.

( :oops: i just realised Geoffbass is intending this for bass gig)
-1 for thought terminating cliches.

Built and/or own:
8 x T48 24" 3015LF
6 x DR280
2 x DR250 old style beta10
2 x T36s 20" delta15L
1 x TAT
1 x dual Lab12 30" T60

In Progress:
2 x DR280

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Bill Fitzmaurice
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#11 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

Dave Non-Zero wrote:as far as i know, the OT15 was mainly designed to be able to use old 15s that people already had that needed a home.
That, or as bass cabs with an old-school 'vintage' tone, or as PA without subs where not a lot of bass response is required. But if you're building a PA from scratch with subs the OTop 15 is not recommended.

GeoffBass
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Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

#12 Post by GeoffBass »

Yes, I am going to use them for bass and keyboard. I have them currently in a pair of T48 size3 way 15", 10" + small comp. horn boxes. -3db points are 42Hz and 18 KHz, +/- 0.5 dB, very flat, very big, very heavy! So until I can spring for better, the OT15 should do. These drivers are right on for specs, but have a bit brighter top end than the prototype drivers.

PA will most likely be OT12's + T30's, we'll see how we go with the next project first!

Cheers :lol:

Geoff
Builds so far:
2 x 10x6" TLA's
2 x OT115's
2 x 8x4" TLA's - ~180 deg. coverage!

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DJPhatman
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Location: Warren, MI
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#13 Post by DJPhatman »

GeoffBass wrote:PA will most likely be OT12's + T30's, we'll see how we go with the next project first!

Cheers :lol:

Geoff
Skip the T30s and build T39s, or T48s if you have the space. Easier to handle, and they both work better in the "power" range, 40-100Hz.
I know money often seals the deal, but seriously, quality is an investment, not an expense... Grant Bunter
Accept the fact that airtight and well-braced are more important than pretty on the inside. Bill Fitzmaurice

GeoffBass
Posts: 67
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

#14 Post by GeoffBass »

I take your point. But the fact that some keyboard sounds go waaay down, plus a 16 year old that is into dance music, makes me lean toward the Tubas. How have you found that with your DJ work? (did I say he wants to be a DJ?) :wink:
Builds so far:
2 x 10x6" TLA's
2 x OT115's
2 x 8x4" TLA's - ~180 deg. coverage!

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DJPhatman
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Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:08 am
Location: Warren, MI
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#15 Post by DJPhatman »

I have 2 dual HL10C loaded T39s. And I'm adding 2 more for larger venues. I play everything from classical to hip-hop/rap. I don't really play D'n'B, or much techno/electronic/club type music. I only work private parties, never bars or clubs. My setup takes 2 people (1 1/2 while I'm hurt) just about 2 hours from arrival to start. My 2 now are enough to handle 200-300 without pushing them. Like Bill says, unless you need/want the inaudible 20Hz rumble, go with titans. The T48 is a bit taller and wider, but there are a couple DJs on here that use T48s. I believe forum member "DJ Big Ronn" had the cops called on him more than once, from blocks away! :shock:

Mock up some cardboard to T39, T48 and T30 sizes. Just remember, above ~35-40 HZ, the Titans kick ass.
BTW, most "chest-thump" is felt/heard in the 40 to 100 Hz band.
I know money often seals the deal, but seriously, quality is an investment, not an expense... Grant Bunter
Accept the fact that airtight and well-braced are more important than pretty on the inside. Bill Fitzmaurice

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