Full BFM system - Tuba36, DR300, and some pics.

[tommysb]

Just had a manic weekend running sound for a small charity festival my brother organised..Time was tight, we finished the 4th tuba 36 on the morning of the festival (no time for painting/finishing!)

The Tubas were loaded with definimax 4015lf, apart from one, which was loaded with a kappaLF (all we could get in time).

The Dr300s were stacked 1 per side, and loaded with eminence 4012 and psd2002. Run off an EVP2000 on mid, and matrixUKP1300 for the HF.

The 4 tubas were run off 1 Evp3000.

Overall, the system was perfect for what we were playing (dubstep, drum and bass, and a bit of reggae). MCs just plugged in and played, and the vocals could be heard absolutely fine. I didn't really spend much time doing the sound, just set it up, set the limiters on the ultradrive, and went and worked on the bar.

Had some problems with the amp going into protect halfway through, not sure if it was a blown speaker/dodgy cable (these were also made up in a hurry just before the event). SO unplugged the speakers and cables (on one channel on the amp) which were playing up. There was enough bass with just 2 tubas running. (Still not done damage analysis yet.......back to the 9-5 today, after packing up and a 200mile drive!)


It was f***ing loud! The HF amp wasn't even running at -12.5dB, so considering that the HF was wired in series (16ohm), they were getting less than 15w as a rough calculation......(amp capable of 300w/side at 8ohms). I the mid amps were equally unstressed. The DR300 are amazingly efficient....I'd actually be tempted to build another 4 tuba36 if i was to do this event again.....they were drawing a lot more on the amp! The other plan is to change them to dual 12" drivers....increasing power handling and sensitivity hopefully. I'm waiting to see if eminence ever bring out a 3012 driver......(plus I have no access to a workshop at the moment!).

Basically, considering how rushed we were, i thought the system performed great. I was really pleased at how audible the MCs were. The sound was really clear, and I have no tinitus, despite the sound being loud enough to cover the tent well. Raised a lot of money for the World Food Programme too, Probably somewhere near the £1000 mark.

Anyway, a picture says 1000 words, so here's some I hope you can see what kind of event it was. DJs, MCs, BBQ, Strobe lights, in the middle of the woods in Norfolk. A bit like a rave, but 100% legal. Had a couple of problems with DJS turning everything up as loud as possible, someone refusing to pay for drinks, and about 20 gatecrashers, but overall, a great night with a great atmosphere! This is what I've spent the last 2 years building the soundsystem to do......














Second stage....Using BFM Omnitops as was as I'm aware

[AntonZ]

Looks a great party, congratulations on the system
I do have the impression you have positioned the DR300's in the wrong orientation - or does that not matter as much as it does on the smaller DR's that have piezo arrays that must be vertical?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Looks a great party, congratulations on the system
I do have the impression you have positioned the DR300's in the wrong orientation - or does that not matter as much as it does on the smaller DR's that have piezo arrays that must be vertical?

DR300's used singly may be done that way, for maximum lower midrange dispersion. When stacked the HF horns must be vertical. OTOH, if you don't need at least two DR300 per side you don't need DR300.

[tommysb]

if you don't need at least two DR300 per side you don't need DR300.

Noted, but they came up at a very attractive price! Even if you don't need them, they do the job, but are maybe a little larger than they need to be to do it. We had to hire a van to fit the tuba 36 anyway, so the size wasn't a problem!

[Alan Star]

Nice to hear you are happy with your dr300's, I remember when they came up for sale, I would have grabbed them at that price too if I didn't have to ship them here. I have found them great as both 1 a side and as 2 a side... 2 a side is getting silly loud.