TLAH Experimental

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

2) At the level he wanted to play, distortion and ear fatigue became a problem.

That's because you left the filters out.

[mattaudio]

So I didn't expect a TLAH pro with closeout drivers to match a DR280 for full band gigs, or to even match the TLAH pro with Alpha 6a. But for a minimal investment (~$80 for the pair) I'm thinking about trying to build one, with filters.
It would be good for
- an interesting shootout with SLA Pro
- mobile party / home theater applications
- small gigs in long narrow rooms where I just mix vocals and acoustic guitars
- vocal PA (weddings, etc)
For the price it seems worth a try!

[mattaudio]

also, this might sound crazy but I didn't see the answer in the plans... I'm just curious why SLA and TLAH mount the 1016s in "vertical" mode instead of a stack of horizontal piezo horns like a non-melded array in a DR/otop/wh?

[wallywally]

So I didn't expect a TLAH pro with closeout drivers to match a DR280 for full band gigs, or to even match the TLAH pro with Alpha 6a. But for a minimal investment (~$80 for the pair) I'm thinking about trying to build one, with filters.
It would be good for
- an interesting shootout with SLA Pro
- mobile party / home theater applications
- small gigs in long narrow rooms where I just mix vocals and acoustic guitars
- vocal PA (weddings, etc)
For the price it seems worth a try!

I think you'll be very pleased with the results. I wouldn't hesitate to build these for your purpose.

I don't want to give the impression that I'm unhappy with the results of my TLAH's....I'm not. They perform beyond my original expectations (they currently reside in my home theater). The only part of this equation that didn't meet my expectations was my guitarist and his unreasonable volume/mix requests. If I had not substituted the DR280's, I would have worked out the minor gripes I had with the TLAH's. Many factors went into my decision, I simply followed the path of least resistance.

[mattaudio]

How did you come up with using 5.25" drivers instead of 8" drivers?

[wallywally]

How did you come up with using 5.25" drivers instead of 8" drivers?

It was an experiment, and price was the primary factor. 4"-6" drivers are acceptable for HT duty. The original plan was to use them in low volume situations and possibly move up to the pro version if it was needed. After building them, I discovered that the DR280's I already have fit my needs best, so the TLAH experiment has not progressed.

[wallywally]

I found some really crappy video that I took when I finished these. The sound is low and has some hiss but still is not bad. It illustrates how well the TLAH works at throwing sound for a distance and how much bass they can produce. These are run full range, slightly corrected with a 3 band eq.

[88h88]

Are you Tom Hanks? You sound like Tom Hanks...

[wallywally]

Are you Tom Hanks? You sound like Tom Hanks...

You've discovered my secret

[Dan_S]

I've just found this thread, and I must say that I'm very impressed by their output on your videos!

It's inspired me to re-think the speaker choices I want to make for my studio when I can get around to it. Considering that these are 6 feet high, as someone else mentioned in another post, in an 8 foot high room these would work very well, teamed with something like a TT or a THT.

But, from what I've heard from Bill is that Davids may be more useful for music, because of better imaging, although this was a comparison with the Davids and the SLAs...so how would these fair instead?

Thanks for taking the time to experiment!

[wallywally]

I personally would not use them in a studio. Listen to the video's again and hear the combing/phasing as the mic moves up and down the speaker. If your close to them vertical combing is an issue. In a studio the speakers should be close, a line array is not the the right tool for the job IMHO.