212 Otops w/3012 and melded arrays

[LEVLHED]

I took delivery of Mark's demo 212 Omni Tops today. I had him drop in the 3012s and install the melded arrays. He spent some time shoring things up both structurally and electrically too because we knew I was going to be driving them with max power (only when called for of course!)
Naturally, I needed to test them out ASAP.....so I fired up the whole system in my garage tonight.

Holy crap.

I'm looking forward to getting them EQ'd (DRPA) as I could tell there were some things going on...but it's also hard to pin point details @ war volume in a 2 car garage:) So the EQ was flat. HP the OTops @ 106hz. Some peaks and valleys, but nothing that totally jumped out enough to be really annoying. I could sense they were there. I didn't bother farting around with it tonight.
A friend happened to stop by and he got to listen. He commented on how clear it sounded, though to be fair he is generally easily impressed:)
I found it really interesting how they sound. It sounded great and really clear. The first impression though is that the highs are not loud enough, yet they were loud and plainly there. I guess it's just the difference in what I'm used to hearing w/compression drivers? I'm looking forward to hearing the arrays in a proper space so I can see what is going on with that. It's like I'm used to hearing a shout, but now it's a many really loud whispers...or something like that. (I've been using little JBL MPro MP410's...which are now for sale)

So now I'm rolling with 2 x 212 Otops driven by a QSC PLX3402 (1100 watts a side @ 4 ohm) and 4 x JTR Growlers driven by 2 QSC XTi4000.
(OTops will go up on stands)



First gig will be a little get together day after Christmas in Milwaukee at a several-thousand square foot loft. I'll post more after that.

[Tom Smit]

Weird, is the left box taller than the right?

Did you listen to them side by each, or, one atop the other? If they were side by each you may have experienced some phasing.

Looking forward to more reviews!

[Dave Non-Zero]

those growlers are pretty tiny. how do they sound?

[sine143]

wierd that you mention that the highs were not as loud as you were generally used to. the comment I always get about my otops is that the 3-6 khz range screams.

[LEVLHED]

I see how it looks weird in the picture, but trust me the OTops are the same size! I was just at an angle I guess.

The Growlers have some serious growl. They are the 2010 drivers. Efficient like a horn should be, good to about 40hz, relatively flat curve. And yes, small. Pack space was a real concern so that's the way I went because I wanted to fit 4.
But this thread isn't supposed to be about Growlers. There are threads on other message boards about them

I set them up just to get a little instant gratification and verify they survived the journey. One of the diffusers popped loose so I just need to get that affixed. It wasn't meant to be a serious evaluation at this point because a 2 car garage isn't really an appropriate space for that kind of business!

[SeisTres]

One of the diffusers popped loose so I just need to get that affixed. It wasn't meant to be a serious evaluation at this point because a 2 car garage isn't really an appropriate space for that kind of business!

This has happened to me a few times actually. If you could, try installing the wood diffuser and actually gluing on the diffuser to the cab and the array and not just the array. But if you could do some hot glue, it guess that would work too

[LEVLHED]

I'm thinkin' JB Weld

[Monomer]

You need to open them up in an open space.


Glad your happy with them!


half the time I use mine, it's eq'd flat, and cutoff at 110Hz.

[Mark Coward]

Concerning the perceived lack of highs, the arrays have a near-field effect in the upper frequencies - that is, instead of the SPL dropping 6db at 2x distance it only drops 3db. Also, the vertical dispersion is decreased significantly which is a good thing.

IME, comp horns in typical cabs can cut your head off up close. The arrays seem to have a more even sound throughout the room.

When I first fired these up, they were sitting on top of T48's in a living room. We were sitting on a couch a few feet away, and there seemed to be a lack of highs. Then we stood up - big difference, it's very noticeable when you drop below the dispersion angle.

[Mark Coward]

First gig will be a little get together day after Christmas in Milwaukee at a several-thousand square foot loft. I'll post more after that.

Wondering how the gig went?

[LEVLHED]

It went quite well, I am pleased. Our own Radian even showed up to help me with set up a bit, but in the end there wasn't a lot we could do due to space and dB considerations. Since it was in my friends residence and he absolutely did not want any trouble with police nor the one neighbor that even lives anywhere near we couldn't open it up all the way. It wasn't really warranted for this gig anyway. Radian helped us figure out a slight shift to help mitigate a problem with windows rattling in their panes so we could get a little louder. I think we averaged about 110db peaks @ 4 feet from the stack most of the night. I let it open up a bit more later on but I didn't think to take a dB reading. I know I was pulling between about 4.5 and 6 amps from the wall most of the night. I was letting it breath out to about 8 or 9 amps at the peak. I had one DJ get nuts on the bass on his first track and actually popped the 20 amp breaker that everything was on in my rack. That was mildly exciting. My fault for not insisting on manning the mixer when we set up in order to know what the max gain was going to be. Who knew you can't just trust DJ's to leave the volume/bass knob alone and NOT turn it all the way up? I had no idea there was that much gain in reserve at the mixer.

I got plenty of thumbs up on the sound. My suspicions were confirmed that mine blows away the typical system you find in the Milwaukee area for your average club gigs. Some talk of "you should hire this out" and "how much do you charge?" but we'll see how that pans out. I'm an hour's drive from downtown after all.
Overall it was a pretty low key party. Lots of consumption and socializing by the guests. Not really any dancing.
The worst part was the fact that it was two flights of stairs up and no elevator. I had enough help getting it in, but it was just me and another guy getting it out this afternoon. I'm already sore, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow!

Maybe Radian will chime in with his perspective (good or bad!). It being Sunday and all I know he couldn't stay too late.
I would like to thank him again here for coming out! I know he helped with some other things while he was there too, both when we were getting things ready and during the course of the evening. Me, Brye & Casey all thank him for the help!

[Radian]

How'd they sound?

Well what impressed me the most was the acoustics of the room. It made the whole setup sound extra sexy.

Mark, slick work on the OT212's Very OEM.

What's more to say? All proven designs at play and worked very well together. Gotta get a hand cart for those stairs.