NYE party, 2 OT12's and 4 T30's

[commander_dan]

Today we are setting up for a house party with the above configuration, in a friends backyard. Pics and review to follow
Happy New Year everyone! Stay safe!

[Radian]

Happy New Year! Here's to a great party and a smooth evening!

[safebet]

Awesome! Have fun, and Happy New Year!

[commander_dan]

Some photos of the setup before the party started. Very much overkill for a house party, we didn't use much more than 1/3 volume (and that was getting loud) but it was a lot of fun! System sounds so good outside.

One comment on the melded arrays, building on my first impression of them a few months back. As I noticed before, they still have a very narrow "sweet spot" when standing dead in line with them. I'm not as impressed with the off-axis dispersion as everyone else here seems to be. Take one step to the side from that central sweet spot, and those super crisp highs are gone. Surely someone else on here notices this? It's pretty hard to miss.

Has anyone ever tried modifying the diffuser to try and even out the dispersion a bit?

Anyways, the party was a hit and everyone was blown away by how good the system was. Love it! Hope you all had a safe one. Happy new year!

[commander_dan]

More pics..

[safebet]

Shorts and an outdoor lawn party on NYE. Love it!

As I noticed before, they still have a very narrow "sweet spot" when standing dead in line with them. I'm not as impressed with the off-axis dispersion as everyone else here seems to be. Take one step to the side from that central sweet spot, and those super crisp highs are gone.

Hopefully the off-axis dispersion is consistent to where you can equalize the system to that condition. I built my custom tops specifically to obtain a very consistent response in the horizontal plane from about 400 Hz up, including through crossover region. As the listening position moves off-axis the affect is similar to simply turning down the volume. They don't have advantages of line arrays though, but my intended use is typically small to medium size venues, or large areas when extreme volume is not necessary. The point is, perhaps maybe you could consider something like the SLA Pro smaller venues.

Hope everyone had a great time.

[DJPhatman]

One comment on the melded arrays, building on my first impression of them a few months back. As I noticed before, they still have a very narrow "sweet spot" when standing dead in line with them. I'm not as impressed with the off-axis dispersion as everyone else here seems to be. Take one step to the side from that central sweet spot, and those super crisp highs are gone. Surely someone else on here notices this? It's pretty hard to miss.

Without an RTA, all we can do is guess. My 1st instinct says the the arrays are incorrectly wired, possibly out-of-phase. Do you have Bill's piezo filter installed? For the component cost, it gives a significant smoothing of the piezos and tames the mid-range.

Play a 2.5kHz pink noise, and listen to each individual piezo, to rule out bad drivers. If you can, RTA them in a wide open are, then post the results.

[safebet]

My 1st instinct says the the arrays are incorrectly wired, possibly out-of-phase.

Phase issues from a defective piezo or incorrect wiring certainly would wreak havoc on response and delivery angle consistency.

[commander_dan]

Without an RTA, all we can do is guess. My 1st instinct says the the arrays are incorrectly wired, possibly out-of-phase. Do you have Bill's piezo filter installed? For the component cost, it gives a significant smoothing of the piezos and tames the mid-range.

Play a 2.5kHz pink noise, and listen to each individual piezo, to rule out bad drivers. If you can, RTA them in a wide open are, then post the results.

These melded arrays were bought pre constructed by Leland, as were the crossovers, and yes they have the piezo filter installed. I assumed everything would have come tested with Leland's seal of approval which is why I spent the extra money on that option. I suppose I should test them though. To do that pink noise test, do I have to un-solder each piezo and test one at a time? (They are wired up correctly in series/parallel).

The closest thing I have to an RTA is the Dayton audio imm-6 with audio tool..

[DJPhatman]

Run them as they are, in cab, running pink sweeps from 2kHz to ~8kHz or so. This will check the filter and piezos. You can isolate just the piezos by unplugging them from the filter board. You don't need a lot of power for the piezos, either. A headphone amp is plenty.

As long as you can get some decent resolution from Audio Tools, you are fine. We just need to see how everything interacts. Take measurements on- and off-axis.

[CoronaOperator]

The closest thing I have to an RTA is the Dayton audio imm-6 with audio tool..

My testing showed no significant difference between the imm-6 mic/audiotools and a DBX mic/REW measurement rig:
http://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/viewt ... +6#p252472
The only issue with audiotools is the low resolution of the bass frequencies as in it doesn't display very many points on the graph.

[LelandCrooks]

Hey Dan, if it's not too hard pull one and take a pic of the backside and send it to me. I haven't made a mistake on arrays in years, but that does not mean it could not happen. Also show where you connected + and - to the array. It's easy to get them backwards. You can either post it here or send it to me directly. webmaster@speakerhardware.com

[Chris_Allen]

Hey Dan, if it's not too hard pull one and take a pic of the backside and send it to me. I haven't made a mistake on arrays in years, but that does not mean it could not happen. Also show where you connected + and - to the array. It's easy to get them backwards. You can either post it here or send it to me directly. webmaster@speakerhardware.com

I took an old array out of a Jack 110 and put it in something else and it sounded like it was knackered. Turned out I had attached the initial + and - to the wrong end.

[commander_dan]

Hey Dan, if it's not too hard pull one and take a pic of the backside and send it to me. I haven't made a mistake on arrays in years, but that does not mean it could not happen. Also show where you connected + and - to the array. It's easy to get them backwards. You can either post it here or send it to me directly. webmaster@speakerhardware.com

Leland, photos as requested. The first 2 are a zoomed out and zoomed in shot of what I've connected to the +ve on the crossover, and the 2nd 2 are of the -ve side.

[commander_dan]

I took an old array out of a Jack 110 and put it in something else and it sounded like it was knackered. Turned out I had attached the initial + and - to the wrong end.

I'm hoping that's what I've done Chris, although the arrays in their current wiring sound far from knackered; they sound amazing! Super clean, crisp and crazy loud while retaining that clarity.