BillFitzmaurice.info

I've searched the forum but not found any info on the smaller SLA PRO MICRO options other than Bill's post introducing the updated plans with the Eminence alpha 4" option a couple of years ago and the very recent note from Bill about the 5" Eminence becoming unavailable and the Faital Pro 5FE 120 being the new recommended driver. I'm not seeing anything on any builds with the 4" or 5" drivers. I have the old SLA plans from when it was first introduced with the original Pro version using four Alpha 6's, but was curious about these newer, smaller options.

In particular, I was curious about the Alpha 4 and the big jag in its response curve where it has a pretty quick 6db drop between roughly 1400 to 1800 hz, and after that a more gradual rise back up and then another dip centered at about 6k, though it's not as deep or as steep. The midrange dip seems like it would require a good bit of eq to smooth the sound out. Wondering if having 4 drivers in the array helps that at all. In that regard the 4" Faital drivers response chart seems a lot smoother, but of course are slightly more expensive for the ferrite drivers. They do have the super light neodymium versions as well, which though even more expensive offer a significant weight advantage.

Anyway . . . Parts Express describes the Alpha 4 as having a "flat response from 90 to 12000 HZ" but when I look at the chart it certainly doesn't look all that flat so just wondering how these sound in actual use, and again I'm not seeing anything on the SLA build using these when I do a search in the forum. For my purposes minimal EQing is preferable as I don't want to have to haul out my drive-rack/amps/mixer etc if I can get buy on a simple lightweight powered mixer for a basic guitar/voice gig. (Note also that the newly recommended Faital 5" looks to be much smoother in it's response curve than the Eminence 5" though it is slightly less efficient.)

I suspect most builders who need a very small speaker probably opt for a 2x6 cab rather than a 4x4 or 4x5. The Alpha 4 isn't ruler flat, but it certainly doesn't require much correction. Don't buy a powered mixer that doesn't have at least a 10 band graphic EQ, you'll never be able to EQ for a room without it.

I understand Bill what you are saying about the 2x6 cab preference. Makes sense, especially if you want to stack multiples depending on the size of venue. Having had back surgery a few years ago and still some issues there I have to be REAL careful about weight, hence why I'm leaning toward building a pair of new small boxes with the ultralight 4" neo faitals. With reduction in electrical limit they in theory (according to BassBox Pro) can tune down to 66hz which gives me the drop C I need. I can probably get each cabInet down under 10 lbs even with a small built in amp.

In regard to EQ I wish DBX or someone would make a half rack RTA stereo EQ that could be mated with one or two of the Stewart PA-50 half rack amps for a really small box or better yet with powered speakers. They did the little Go-Rack a few years ago which was quite small though not rackable but it had no RTA function or even user adjustable settings -- just a number of preset curves. It did at least have auto feedback filters which would help in a particularly nasty space. It just seems any of the compact portable options for solo artists are full of compromises. A small mixer (4 mic ins) with a built in Auto-EQ RTA would be perfect for a lot of folks, but alas . . . to my knowledge it doesn't exist.

I have a pair of the 4" SLA pro's.
While I have never giged with them, I think they could work well for what you want to do.

I use them as my shop speakers. Driver only version, no crossover, no tweeter. - easiest build ever!

The Roll-off around 10kHz is noticeable, but for my use I don't mind it at all.

Thanks Kevin for the info . . . yeah, I'll probably be using tweets in my build for a little more vocal "air" but they could be crossed quite high with just a simple 6db crossover given that both the Eminence 4's and the Faitals are good into the 9-10k range. La Voce has some really nice looking 1" and 1.3" soft domes that have recently been picked up by Parts Express that seem like good candidates to possibly match for the 4" drivers. The smaller one matches the stated SPL rating better, but then as you look at the charts both 4's have a rising response in the treble so the more sensitive 1.3 might be the way to go.

IDK what kind of volume levels you need but soft domes are not traditionally used in live sound because they are really fragile. Occasional feedback and the higher uncompressed dynamics of live sound tend to fry domes. I guess if you are using multiples then they would share the load. Just something to be aware of.

Yeah, I realize they aren't ideal, but this rig will only be about 70 watts total and with the tweets crossed over pretty high in a set of 4 they won't individually be getting hardly any power. Just not seeing other options that will give the spl, small size, and smoothness I want for acoustic instruments/voice.

Would Eminence's fairly new 3-8 full range driver be suitable for this, or any other BFM designs? I was surprised when Don Keele found it very well suited to his array.

The lack of need to buy parts for and wire in a crossover appeals to me.

Qts .50
Sens 88.6
Xmax 2.4mm
150-20,000
30w
8 ohms

https://www.parts-express.com/eminence- ... --290-4014

The specs on that are similar to drivers used in the standard SLA. I wouldn't call it a pro-sound driver.