Finding Location for Pole Mounts i.e Top Hats

[Randall Dibble]

Ok, How do you find the location on speaker cabinet for pole mounts?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl ... er=245-014

General theory/method in finding the right spot for any box.

[Strapping Young Stu]

All about finding the balance point, make a small see saw at home and put the cab on it, where it balances is where to put the top hat, same deal with handles, although its pretty easy with most cabs, more towards the top is usually favourable as you want the weight hanging below the level of the handle.

Stu

[Sydney]

For ordinary 6 sided boxes, I used to find the approximate axis of balance left to right & front to back and place the top hat where they crossed.
But w one of BF design you would have to avoid a hitting a baffle.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Put it atop a piece of 2 inch PVC, roll it to find the center of gravity, mount it as close as it possible to that without hitting the baffle. If it goes through into the horn it's no concern so long as all is airtight.

[DJPhatman]

To find the center of gravity, all drivers and hardware MUST be installed!
Place the cabinet on top of a baseball, roll it around to find the center of balance, then, without moving anything, mark a circle where the ball contacts the bottom. Also works with tennis balls.

[DAVID_L_PERRY]

Just make sure you only use your own balls, most people dont like the speakers sitting on there balls.

Plus its best if you only use one ball, two will give an unusual reaction, it may crush the first ball. this is also not a good thing..

Try comparing balls to see who has the toughest....

Most people who load heavy PA's in and out of venues tend to have fairly large balls. Try checking them for ball toughness (probably best to ask first).

Dave 'my balls are tougher than yours' Perry

PS moderators feel free to remove this clearly obscene ball thread

[Tim A]

Man, that posting took some ba...

Eh, nevermind.


It's a lot easier to use a cylinder since most speakers are fairly balanced side-to-side. The speaker is stable in one direction. I use a dowel. Anything round like a rolling pin, a piece of conduit, etc. It's easy to mark if the item you use extends beyond the side of the cabinet. On a cabinet like that, you only need the front-to-back location, extend it across the cabinet with a square, then center the hi hat on the line.

If you're mounting them on Omni's or some other cab with offset drivers, check it one way, make a mark, then the other, and intersect the lines with a square. It's a lot simpler than trying to balance them on a ball and get a good reading.

[DJPhatman]

Just make sure you only use your own balls, most people dont like the speakers sitting on there balls.

Plus its best if you only use one ball, two will give an unusual reaction, it may crush the first ball. this is also not a good thing..

Try comparing balls to see who has the toughest....

Most people who load heavy PA's in and out of venues tend to have fairly large balls. Try checking them for ball toughness (probably best to ask first).

Dave 'my balls are tougher than yours' Perry

PS moderators feel free to remove this clearly obscene ball thread

Piss on yer teeth!!! JK Dave!!

ps I'll take that bet!! HEHEHEHEHEHE

[DJ Big Ronn]

After total frustration with the top hats on my DR250's, I decided on an alternative. I cut a 3/4" piece of plywood about two inches shorter all the way around than the full size of the bottom of my cabinet. My speaker stands came with a bracket that was designed to mount to the bottom of the speaker. I mounted this to the bottom of the plywood and set in on the stands. Now I have a nice stable and level platform to put my speakers on. The front side of the ply has a piece of 3/4 aluminum angle for the front of the speaker to set against. The back of the speaker has a 3/4" piece of aluminum channel that takes the angle out of the speaker and makes it sit straight. If I need 4-DR's, I simply stack another one on top with a spacer in between them to make um' flush in the front and I'm set.

[Randall Dibble]

Photo Please!

I have yet to install my top hats.

I'm concerned that they will interfer with the structure on the Omni-12 tops I've built. IThe end result may require a counter weight to allow me to place the TopHat in a good location.

[DJ Big Ronn]

Photo Please!

I have yet to install my top hats.

I'm concerned that they will interfer with the structure on the Omni-12 tops I've built. IThe end result may require a counter weight to allow me to place the TopHat in a good location.

I'll try to take one this weekend and post it for you. As for the top hat, there is none. The only modification is to the board that it sits on. If you could picture taking the bottom off of a DR that has the top hat installed and placing it on the stand. Then you would have your platform to put your speaker on. Of course the top hat would be inverted so that it would fit on the pole, leaving you a flat surface. Get it!

[bgavin]

I'd like to know the smart way to support two DR250 that are stacked/tied together. Leland uses a cargo strap. but I woud like to know the optimal way of hanging them off a tripod speaker stand.

[DJ Big Ronn]

Well, aside from the extra time to strap um' thats not a bad idea in order to keep the drunks from knocking them down. On the base that I described in the above post, the front of the board has a 3/4" aluminum angle mounted on it, that the dr sits up against. It keeps the DR from sliding forward and I can just throw it up there without having to see if it's centered. The back of the board has the same angle iron on it. The bottom of the first cab has a 3/4" channel iron that is the perfect size spacer to make the front of the DR vertical. It also slips onto the angle on the board and locks the DR in place. The top DR is just sitting on top of the other one with a spacer right now, but I'm about to put a couple of hurricane nuts in one of them at the top and when I stack, I'll use a couple of thumb screws to lock the two fronts together. Hope this helps.

[MusicMix]

For those of you who have put pole mounts into any of these cabinets, could you share the measurments? Thanks.

[Tim A]

For those of you who have put pole mounts into any of these cabinets, could you share the measurments? Thanks.

Most of these cabs are limited as to location. On DR's it has to go in the access panel. On OmniTop 12's it has to go just in front of the baffle.

If you would be more specific about which cabinet maybe we can help.