BillFitzmaurice.info

Greetings all. I have found this lovely place via way of being completely and utterly disappointed with what modern lollipop style column arrays sound like. Total garbage. I demoed a QSC KC12 for a few hours at a guitar center and was not impressed. I began doing some research on DIYin some speakers together. Basically, I'm going to be pulling a mobile DJ rig behind an E bike. It will be about 6 feet long. I am looking for advice on tops and bottoms selection for this rig. For the tops, I have all but settled on the SLA Pro because of its tall and slim profile. For the bottoms, I was initially sold on the T24 until I realized they used 10'' drivers. I have concerns about loudness with subs of that size.

I have some experience building custom enclosures in the car audio sphere, so I am not totally new to this. I will also be working in a wood shop with access to full tools minus a CNC, which I will probably farm out elsewhere to buy a precut pack to save on time.

Looking for insight and advice on these speaker choices, specifically in an outdoor setting, playing to a crowd of 50-100 people.

You've never heard a horn loaded sub, have you?

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote: ↑Mon Nov 17, 2025 6:09 pm You've never heard a horn loaded sub, have you?

Hey Bill. So happy to see you're still active here. I have been in the underground rave scene for a while. I am sure I've heard one, just not knowingly. Are they known to be big thumpers relative to their size? Because the 12'' QSC sub bottom was a joke - my Yamaha HS8S studio monitor sub hits almost as hard.

JHands, welcome to the forum!
If you are considering a pair of T24s, I am wondering if you consider a 12" loaded T48, 24" wide if possible, Lay it down on the cart with the driver end at, or behind the axle. Then, place the top in the appropriate location on top of it to balance out the load.
Don't be afraid of a 10" driver in a horn sub because the horn is an acoustic amplifier.

I am sure I've heard one, just not knowingly.

You probably haven't, as they're quite rare other than DIY. That's because being very labor intensive to construct they're much more expensive than direct radiators. That matters not to DIY, we don't pay for labor. They're also larger than direct radiators, which is in part why they work so much better. I'm currently doing an 18 inch horn loaded design for a very well known manufacturer. It's somewhat larger than their 2x21" ported cab. It's also 5dB louder.

You got my attention with that post Bill.

Will the design be available to us DIY people?