Expanding the fleet. Change my mind. 4×T48 + 2×DR280?
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2026 6:45 pm
Hi all,
I’m currently running 2 × Titan 48s loaded with Eminence Kappalite 3015LFs. I built them about 8 years ago for outdoor parties and they’ve been excellent. Very happy with the output, efficiency and general horn-loaded nonsense.
I’m now part of an outdoor music community, which has me looking seriously at expanding my system. I’d appreciate some sanity checking before I commit.
Current system:
2 × Titan 48
3015LF loaded
2x Tops, usually rentals like JBL 715's.
Used mainly for outdoor electronic music / party duties
Proposed Stage 2 system:
4 × Titan 48
2 × DR280 tops
DR280s likely loaded with:
- Eminence Kappalite 3012HO woofers
- Eminence NSD2005 compression drivers
- Passive internal crossover
System DSP/amp likely to be a CVR DSP-1004, running:
CH1: 2 × T48
CH2: 2 × T48
CH3: DR280 L
CH4: DR280 R
The intended use is mostly outdoor parties in the 100–300 person range, with electronic music doing most of the heavy lifting. I’m not trying to build a touring rig or commercial hire system, but I do love building speakers and want something properly capable, efficient and clean.
I’ve been around a lot of Funktion-One rigs over the years, and BFM was my original gateway into chasing that kind of horn-loaded performance on a more achievable DIY budget.
My thinking is:
- I already have two T48s and love them, so adding two more seems like the obvious low-end move.
- Since I only want to build one pair of tops, the DR280 seems to make more sense than the DR250.
- The DR300 seems excessive for this use case.
- I briefly looked at MEH/JMOD-style designs, as a friend is very keen on them, but that feels like a different ecosystem and would probably make me want to rebuild the subs too.
- The DR280 + T48 path feels like the most coherent expansion of what I already have.
Questions for the hive mind:
1. Is 4 × T48 + 2 × DR280 a sensible target system for this kind of outdoor use?
2. Would you agree that DR280 makes more sense than DR250 if I’m only building one pair of tops?
3. Any reason not to use Kappalite 3012HO + NSD2005 in the DR280s?
4. Any concerns running the whole system from a 4-channel DSP amp, with two T48s per sub channel at 4 ohms? We already have access to a CVR DSP-1004, which is much more user-friendly than my current QSC GX7 + DriveRack PA+ setup (and I'll still need another amp).
5. Any deployment advice for this setup — sub placement, crossover point, limiter settings, cab stacking, etc.?
I’ll be in the US at the end of August and am leaning toward buying all the drivers while I’m over there and bringing to bring them back with me to Australia. So now is probably the time to talk me out of doing something stupid.
Or at least help me do the stupid thing properly.
I’m currently running 2 × Titan 48s loaded with Eminence Kappalite 3015LFs. I built them about 8 years ago for outdoor parties and they’ve been excellent. Very happy with the output, efficiency and general horn-loaded nonsense.
I’m now part of an outdoor music community, which has me looking seriously at expanding my system. I’d appreciate some sanity checking before I commit.
Current system:
2 × Titan 48
3015LF loaded
2x Tops, usually rentals like JBL 715's.
Used mainly for outdoor electronic music / party duties
Proposed Stage 2 system:
4 × Titan 48
2 × DR280 tops
DR280s likely loaded with:
- Eminence Kappalite 3012HO woofers
- Eminence NSD2005 compression drivers
- Passive internal crossover
System DSP/amp likely to be a CVR DSP-1004, running:
CH1: 2 × T48
CH2: 2 × T48
CH3: DR280 L
CH4: DR280 R
The intended use is mostly outdoor parties in the 100–300 person range, with electronic music doing most of the heavy lifting. I’m not trying to build a touring rig or commercial hire system, but I do love building speakers and want something properly capable, efficient and clean.
I’ve been around a lot of Funktion-One rigs over the years, and BFM was my original gateway into chasing that kind of horn-loaded performance on a more achievable DIY budget.
My thinking is:
- I already have two T48s and love them, so adding two more seems like the obvious low-end move.
- Since I only want to build one pair of tops, the DR280 seems to make more sense than the DR250.
- The DR300 seems excessive for this use case.
- I briefly looked at MEH/JMOD-style designs, as a friend is very keen on them, but that feels like a different ecosystem and would probably make me want to rebuild the subs too.
- The DR280 + T48 path feels like the most coherent expansion of what I already have.
Questions for the hive mind:
1. Is 4 × T48 + 2 × DR280 a sensible target system for this kind of outdoor use?
2. Would you agree that DR280 makes more sense than DR250 if I’m only building one pair of tops?
3. Any reason not to use Kappalite 3012HO + NSD2005 in the DR280s?
4. Any concerns running the whole system from a 4-channel DSP amp, with two T48s per sub channel at 4 ohms? We already have access to a CVR DSP-1004, which is much more user-friendly than my current QSC GX7 + DriveRack PA+ setup (and I'll still need another amp).
5. Any deployment advice for this setup — sub placement, crossover point, limiter settings, cab stacking, etc.?
I’ll be in the US at the end of August and am leaning toward buying all the drivers while I’m over there and bringing to bring them back with me to Australia. So now is probably the time to talk me out of doing something stupid.
Or at least help me do the stupid thing properly.