Tweet
We have a long-term folk concert series at my church, which is evolving from being mostly solo and duo acoustic acts to having some full bands with more electric instruments and drum sets. The space has dimensions of about 100 feet long x 48 feet wide x 20 feet high (so 96,000 ft3 total), and seats roughly 175 between the main floor and a back balcony. Current speaker setup uses 4 Peavey Impulse 100 speakers, two as mains and two as monitors. These are two-way speakers with 10" woofers.
This setup gives us adequate SPL (we don't want or need rock concert volume levels), but it's noticeably bass-deficient and I think we're pushing the mains toward their excursion limits in some cases. (They're perfectly ok for acoustic guitar, vocals, and keyboards, but not so much for micing a kick drum, and electric bass lacks authority).
The way the front stage area is configured and utilized, we don't have space to leave big cabinets out all the time (other than during the shows themselves), nor space to store big cabinets when not in use. There are a couple smallish triangular spaces against each side wall where cabinets could be placed permanently, but they would need to be somewhat size/shape limited. I measured and we could fit a 15"x24" BFM Tuba 45, or I could build a pretty large (if necessary) vented cabinet to fit in the space.
At this point, I'm trying just to get a sense of whether just two subs will be enough, and if so, what approach I should take. Vented cabinets are a little quicker and easier, but I don't think building the Tuba cabinets will be a problem. If vented, what minimum drivers are likely to be enough? If we went with a couple T45s, would we be advised to load them with LAB12's, or would the cheaper D12LFA be enough?
Cost is an object, but I think we would rather err on spending a little more on drivers up front than have to replace them with something better later on. I understand that crossovers and limiters will be needed as well....
This setup gives us adequate SPL (we don't want or need rock concert volume levels), but it's noticeably bass-deficient and I think we're pushing the mains toward their excursion limits in some cases. (They're perfectly ok for acoustic guitar, vocals, and keyboards, but not so much for micing a kick drum, and electric bass lacks authority).
The way the front stage area is configured and utilized, we don't have space to leave big cabinets out all the time (other than during the shows themselves), nor space to store big cabinets when not in use. There are a couple smallish triangular spaces against each side wall where cabinets could be placed permanently, but they would need to be somewhat size/shape limited. I measured and we could fit a 15"x24" BFM Tuba 45, or I could build a pretty large (if necessary) vented cabinet to fit in the space.
At this point, I'm trying just to get a sense of whether just two subs will be enough, and if so, what approach I should take. Vented cabinets are a little quicker and easier, but I don't think building the Tuba cabinets will be a problem. If vented, what minimum drivers are likely to be enough? If we went with a couple T45s, would we be advised to load them with LAB12's, or would the cheaper D12LFA be enough?
Cost is an object, but I think we would rather err on spending a little more on drivers up front than have to replace them with something better later on. I understand that crossovers and limiters will be needed as well....
Comment