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Author Topic: Danley SM80- first impressions  (Read 38551 times)

Rick Powell

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Danley SM80- first impressions
« on: November 02, 2012, 05:01:09 PM »

After much ado  (>:( UPS) I have a pair of Danley SM80 speakers.  The setup you see is a pair of SM80s powered by Crown xti4000 over a pair of TH115's powered by an Itech 6000.  The first thing I noticed was how loud these things are.  I had to dial back the inputs 4 clicks on the xti to match the tops with the bottoms; usually we are dialing the low end down by 5 dB or so.  We listened to a bunch of stuff from my son's iphone and it wasnt' a good way to judge sound quality, so I pulled out a Yamaha CD changer and listended to the Mix Reference CD as well as some Josh Groban, and the sparkle and detail is there as one would expect.  I did boost up the 160 Hz range a little on the main EQ, but other than a little low end bump, it was basically flat.  We went out to the road (about 150' away) and still had good clarity (sorry, no SPL meter or analytical program traces).
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Reggie Kendrick

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2012, 08:33:39 AM »

After much ado  (>:( UPS) I have a pair of Danley SM80 speakers.  The setup you see is a pair of SM80s powered by Crown xti4000 over a pair of TH115's powered by an Itech 6000.  The first thing I noticed was how loud these things are.  I had to dial back the inputs 4 clicks on the xti to match the tops with the bottoms; usually we are dialing the low end down by 5 dB or so.  We listened to a bunch of stuff from my son's iphone and it wasnt' a good way to judge sound quality, so I pulled out a Yamaha CD changer and listended to the Mix Reference CD as well as some Josh Groban, and the sparkle and detail is there as one would expect.  I did boost up the 160 Hz range a little on the main EQ, but other than a little low end bump, it was basically flat.  We went out to the road (about 150' away) and still had good clarity (sorry, no SPL meter or analytical program traces).
Did you install pole mounts on your TH-115s?
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Rick Powell

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2012, 10:22:22 PM »

Did you install pole mounts on your TH-115s?

Yes, they are the K&M screw mount system. K&M 21334 "distance rod" poles and 24116 connector plates.  There is a vertical wall inside the TH 115 that you have to avoid when drilling the hole (Ivan Beaver gave me instructions on missing it). 
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Matteus Köza

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2012, 05:42:42 AM »

Nice system, congrats :)

Can you tell me litle more about your purchase?

Why did you go for this system?
What other speakers did you had in mind, did you do comparissions with other speakers?
Sound quality compared to other speakers? any conclusions?
What was the end line that made you choose this speakers over other speakers brands?
What other speakers have you heard in your life?
Whats your purpose? Renting? DJing or live musicans performance.
How is the combination with the subs and tops. Sound quality.

Thanks :)
Regards
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Rick Powell

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2012, 02:20:46 PM »

Can you tell me litle more about your purchase?

Why did you go for this system?
I already had the TH115's.  I also have a set of JTR Triple 8's that sound fantastic (and I highly recommend everything in the JTR line within its application); however, I was usually in at least 2-3 situations every year where I was pushing them to their limit and beyond, and needed something with a little more juice.  I will definitely hang on to the Triple 8's and use them for side fills, floor monitors, or smallish SR gigs.
What other speakers did you had in mind, did you do comparisons with other speakers?
I considered EV QRX 212 and the new JTR Noesis series among others, as well as some used Fulcrums that were floating around.  I had a single Danley SH50 for a short time but the thought of setting up a 135 lb speaker on multiple occasions got unappealing very fast, even though I liked the sound quality.  The LAB is a great place to get the opinions of working sound people of what works for them and why.
Sound quality compared to other speakers? any conclusions?
I am a fan of single point sources, especially when done well.  The SM80 sounds as good as anything out there of its size.
What was the end line that made you choose this speakers over other speakers brands?
Having a matched system and a point source box.
What other speakers have you heard in your life?
Starting with the Shure Vocalmaster and the Kustom sparkle PA cabinets, and ending with the Adamson line array used on the McCartney tour, too many to mention
Whats your purpose? Renting? DJing or live musicans performance.
Mostly live sound with my own band, occasional sound for other live bands.  My son Ian does most of the mixing these days.
How is the combination with the subs and tops. Sound quality.Great, except the SM80 has way more headroom than one TH115.  I could easily add another low end cab per side and still have a balanced mix, if I pushed the SM80 harder.
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2012, 04:12:48 PM »

Quote
How is the combination with the subs and tops. Sound quality.Great, except the SM80 has way more headroom than one TH115.  I could easily add another low end cab per side and still have a balanced mix, if I pushed the SM80 harder.

I'm very interested in this. Will you have a chance to set up 2 TH115's under the SM80 and run it up to limit to see how it fares? I'm curious as to how many 115's it takes to match an 80 for live music...
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Rick Powell

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2012, 06:07:03 PM »

I'm very interested in this. Will you have a chance to set up 2 TH115's under the SM80 and run it up to limit to see how it fares? I'm curious as to how many 115's it takes to match an 80 for live music...

To be honest, I didn't believe Ivan Beaver's copuple posts here and on AVS forum where he stated one SM80 could keep up with two or three TH118's, depending on the style of music.  I might try your suggestion out this Friday, where we are playing in a long, narrow club where we usually set up one over one.  If I set up one over two, I will probably not be able to turn it up all the way except for a short sound check - they would probably frown at 135 dB in this place.
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2012, 09:34:04 PM »

To be honest, I didn't believe Ivan Beaver's copuple posts here and on AVS forum where he stated one SM80 could keep up with two or three TH118's, depending on the style of music.  I might try your suggestion out this Friday, where we are playing in a long, narrow club where we usually set up one over one.  If I set up one over two, I will probably not be able to turn it up all the way except for a short sound check - they would probably frown at 135 dB in this place.

I don't doubt Ivan at all, but the thing is that everybody has a different idea of how much bass is too much/not enough.  Hearing from different users helps us all get an idea of how to use these things.
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Reggie Kendrick

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2012, 07:22:17 AM »

Can you tell me litle more about your purchase?

...
I considered EV QRX 212 and the new JTR Noesis series among others, as well as some used Fulcrums that were floating around...
I already own the QRX212/75 but dislike its placement options (scaffold needed to get it raised).  Those JTR Noesis look very interesting but not many reviews at this point.  I'd love to see how the Noesis 3tx or 212HT compares to the SM80.  I'm gonna try and arrange a short trip to Danley with my QRX212/75's to do an A/B comparison as well.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2012, 07:47:17 AM by Reggie Kendrick »
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Ivan Beaver

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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2012, 07:32:10 PM »

To be honest, I didn't believe Ivan Beaver's copuple posts here and on AVS forum where he stated one SM80 could keep up with two or three TH118's, depending on the style of music.  I might try your suggestion out this Friday, where we are playing in a long, narrow club where we usually set up one over one.  If I set up one over two, I will probably not be able to turn it up all the way except for a short sound check - they would probably frown at 135 dB in this place.
My statements come from the following basic experience.  Take a properly powered TH118 and run it to the max.

Now turn up the SM80 until you have a "nice balance" (whatever that is?).  Now look at how hard the SM80 is "running".  You will realize that the SM80 is typically 6-10dB down from max output.  So you would need at least an extra TH118 to keep up.

Now different people have different idea of how much bass should be used to "balance" the mid/highs.

Typically the range is 10-20dB for most popular forms of music.  I use 15dB greater bass as a general "starting point".

So it is not as simple as having the same max output capability for both the subs and full range.  The subs need to have quite a bit more output capability.

Now just to throw a "monkey wrench" into the whole "max SPL needed" consideration.

Simple numbers on a spec sheet are one thing-but what about sound quality? Do you really want to listen to speakers at their max rated output?  Some you do-some you don't.  But that is something that doesn't appear on any spec sheet.

So it is more of a "have to listen" to different products to determine what is the "max SPL that is listenable".

That is a much harder "spec" to come by. 
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Re: Danley SM80- first impressions
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2012, 07:32:10 PM »


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