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[Matt Greene]

Hi all. I'm needing to upgrade speakers in a 225 seat auditorium for use in university plays & musicals. Clarity of voices matters the most, followed by ability to rock.

Currently considering:
QSC K10.2 or K12.2
EV ZLX
JBL EON
Yamaha DXR

Thoughts?

[Will Knight]

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[Matt Greene]

Perhaps JBL PRX is a better model for comparison

[Dave Pluke]

Thoughts?

What are the dimensions of the room?  Are you considering a Center Cluster or L/R (and maybe C) hangs?

Budget???

Dave

[Matt Greene]

What are the dimensions of the room?  Are you considering a Center Cluster or L/R (and maybe C) hangs?

Budget???

Dave

3900 sq. ft. Not sure of the exact dimensions but wide and shallow (approx. 12 rows) audience with a pretty steep pitch. Basic Stage R/Stage L wall mounted.

I can afford all the ones I mentioned, so just looking for thoughts on which would be the best for this application.

[Jay Barracato]

3900 sq. ft. Not sure of the exact dimensions but wide and shallow (approx. 12 rows) audience with a pretty steep pitch. Basic Stage R/Stage L wall mounted.

I can afford all the ones I mentioned, so just looking for thoughts on which would be the best for this application.

While I love powered boxes for portable SOS applications, I think for wall mounted I would look at passive.

I recently got to fiddle with some of the updated Yamaha clubs with the matching Yamaha dsp amp with presets and I was very impressed.

Don't rule out passive speakers when you can get them as part of a system.

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[Ivan Beaver]

3900 sq. ft. Not sure of the exact dimensions but wide and shallow (approx. 12 rows) audience with a pretty steep pitch. Basic Stage R/Stage L wall mounted.

I can afford all the ones I mentioned, so just looking for thoughts on which would be the best for this application.

Here are the steps to sound system design/choice
1: Determine the coverage needed for the intended space

2: Determine the SPL needed for the loudest performances in there-and add some headroom

3: Determine the budget (speakers, amps, processing, install, tuning etc)

4: THEN AND ONLY THEN, do you start to look at speaker that meet all of the above.

If you skip to step 4 first, then you are simply asking from trouble.

How do you know if the speakers you listed will meet your goals?  When you have not listed the goals?

[Steve Crump]

Hi all. I'm needing to upgrade speakers in a 225 seat auditorium for use in university plays & musicals. Clarity of voices matters the most, followed by ability to rock.

Currently considering:
QSC K10.2 or K12.2
EV ZLX
JBL EON
Yamaha DXR

Thoughts?

While I love powered boxes for portable SOS applications, I think for wall mounted I would look at passive

+1

QSC also has the passive "E" series that are budget minded and matching GXD amps with DSP.

[Matt Greene]

Here are the steps to sound system design/choice
1: Determine the coverage needed for the intended space

2: Determine the SPL needed for the loudest performances in there-and add some headroom

3: Determine the budget (speakers, amps, processing, install, tuning etc)

4: THEN AND ONLY THEN, do you start to look at speaker that meet all of the above.

If you skip to step 4 first, then you are simply asking from trouble.

How do you know if the speakers you listed will meet your goals?  When you have not listed the goals?

The QSCs were recommended by a sound engineer who came and worked with the system. Looking for other opinions on other models and those are the ones that seem to pop up when comparing.

While the primary use would be on a shelf on the wall, I'd like the option to take them on the road when performing outside of the space.

[Steve Garris]

The QSCs were recommended by a sound engineer who came and worked with the system. Looking for other opinions on other models and those are the ones that seem to pop up when comparing.

While the primary use would be on a shelf on the wall, I'd like the option to take them on the road when performing outside of the space.

Many of the consumer grade powered boxes will likely do the job, but you are looking at the lower end of the spectrum here. I would suggest a pair of Yamaha DSR112's, which you can get from Mike Pyle on this forum for a very good price - comparable to the K12.2 street price. They will be far better than anything on your list, and come with a 7 year warranty. The JBL PRX would be my next choice in that price group. As Ivan stated you need to determine if any of these will do the job.

[Chrysander 'C.R.' Young]

The QSCs were recommended by a sound engineer who came and worked with the system. Looking for other opinions on other models and those are the ones that seem to pop up when comparing.

While the primary use would be on a shelf on the wall, I'd like the option to take them on the road when performing outside of the space.

Did the sound guy help you with items 1-3 on Ivan's list?

[Ivan Beaver]

Did the sound guy help you with items 1-3 on Ivan's list?

Like the saying goes:

"The wrong tool at a great price is STILL the wrong tool".

[Kevin Maxwell]

All of what I say below is dependent on your standards. If you don’t care that much then you can ignore all of the rest of what I have written.

When you say wall mounted, if you are talking about the proscenium wall, if the stage continues past that wall to the audience that is too close to the stage. Even if it doesn’t that location is usually still too close to the stage. In Theater you will need a lot of gain before feedback. Performers aren’t taught to project anymore.  I like to get the speakers as far into the house as is reasonable and then use much smaller speakers in front of the stage as front fills. They can be very small and not run loud at all.

To do what will work and make people happy isn’t as simple for theater as just putting a couple of speaker on shelfs on the wall. I would want them permanently mounted so they will not be moved even an inch. I think the idea of taking them out for other things isn’t a good idea.

One of the problems with less expensive speakers is the inconsistency of the sound that is put out over the coverage pattern. And where this becomes more of an issue with theater is if the mics the performers are wearing pick up different thing as they move around then different frequencies will feedback (or be more prone to feedback) when the actors are standing or moving to different places.

The other big problem you have with were you can mount (better yet) hang the speakers is where can you put them where they aren’t going to be in the way of the lights.   

I would look for speakers with the proper coverage pattern from manufacturers like Fulcrum Acoustics (FA) and possibly Danley Sound Labs (DSL). I have heard some 12” coax speakers from FA that really impressed me. I heard some DSL that I think is an 8” coax design that sounded nice and was a reasonable size and it might work well for vocals in theater. And with the proper sub you would be surprised at how speakers like this can rock, as was one of your requests. When you add the requirement of “ability to rock” you will definitely need at least one sub. This just shows you how most of the time the application you will use the speaker in and how it will be used is so important. What will work well in a small theater like this and give you the fidelity that you want will not work well outside and maybe not in other rooms. 

I am doing a musical now, actually opening night is tonight and last night was a preview. I am in a room that seat about 900 with a balcony but no under balcony. The main speakers are hanging about 10feet from the edge of the stage and are out from the side wall quite a bit. There are 2 on each side, of each pair the inner ones are aimed farther towards the center of the room into the audience, the outer ones are aimed straighter out. There are 3 front fill speakers across the front of the temporary thrust stage, built just for this show. There are 3 delay speakers hung just before the balcony. The outside 2 of them cover a little bit of the back of the main floor and also the balcony and the center delay pretty much just covers the balcony. All of this is time aligned to the stage and balanced for levels to blend in the house. And using the matrix sends on the digital mixers 2 for this show. I am sending slightly different things to different speakers. For example the front fills don’t get the apron mics and they usually don’t get any pit (musicians). But in this case the pit is all the way up stage behind the set, the audience never sees them. So the pit is all mic-ed up and amplified. The last time we did the pit back there they did reveal them in the last number. At intermission people asked me if there was a live band or if it was recorded. I told some of them it was recorded but then told them I was kidding and told them where they were.

All of this to say to do it (theater) right it takes work and planning not just throwing up 2 speakers on shelves on the wall. And this isn’t Broadway this is in a High School. But not quite your usual High School. 

Please forgive any grammar or spelling errors.

[Robert Lunceford]

Hi all. I'm needing to upgrade speakers in a 225 seat auditorium for use in university plays & musicals. Clarity of voices matters the most, followed by ability to rock.

Currently considering:
QSC K10.2 or K12.2
EV ZLX
JBL EON
Yamaha DXR

Thoughts?

When you say the speakers will mostly be used for plays and musicals, will you be using omni headsets to mic the performers? Are the speakers mostly for vocal amplification?
If so, I wouldn't use any of the speakers you listed.

[Mike Caldwell]

While the primary use would be on a shelf on the wall, I'd like the option to take them on the road when performing outside of the space.

Setting speakers on a shelf would be a bad idea, no way to really aim the speakers as they most likely would need to be aimed as in tilted down to the seating area, you don't want to mount the shelf at angle! Strapping them through the handle and to the shelf also not a good idea.


With powered speakers in an install you need to think out power to the speakers and how to turn them on and off. The proper way would be to use a power sequencing system to power the entire system on and off in the proper sequence, remote power modules are used for things like power speakers.

[ProSoundWeb Community]