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[Mike Spade]

I'm looking to be able to adjust my bass a bit more and I'm looking at the ashly 4.24G or driverack 260.

I was also looking at a dbx 120x-ds but the rca and lack of digital display made the driverack 260 look like a better option.

Just wondering peoples experience , if anyones possibly had both that would have some insight that would be rad.

Alternatively, since these are both ancient options, is there something newer, more updated that may be in the under $500 range you can easily find these used for? I'm having a hard time finding anything else that does this for under a grand that doesn't say behringer on it... So I guess the behringer ones on the table too but I'm currently leaning towards the driverack 260 since they can be found locally for around $400.

[Mike Caldwell]

I'm looking to be able to adjust my bass a bit more and I'm looking at the ashly 4.24G or driverack 260.

I was also looking at a dbx 120x-ds but the rca and lack of digital display made the driverack 260 look like a better option.

Just wondering peoples experience , if anyones possibly had both that would have some insight that would be rad.

Alternatively, since these are both ancient options, is there something newer, more updated that may be in the under $500 range you can easily find these used for? I'm having a hard time finding anything else that does this for under a grand that doesn't say behringer on it... So I guess the behringer ones on the table too but I'm currently leaning towards the driverack 260 since they can be found locally for around $400.

What is the rest of your system?
What do your mean when you say "adjust my bass a bit more"?

The DBX sub synth can make some serious low frequency, if your system is not up to handling low frequencies just pushing more sub low frequencies into it will only make your speaker repair shop happy in the long run.
With some shopping you find a DBX360 for your budget.

[Mike Spade]

What is the rest of your system?
What do your mean when you say "adjust my bass a bit more"?

The DBX sub synth can make some serious low frequency, if your system is not up to handling low frequencies just pushing more sub low frequencies into it will only make your speaker repair shop happy in the long run.
With some shopping you find a DBX360 for your budget.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm currently powering a bunch of 18s through a old behringer eq I have that has a sub out on the back... it has honestly no options aside of a little knob on the back beside the xlr that alows me to change the top hz cut but thats it. I have it set at 150hz atm and my amp itself has a 30hz clip limiter that I have turned on so they are running from 30hz to 150hz, the drivers I have the specs go down to 25hz so I don't think there is a issue with this, they sound good as is.. I just feel like I could be doing a better job with them then this crappy out dated behringer rack unit that I honestly want to get rid of but don't have a better option to replace it with atm. That would be the main reason why I was looking at the 120x-ds since I was orginally looking for a rack mount unit that would alow me to adjust my bass a bit more, but from what I'm reading the 260 has the sub synth in it as well.

I looked up the dbx360 and to be honest, its like twice the price I can find used 260s for.

Is there a reason to get the 360 over the 260?

Only other thing I have running to these subs would be a dbx 266 limiter/compressor.

So to address your question "What do your mean when you say "adjust my bass a bit more"?"

I don't have the ability to boost say 50hz or 80hz or cut around 30 hz more or boost 30hz more, I have zero ability to effect anything between the 30hz and 150hz bands aside of cutting below and above those rates.

[David Allred]

$300 or less for a used 260 on ebay. 

[Mark Cadwallader]

"A bunch of 18s" is not adequate enough detail. What are the subs, and how many?  What crossover are you using, and how is it set?  What are the amps?  What style of music? 

[Mike Spade]

$300 or less for a used 260 on ebay.

I'm over in canada and our currency isn't worth jack so its a extra 30 to 25% more for me but yeah... either on ebay or used locally 300-400 seems like the best bet.

I'm looking around for another dsp, but aside of the behringer one I'm not seeing anything new under a grand.

There are some used ashleys around more like 600 and I like the idea of the expansion slaves for 150-200 if i need more in the future since slaves are extremely cheap so only the first one would cost me anything real.

Ideally since i have such a "Diverse" set of 2nd hand cabs and drivers I'd like to set each pair of drivers to their own line coming out of the unit instead of what I'm doing atm that is running a junk behringer crossover at 150hz and running them flat as loud as i can. I currently have 12x 18s in sets of 2, 8 of them in 4 double 18s, two singles and two pr418's we use as a dj monitors with a pair of 15 inch w horn 2ways. So subs alone ideally I'd want 3 or 4 channels so i could edit each sub pair without effecting the others cuz atm its 30 to 150hz for all. I have 4 15 inch kick bins that I cut around 1500 that are pretty cool too so id need only one channel for those since they are all matching cases n drivers. I got six double 15s with horns, four of them are the same cabs, but each set of two has different matching drivers, could easily have another 2 or 3 channels there. So the 260 having 6 out that I can edit each channel of by eqing and hz cuts, that sounds like its exactly what i need.... its just old as all hell so i wanted to ask around and see if anything else is worth looking at.

"A bunch of 18s" is not adequate enough detail. What are the subs, and how many?  What crossover are you using, and how is it set?  What are the amps?  What style of music?

Few of these things have been addressed already, I have 3 sets of different sub driver types in different cabs that require their own crossover. I've been using  POS behringer dual 15 band eq, I don't use the eq, I just use the sub out on the back and the crappy knob on the back next to the xlr to control the top cut, I have it set at 150hz atm.

Again the only crossover I'm using for the subs, is the sub out on the behringer 15band eq, it has absolutely no other sub options, its really sub par. (pun not intended) Now if your talking about my entire system, I have a yorkville mono crossover that i use purely for the kick bins since the bins themselves dont have crossovers much like the subs, again i cut them at 1500hz for top end and I honestly don't remember how low its set, I wana say 50 or 60 since i know the drivers can go lower then that but I'm honestly not sure without looking at the rack what the low cut is, I know the high cut for sure since the driver itself is spec'd for 1500hz. For my six pairs of yorkville double 15s, they have build in crossovers so I run them direct to amp. The pr418s and the single 15s w horns also have crossovers in them so i run them direct, sometimes I run one amp off the behringer 15band eq so i can take out some highs on the single 15 monitors on one channel and the yorkie double 15s on the other channel since two of my 6 double 15 yorkies are different then the others, we call em "slimjims" since they are quite a bit thinner, like a pair of yamaha's, anyways i toss those sideways and put them ontop of the double 18s, i stack the two double 18s ontop of each other and then the double 15 slimjims ontop of that, with two single 18s stacked ontop of each other inbetween them. So in otherwords that is front of house and cuz folks like to speaker hump the subs, its good to have those double 15s horns turned down so you still get loud mids and lows without braking folks ears with highs that they can hear anyways from the rest of the system. So beside these 6 cabs ontop of each other, with 2 18s ontop of each other inbetween them, I then have two kick bins on each side of that, with two yorkie maxim 1000's ontop of the kick bins to make a 6x 15 stack on each side of the 10x 18 wall with 2x 15s ontop of it.

Its 20 feet wide, extra detail for ya.

Took me a minute to type out all them details, half of why i was leaving it all out... didnt seem like it mattered when asking about this type of thing tbh... But as you can see I need multiple eqing and hz cuts on multi lines so I'm really leaning towards these two models since it would save me from having to buy a new rack case for all the extra rack gear id need when each rack is only one or two sets.

I'd like to eventually build my own matching uniform double 18s, but for now I was able to source all of these used locally for a good price so it was hard to say no to most of them. I got one of the double 15s pairs nearly for free cuz it came with two blown drivers, i just put kappa 15s in them and used the two good ones as backups for my other yorkie double and single 15s. Whole system aside of one set of double 18s, two single 18s and four kick bins are from yorkville, i'm from canada so its the most commonly found used gear around here, good birch cases tbh so I'm not complaining, even if I replace all the subs I'll prob still keep the double 15s since they have awesome low end (the 4 matching big ones, not so much the slimjims)

Music style... everything honestly, I have some land that I throw monthly events on, mostly EDM, techno, house, hardstyle or dub, regg, dnb kinda stuff, hiphop/rap. I'll do 1 or 2 bands a year so for sure more electronic based.

[Mike Caldwell]

Can you post a picture of your full rig all set up.

[David Allred]

I'm over in canada and our currency isn't worth jack so its a extra 30 to 25% more for me but yeah... either on ebay or used locally 300-400 seems like the best bet.

I'm looking around for another dsp, but aside of the behringer one I'm not seeing anything new under a grand.

Since you were considering a non DSP option for your solution, what about the original Driverack PA.  It is not nearly as powerful as the 260, but it will do what you need (in my interpretation of what you set forth).  Dirt cheap.
I would also like to see a pic your "frankensystem".   It would bring back old memories.

[Mike Caldwell]

Provided your 18's are all front loaded direct radiator design and all wired in same polarity / all the cones move in and out together at the same time those can more or less work together, same for your 15 inch "kick bins".
Combining your different. mid high boxes could be tricky depending on the internal crossover design and wiring.
You do want to get some sort of proper crossover for that system,
at this point a good ole analog crossover would work better than what your using now.

Powering all of that is topic in itself.

[Riley Casey]

I suspect that what you're looking for is the Ashly 4.24C or D.  I have a dozen of them in various racks and they do a fine job. Eight outputs would give you ample resources for tailoring the various speakers in your inventory.  Make sure to use the computer interface.  Controlling them from the front panel is a huge PITA.  The D models generally run cheaper than the C's on Ebay since they have no controls of display, fine if you can get by with only talking to them with the comp.

[Mike Spade]

Since you were considering a non DSP option for your solution, what about the original Driverack PA.  It is not nearly as powerful as the 260, but it will do what you need (in my interpretation of what you set forth).  Dirt cheap.
I would also like to see a pic your "frankensystem".   It would bring back old memories.

Well its not so much a franken system, its a yorkville system since its all from yorkvilles "elite" line, its just I have different pairs combined.

When I talk about all the different types of speakers I have and all the different lines I'll need to properly cut and boost each type of speaker then yeah it for sure feels fraken system. That is the main reason fueling me behind wanting to build/design a high efficiency low power dual 18 subwoofer, that plus my limited outdoor power (currently using 3x 9.2k gennys!) I tried making a thread about it in the subwoofer sub-forum but it seems everybody wanted to ignore this point in favor of telling me to stack up on large wattage drivers that I'd only be able to power a handful of, when this system is more for close range listening, people will be dancing 1-20-40 feet away from it so after testing with renting 16x 500w 18s we found it to be more effective then having 2x 2500w 21s, but consumed around the same power. Try telling that to a forum full of people concreted on the idea that more wattage is the only way and anything under 1k is a trash driver lol. Suggesting that I buy new amps, buy new speakers and make new cabs, start from scratch and sell all my shit then get mad at me when I don't "take their advise" and continue to try to stay on subject for talks about a high efficiency low wattage design.

Back on subject tho.

The main reason I was looking at the driverack 260 over the pa is its my understanding the 260 has more control over its outputs, as in, you have 6 different editable mono channels while what I'm reading (and correct me if I'm wrong) the pa doesn't do this and is missing some features the 260 has.

Another thing I was looking at (altho admittedly I trust this brand less then behringer) is the Peavey VSX26, for the price I'm seeing around 200-300 its kinda hard to ignore its existence... has anyone tried one?

Provided your 18's are all front loaded direct radiator design and all wired in same polarity / all the cones move in and out together at the same time those can more or less work together, same for your 15 inch "kick bins".
Combining your different. mid high boxes could be tricky depending on the internal crossover design and wiring.
You do want to get some sort of proper crossover for that system,
at this point a good ole analog crossover would work better than what your using now.

Powering all of that is topic in itself.

Yeah I think its best to stay away from the powering topic itself since again this is a dsp topic and that could derail us for a good while, I will tease you and let you know we run 3x 9.2k watt gennys tho, nice thing about large gennys over crappy clubs is you have 30 amp line access instead of 15s lol!

Moving on or we'd be here all day XD

The speakers are all setup as you'd expect, no funky configurations, red into red, black into black. I don't flip anything, all cones move together, its a beauty to watch tbh.

All subs are bass reflex front loaded with nonhorn port paths. The double 15s and single 15s are the same. Only different thing is the kick bins, they got scoops on the front so they look kinda like a bulky pa horn that goes into a 15, I'd say the horn path goes in at least half way into the cab and the driver itself is mounted in the middle, pointed outwards. Its got a slotted port on the bottom and you open it by taking the back panel off, pretty basic kick bin, very punchy, I didn't think I was going to notice them verse the 18s but the hz cut they cover is higher so you can 100% tell the difference with them, they give the "other half" of the bass that my subs don't above 150. I can't imagine not using them now.

Yeah I was thinking about just grabbing a analog crossover like a 3way/4-way that are super common. Problem again with that is I have no real eqing and its not a dsp, I wouldn't really have anymore features then I already have using the sub-out on the 15band behringer eq since I'd only be able to effect the top hz cut (maybe bottom hz cut but I can do that with amp already so I dont care) the point is I won't be able to boost 40hz or 50hz to make better use of my subs.

Again if you look at the VBSS (the whole reason I'm looking at dsp tbh) you'll see that this sub that goes down to 17hz or 31hz depending on the port size (the middle comes out and its 17, with middle its 31) and only costs about $200 to make and is powered off a behringer inuke-3000 you can get for $300 that can power 4 of them. Now I know, everybody hates behringer but lets look at some facts here okay, VBSS stands for value buster subwoofer system, the idea here is get the low end and output you want at low money. So one of the facts of this system is you CANNOT replace the inuke-3000 with another amp, since the MAIN REASON why this works is due to the build in dsp on the inuke-3000, this means a inuke-3000 without dsp will also not work. The settings put into it make it work the way it does, I'd imagine hz cutz and eq boosting/removing in the right spots, possibly more since I have no idea what is actually done in the dsp, its just offered as a downloadable "programed settings" to put into your amp. Now what this tells me is that its not the inuke-3000 thats particularly amazing, its the fact it has a build in dsp, its the dsp that is doing all the work here to shape out the bass to make this all possible, in fact, someone tried to make a vbss with a crown amp and FAILED cuz instead of using the behringer built in dsp he used a rack mounted crossover that just cut the top and low hzs with nothing touching the inbetween, *exactly* like I'm doing right now. Same with eaw sb1000's, I've talked to some people online and they swear that without the rack mounted sub booster/crossover that eaw made for those subs, that they lack the majority of the bass they where designed to produce.

So I'm really leaning towards the driverack 260 here but I also feel like I may want more then 6 lines. The driverack pa is also on my raydar but I need to look into it more to see what features its missing from the 260 to see if it will actually work. So the idea here would be to use it as a crossover, eqing and bass boost, instead of having to buy multiples of each as hardware, this is reducing rack space by having all that gear combined into one dsp.

I suspect that what you're looking for is the Ashly 4.24C or D.  I have a dozen of them in various racks and they do a fine job. Eight outputs would give you ample resources for tailoring the various speakers in your inventory.  Make sure to use the computer interface.  Controlling them from the front panel is a huge PITA.  The D models generally run cheaper than the C's on Ebay since they have no controls of display, fine if you can get by with only talking to them with the comp.

Have you used a G?

Is there a reason to use the C or D over the G?

I ask since I can find the G around the cheapest plus it has the option for slave expansion and slaves are even cheaper so any upgrading would be cheaper then buying a 2nd C or D. Plus it looks like the G has the ability to edit options with computer or through buttons.

[Riley Casey]

Sure, I've got three of the G version digital graphic EQs.  I'll sell ya one for US$200.  Totally useless for what you're describing here but hey I could use the money.  Its really not what gear is a good deal, it's all about what gear has the functions that allow you to achieve your goals.  A DSP based crossover with adequate EQ functions and delay is the right way to make your subs do your bidding.

Have you used a G?

Is there a reason to use the C or D over the G?

I ask since I can find the G around the cheapest plus it has the option for slave expansion and slaves are even cheaper so any upgrading would be cheaper then buying a 2nd C or D. Plus it looks like the G has the ability to edit options with computer or through buttons.

[Mike Spade]

Sure, I've got three of the G version digital graphic EQs.  I'll sell ya one for US$200.  Totally useless for what you're describing here but hey I could use the money.  Its really not what gear is a good deal, it's all about what gear has the functions that allow you to achieve your goals.  A DSP based crossover with adequate EQ functions and delay is the right way to make your subs do your bidding.

Seems I am mistaken about what the G does then? I was under the impression the Ashly 4.24g was a different/older model of the Ashly 4.24c and had the same computer controlled dsp.

So your saying the C and D versions are the ones to look at then since they are both dsp based crossovers with eq functions? And the G is just a eq without the crossover and some of the other functions?

Good to know, admittedly I've never used any of them so thanks for your input

I got a guy on craigslist with a driverack 260 hes willing to sell for 300 canadian so I think I'ma hop on that tbh.

[Mike Caldwell]

The 260 has a fully configurable IO.

You may want to download the the Driveware software from DBX, that will make setting the 260 easier. You will need a functioning RS232 port on your computer to connect to a 260 and an RS232 crossover cable to make the connection, the guy that is selling the 260 may still have the cable that came with it.

You can use a USB to RS232 adapter, DBX has a list of approved adapters that are known to work with the older Driveracks.

[David Winners]

A miniDSP 4x10 HD would do it.

Add a USB interface, a measurement mic and Room EQ Wizard and you've got yourself the hardware you need to measure and tune a system.

[ProSoundWeb Community]