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Author Topic: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences  (Read 15987 times)

Andrew Cupples

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Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« on: December 03, 2010, 05:50:36 PM »

Hi guys,
I've been following the other thread which mentions the Electrovoice EVI12/15 speakers, and they seem to fit our needs in terms of specifications. They're hard to find in the UK, so speaking to people who use them is difficult. I'm interested in hearing people's experiences with them, good or bad

The building we use is a multipurpose hall, so the equipment has to be broken down and set up every week. We're looking to make things a bit more permanent, and deal with some sound issues too. Here's a link to the layout of the church.
http://gallery.me.com/cupples#100076

There are various issues such as waaay too much stage noise, slap echo and an extremely reverberant hall, but plans are afoot to get more musicians on in ears and get some acoustic treatment. Spoken word is fine. With the current setup, I don't feel the coverage is particularly even, and getting an intelligible mix for worship is difficult. A point source just sounds so much more straightforward to me, rather than left and right main speakers. Our budget wouldn't stretch to line arrays.

At the moment we use two Behringer B1220PRO speakers and a pair of 15" JBL subs, driven by a Yamaha P3200 and Behringer EP2500 respectively. It's running dual mono, we don't tend to pan anything. Music would be fairly contemporary, with lead and backing vocals, piano, keys, bass, accoustic and lead guitar going through the mains. Probably about 100 people on an average Sunday morning.

Judging by the specifications, the EVI15 seems to be ideal for keeping the sound on the congregation, and not bouncing around the walls. I have a friend with a PA hire company who has the necessary skills and cover to fly it from a beam directly above the pulpit. My concern is that it would be up to the job. I would probably use one or both of the subs at the back centre of the stage, crossed over appropriately. Also, the EVI need to be able to survive footballs (soccer balls) being kicked at them pretty hard, as it's a multipurpose hall. Are they resilient?

I understand it's a difficult question to tackle without actually being in the room and without knowing more info. Please let me know if there's anything that I've missed.
Many thanks
Andrew
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Tom Young

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2010, 08:32:15 PM »

Just to be clear: you are talking about the EV series with the variable intensity (asymmetrical coverage) design .... right ?

Quote:

A point source just sounds so much more straightforward to me, rather than left and right main speakers. Our budget wouldn't stretch to line arrays.


Point source speakers are often a far better choice. Line arrays are a craze at present and are often applied with little real  knowledge of what they do and how they interact with the architecture and (in the case of split left and right clusters) with one another. So you're on firm ground here.

Quote:

Judging by the specifications, the EVI15 seems to be ideal for keeping the sound on the congregation, and not bouncing around the walls. I have a friend with a PA hire company who has the necessary skills and cover to fly it from a beam directly above the pulpit. My concern is that it would be up to the job.


That is a very valid concern. I would think that either version (12" or 15") would be loud enough with the subwoofers to take some strain off them at LF's. The spec's are virtually the same for either version, according to the spec sheets.

Often, 12" fullrange speakers sound better in the upper mids than a 15" version. The exception is well-designed, processed and self-amplified speakers. These are well designed but not processed, etc.

You need to get it high enough that the horizontal and vertical coverage at high frequencies extend all the way across and from front to back of your seating.

Quote:

I would probably use one or both of the subs at the back centre of the stage, crossed over appropriately. Also, the EVI need to be able to survive footballs (soccer balls) being kicked at them pretty hard, as it's a multipurpose hall. Are they resilient?


Do not put the subs behind the microphone line. If you do, feedback will be an issue and you will leak more LF sound into the open mic's.

These are not rugged, road-ready speakers (they are designed for permanent install) so the grill is not "mondo".

I would have a cage made that encases the flown speaker or an extra heavy duty grill that covers the front (made with perf metal, as thick as you can get and with at least 60% open area, plus remove the factory grill). The HF horn is somewhat resilient but not the woofer cone.

I have used these in small to medium size churches, but mostly for spoken word and light music reinforcement, and they worked very well. With very carefully set processing (through measurement once it is installed) I think this would suffice for your needs.
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Gary Creely

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2010, 10:37:06 PM »

As I mentioned on the other post you would be askin too much of one speaker to handle all that. I would really try to use two of something else. Those EV are an ok speaker, but what I have observed is churches try to push them to do too much.

They are indeed a good choice for spoken word, light music church as a single box solution, but from what you describe they would need to do a lot more than that. As for the sound quality of the EVs, I find them to be very mediocre.

I would suggest a set of two ways 12" of some nature designed for installation. Community, JBL, EAW, EV, and Rinkus Heinz are all good companies.
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Brad Weber

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2010, 09:38:13 AM »

Gary Creely wrote on Fri, 03 December 2010 22:37

As I mentioned on the other post you would be askin too much of one speaker to handle all that. I would really try to use two of something else.

I haven't looked at the situation closely enough to necessarily have an opinion on it being more than a single EVI to handle but I'm not clear on how two speakers would be implemented to be that beneficial.  They noted they run mono, so stereo is not a factor.  The seating area is apparently approximately 25' wide by less than 40' deep and is located 13' from a beam in a 20' high ceiling, so I don't see needing extremely wide coverage. And they will be using subs, so greater low frequency response and output is apparently not an issue.  Can you clarify how you envision the two speakers being used?
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Andrew Cupples

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2010, 02:01:57 PM »

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback. I think that it the critical point - will this single speaker be up to doing the job currently done by the two existing mains? I don't have any spl readings for a service, but I don't think that we drive the current setup particularly hard. I'll hopefully get some tomorrow though.

Tom, thanks for the advice re:the subs. At the moment our subs are directly under the mains. Ideally, I suppose, we would have a single unit directly below the EV speaker. Cosmetically, this wouldn't be fantastic with the current ugly brutes of cabinets that we have. Could you please recommend a small sub (passive with the Behringer amp, or even active would be grand) that would keep up with the EV (using a single channel of the Yamaha P3200 at 370W, or bridging it to give 880W)?

Thanks,
Andrew
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Mark Mattocks

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2010, 12:00:08 PM »

Andrew,

I like the EVI boxes for the right situation.  Your room geometry works pretty well for the EVI-12 or 15.  I would rather get the speaker farther from the pulpit and closer to the congregation if there is the ability to fly it there.  I think the EVI-12 sounds smoother in the mid-range than the EVI-15, especially if you will have subs with it.  

These boxes will easily give the congregation 95-100 dB if decently powered.  If that is enough, then they will do it.  You should certainly have more cohesive and accurate sound than with your current speakers with more even distribution over the congregation area.  

The EV QRX 118S might work for a sub with the Yamaha amp bridged.  It is relatively low-profile for an 18" sub with fairly high output.  I would recommend a good digital processor to EQ the tops and subs and do crossover functions.

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Andrew Cupples

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2010, 12:19:07 PM »

Hi Mark, thanks for that useful advice, that's just what I was looking for.
Andrew
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Gary Creely

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2010, 12:30:51 AM »

Brad Weber wrote on Sat, 04 December 2010 09:38

Gary Creely wrote on Fri, 03 December 2010 22:37

As I mentioned on the other post you would be askin too much of one speaker to handle all that. I would really try to use two of something else.

I haven't looked at the situation closely enough to necessarily have an opinion on it being more than a single EVI to handle but I'm not clear on how two speakers would be implemented to be that beneficial.  They noted they run mono, so stereo is not a factor.  The seating area is apparently approximately 25' wide by less than 40' deep and is located 13' from a beam in a 20' high ceiling, so I don't see needing extremely wide coverage. And they will be using subs, so greater low frequency response and output is apparently not an issue.  Can you clarify how you envision the two speakers being used?


Essentially for my tastes a single speaker running a full worship band quickly seems to get labored.  In my experience two boxes just seems to shoulder that load better.
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Arnold B. Krueger

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2010, 09:39:43 AM »

Gary Creely wrote on Wed, 08 December 2010 05:30



Essentially for my tastes a single speaker running a full worship band quickly seems to get labored.  In my experience two boxes just seems to shoulder that load better.


Given the range of what can be obtained in the context of "one box", I find the above easy to question.

If the arugment was that some venues can't be covered evenly enough with just one box, then I'm in agreement with that.

The theoretical limit to SPL that can be obtained from one box relates to things like the linearity of air. There are very, very few worship venues where that kind of pyhsics comes into play.
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Bruce Burke

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2010, 06:47:23 PM »

I installed an EVI-15 in a church I attended that is very similar to yours. If you read the specs on the speaker, you'll find that it covers a rectangle that is about two times the install height in width by three times the install height in length.

The speaker was more than loud enough and had nice bass output. We never felt we needed a sub.

-Bruce
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Kent Thompson

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2010, 12:00:01 AM »

Bruce Burke wrote on Fri, 10 December 2010 18:47



The speaker was more than loud enough and had nice bass output. We never felt we needed a sub.

-Bruce

That would depend on a persons expectations of how much low end they want.
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Bruce Burke

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2010, 08:14:50 AM »

Kent Thompson wrote on Sat, 11 December 2010 00:00

Bruce Burke wrote on Fri, 10 December 2010 18:47



The speaker was more than loud enough and had nice bass output. We never felt we needed a sub.

-Bruce

That would depend on a persons expectations of how much low end they want.



The guy asked for experiences and he got mine, yours may be different.

In the 10 years I operated the system after installing it and tuning it to the room, the speaker handled everything thrown at it from the organ, to recordings, to guest concerts, as well as the usual preaching on Sunday.


-Bruce
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Brad Weber

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2010, 10:06:09 AM »

Bruce Burke wrote on Sat, 11 December 2010 08:14

Kent Thompson wrote on Sat, 11 December 2010 00:00

Bruce Burke wrote on Fri, 10 December 2010 18:47



The speaker was more than loud enough and had nice bass output. We never felt we needed a sub.

-Bruce

That would depend on a persons expectations of how much low end they want.



The guy asked for experiences and he got mine, yours may be different.

In the 10 years I operated the system after installing it and tuning it to the room, the speaker handled everything thrown at it from the organ, to recordings, to guest concerts, as well as the usual preaching on Sunday.


-Bruce

Bruce, when you say your situation was similar does that include the size of the space and congregation, the apparently poor acoustics Andrew noted and the system being used for contemporary music including bass, piano and keys?

This seems to hit on a common issue and one which your last paragraph addresses.  When anyone offers that something worked well for them or didn't work well for them that opinion is usually based on their specific application and expectations.  However, what works well for a church that runs acoustic guitar, speech and vocal run through the system may not work for a church that routinely runs 20dB higher levels with kick drum, bass and keys run through the system.  What provides good intelligibility in a well controlled acoustical environment may not in a problematic environment.  And so on.  Subjective opinions can be invaluable, but that value is maximized when an associated basis and context is clearly defined.
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Brad Weber
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Kent Thompson

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2010, 01:36:09 PM »

My comment was not meant to belittle your assesment of the speaker or how well it has worked in your situation. Was just trying to say it may not be adequate for some people's useage.
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Dick Rees

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #14 on: December 11, 2010, 03:03:27 PM »

Brad Weber wrote on Sat, 11 December 2010 10:06


Bruce, when you say your situation was similar does that include the size of the space and congregation, the apparently poor acoustics Andrew noted and the system being used for contemporary music including bass, piano and keys?

This seems to hit on a common issue and one which your last paragraph addresses.  When anyone offers that something worked well for them or didn't work well for them that opinion is usually based on their specific application and expectations.  However, what works well for a church that runs acoustic guitar, speech and vocal run through the system may not work for a church that routinely runs 20dB higher levels with kick drum, bass and keys run through the system.  What provides good intelligibility in a well controlled acoustical environment may not in a problematic environment.  And so on.  Subjective opinions can be invaluable, but that value is maximized when an associated basis and context is clearly defined.


Brad....

You've hit the nail squarely on the head......as usual.  
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Bruce Burke

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2010, 12:47:25 PM »

Brad Weber wrote on Sat, 11 December 2010 10:06

Bruce Burke wrote on Sat, 11 December 2010 08:14

Kent Thompson wrote on Sat, 11 December 2010 00:00

Bruce Burke wrote on Fri, 10 December 2010 18:47



The speaker was more than loud enough and had nice bass output. We never felt we needed a sub.

-Bruce

That would depend on a persons expectations of how much low end they want.



The guy asked for experiences and he got mine, yours may be different.

In the 10 years I operated the system after installing it and tuning it to the room, the speaker handled everything thrown at it from the organ, to recordings, to guest concerts, as well as the usual preaching on Sunday.


-Bruce

Bruce, when you say your situation was similar does that include the size of the space and congregation, the apparently poor acoustics Andrew noted and the system being used for contemporary music including bass, piano and keys?

This seems to hit on a common issue and one which your last paragraph addresses.  When anyone offers that something worked well for them or didn't work well for them that opinion is usually based on their specific application and expectations.  However, what works well for a church that runs acoustic guitar, speech and vocal run through the system may not work for a church that routinely runs 20dB higher levels with kick drum, bass and keys run through the system.  What provides good intelligibility in a well controlled acoustical environment may not in a problematic environment.  And so on.  Subjective opinions can be invaluable, but that value is maximized when an associated basis and context is clearly defined.



You're really good at making bad assumptions about what I have written, as this isn't the first time you've done it. If it wasn't similar, I wouldn't have said so. And similar, doesn't mean exact - so don't try and split that hair.

-Bruce
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Brad Weber

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2010, 06:21:54 PM »

Bruce Burke wrote on Sat, 18 December 2010 12:47

You're really good at making bad assumptions about what I have written, as this isn't the first time you've done it. If it wasn't similar, I wouldn't have said so. And similar, doesn't mean exact - so don't try and split that hair.

Bruce, I asked for clarification which is pretty much the antithesis of making an assumption.  "Similar" can be very broadly interpreted so it seemed to make sense to clarify what was similar or not between the two situations.  It also seemed a good opportunity to address the point in general.
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Andrew Cupples

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #17 on: December 19, 2010, 08:24:00 AM »

Bruce, thanks for sharing your subjective experiences, I was looking for that sort of hands-on info. Brad, thanks for your objectivity. Both opinions are valuable to me, so let's just keep it clean.
Thanks,
Andrew
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Bruce Burke

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #18 on: December 19, 2010, 02:33:13 PM »

Brad Weber wrote on Sat, 18 December 2010 18:21

Bruce Burke wrote on Sat, 18 December 2010 12:47

You're really good at making bad assumptions about what I have written, as this isn't the first time you've done it. If it wasn't similar, I wouldn't have said so. And similar, doesn't mean exact - so don't try and split that hair.

Bruce, I asked for clarification which is pretty much the antithesis of making an assumption.  "Similar" can be very broadly interpreted so it seemed to make sense to clarify what was similar or not between the two situations.  It also seemed a good opportunity to address the point in general.


Well, whether you realized or not, you basically said I didn't read what was written, then you appeared to lecture me and imply that I made claims that I didn't make.

-Bruce
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Brad Weber

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Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #19 on: December 20, 2010, 09:00:58 AM »

Bruce Burke wrote on Sun, 19 December 2010 14:33

Well, whether you realized or not, you basically said I didn't read what was written, then you appeared to lecture me and imply that I made claims that I didn't make.

That's not at all what I did, in fact that seems to be more what you did to Kent in the response to which I was replying, but this is not helping anyone.

What I was trying to do was to ask you to clarify how your situation was similar to, or might differ from, Andrew's situation.  And I used where you started to address how the use was relevant to point out to the forum in general how important that type of information can be.  Since you made a specific recommendation, it would still help to get back to the point and address just how similar your situation really is to Andrew's and why that might make the EVI-15 a good choice or not.
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Brad Weber
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Electrovoice EVI15 experiences
« Reply #19 on: December 20, 2010, 09:00:58 AM »


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