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[Pablo Arredondo]

Hi all,

   My church (I'm the MOM, "minister of music") is in the process of getting 12 7108xy (L/R 6 per side), 4 single 18 subs, and 4 slice wedges from SB....My Sound Tech from church is friends with the owner of SB (Chris Cole). Just want to know if any of y'all ever used a Sound Bridge system?

[Tim Weaver]

Hi all,

   My church (I'm the MOM, "minister of music") is in the process of getting 12 7108xy (L/R 6 per side), 4 single 18 subs, and 4 slice wedges from SB....My Sound Tech from church is friends with the owner of SB (Chris Cole). Just want to know if any of y'all ever used a Sound Bridge system?

Bought them without hearing them first didn't ya...

[Tim McCulloch]

Hi all,

   My church (I'm the MOM, "minister of music") is in the process of getting 12 7108xy (L/R 6 per side), 4 single 18 subs, and 4 slice wedges from SB....My Sound Tech from church is friends with the owner of SB (Chris Cole). Just want to know if any of y'all ever used a Sound Bridge system?

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/37385/6178/

http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,120580.0.html

[Brad Weber]

Hi all,

   My church (I'm the MOM, "minister of music") is in the process of getting 12 7108xy (L/R 6 per side), 4 single 18 subs, and 4 slice wedges from SB....My Sound Tech from church is friends with the owner of SB (Chris Cole). Just want to know if any of y'all ever used a Sound Bridge system?

Just to add to what was already offered, as with any system there is also the issue of how the proposed system was determined to be a good solution for the application.  For a permanent install there should be significant thought and planning involved in the speaker system selections beyond just whether it 'sounds good' in other applications.  It is not clear whether that occurred or not.  Was any consideration given to the intended use, the physical listener area and resulting coverage, the output level required and predicted, addressing spill on stage, the ability of the building structure to support the arrays, etc.?  Also, who will be installing, adjusting and tuning the system?

There may have been significant such effort invested but it might worth making sure of that and that what is being offered has been assessed to be a good solution for your specific application.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

.My Sound Tech from church is friends with the owner of SB (Chris Cole).

Friends don't let friends buy off-brands.

Let's hope you haven't made a commitment that isn't contingent on performance.

[Thomas Harkin]

Hi all,

   My church (I'm the MOM, "minister of music") is in the process of getting 12 7108xy (L/R 6 per side), 4 single 18 subs, and 4 slice wedges from SB....My Sound Tech from church is friends with the owner of SB (Chris Cole). Just want to know if any of y'all ever used a Sound Bridge system?

Google "Why Churches buy three sound systems" and read the article by Jim Brown!

Good luck!

[Pablo Arredondo]

Wow...l was reading the old posts on the SB..lol...well, my Pastor, our sound tech, and some ministers went to the factory, (I didn't get to go), and then they went to hear a install system at a church nearby..they liked it...just wanted to see some reviews...I did meet Chris at the WFX last week...very nice guy...OK, thanks guys...

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Wow...l was reading the old posts on the SB..lol...well, my Pastor, our sound tech, and some ministers went to the factory, (I didn't get to go), and then they went to hear a install system at a church nearby..they liked it...just wanted to see some reviews...I did meet Chris at the WFX last week...very nice guy...OK, thanks guys...

Well, it's good you got a demo of one of their installs.  Have they gone and listened to some other installs for comparison??

[Tim McCulloch]

Wow...l was reading the old posts on the SB..lol...well, my Pastor, our sound tech, and some ministers went to the factory, (I didn't get to go), and then they went to hear a install system at a church nearby..they liked it...just wanted to see some reviews...I did meet Chris at the WFX last week...very nice guy...OK, thanks guys...

I've not used the SB products, but I think that a factory tour and visit to a single installation for a "listen" is insufficient regardless of the brand or model.  More important than simply listening to a rig, though, is a candid interview with the technicians that use it every service.  A random sampling of that congregation might be eye-opening as well.  Why?  Because the folks that hold the purse strings are not operators, they are not technicians, and they don't sit in the same pew at every service like the congregations does.

As for the prior discussion about SoundBridge, remember that the situations are different from your own but that the common vibe among them is that the user(s) weren't able to get the performance they needed.  The needs of your congregation may be sufficiently different that this is a non-problem; it could mean that you'll have a rig that will be replaced as soon as senior leadership changes (i.e. 3 -5 years).

I'm very leery of any system that is purchased based solely on personal relationships.  I hope there were proper engineer and coverage predictions done and that the SB rig is what your space actually needs.

Tim Mc

[Craig Leerman]

Friends don't let friends buy off-brands.

I certainly would not consider Sound Bridge an "OFF Brand".  Their Slice monitors got quite a bit of notice when they first came out, and I see the company at many trade shows.

While they might not have the same name recognition like JBL or EV, you could also say the same about many other companies that make fine products but are not household names.

[Hayden J. Nebus]

Friends don't let friends buy off-brands.

That is an unfair and vague generalization. Just because it isnt owned by mackie, or the infamous power drill company, or the big H doesn't mean a piece of equipment doesn't perform.

An off brand, like Bennett's little eastern-bloc boxes, can perform better in the hands of a skilled operator than its comparable on-brand in the hands of a hack.

How much of your purchase money went to marketing vs. R&D? I bet. the off brand has a better ratio.

[Brad Weber]

That is an unfair and vague generalization. Just because it isnt owned by mackie, or the infamous power drill company, or the big H doesn't mean a piece of equipment doesn't perform.

An off brand, like Bennett's little eastern-bloc boxes, can perform better in the hands of a skilled operator than its comparable on-brand in the hands of a hack.

How much of your purchase money went to marketing vs. R&D? I bet. the off brand has a better ratio.

But it may not be just the product, especially for many churches.  It may also support, availability, service, etc.  Some small or niche manufacturers are great at these aspects as well, others seem to think the  product is all that is needed.

The thing I see with the process described is that it seems to be that of looking at products rather than solutions.  At purchasing the speaker system rather than the result.  Something may be the greatest tool in the world from the greatest manufacturer in the world but that does not necessarily make it the best solution for every application.

There could definitely be more to the story as many manufacturers do offer design assistance but going by what has been stated it seems like there was little or no consideration for the specific application or desired results and that the emphasis was instead on the product.  Did anyone ever document what the goals were for the sound system? Was there any verification that what is proposed supports or meets those goals?  Or was it a situation of focusing on applying a product rather than obtaining a result?

The other aspect is the actual implementation of the proposed system.  Who is providing it, installing it, tuning it, warrantying it, servicing it, etc.?  And who is going to make sure that is done properly and in the best interests of the church?

[Dave Bigelow]

I used one of their rigs in a venue in Dallas (Trees I think), wasn't horrible but then again it was a small room, nothing like what Evan had posted about in the past. Think it was around 6 boxes a side and 4 of the sb1000 rip offs a side.

Would I buy one? probably not. Did it get the job done in a 700ish cap room? Yeah. Is there better out there? Totally.

[Jim McKeveny]

It is tough to be in the speaker biz. Many of SoundBridge's (and other companies in that market range) customers are trying to make a singular improvement that will "silver bullet" fix deficiencies in the whole chain. Results are often unpretty.

In Williamsport PA, I had some new "SB Slice" wedges on a monitor system that simply could not get up to snuff. During my check, everything in the system became suspect: mic wires through NL4 cables. House techs told me tales of unhappy artists who had been through the hall. In their minds, all of the complaining artists "had attitudes". Hmmm. I did not blame SoundBridge.

With local factory support, and use of data from this install, SoundBridge can accelerate product development. Nobody in the USA was looking towards France when V-DOSC appeared.

Go for it SoundBridge!

[Aaron Talley]

Just saw this and wondered how it turned out.

[ProSoundWeb Community]