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[eric lenasbunt]

I have been on the path of a magic box/system that can do what the thread title says - be effective for 50 - 2000 people.  Based on a partner company's NEXO affiliation and my experience with S12, I looked at that product, but ended up making a different choice - JBL Vertec 4886/4883/Danley TH118.

The S12 boxes are pole mountable, but they are HEAVY, and you can put two of them on a stick.  4886 boxes are 34lbs each vs. 80lbs each for the S12+flyware, and you can put 3-4 in the yoke, depending on the circumstance.  I routinely setup 3 4886 in the yoke on tall tripod stands by myself - I don't think I could do that with the Nexo option.  Spec sheets show the 4886 boxes as louder than the S12 boxes 1:1.  Cost is roughly the same as an S12 system.

You can make a longer array with S12 compared to 4886, however with the 4883 LF boxes flown in the array, you can get surprising pattern control using cardioid mode.

I have done shows as small as 75 people with my system, and as large 1000+ people outdoors (the area covered would hold 2500+ people easily).  For most genres, 2000 people is well within the capability of 4886/4883.

HOWEVER...

With the rise of really good sounding small boxes including the SRX-800P series on the lower end and VTX-F and other pro-level boxes on the higher end, I think it's a stretch to use a system capable of 2000 people for a 50 person event from a logistics point of view, unless each of those people are paying $100 for their ticket and expect pretty extreme volume for their very intimate show.

My breakpoint between the speaker-on-stick system and the array is typically 150-200 people, depending on lots of factors.  If you want to work really hard, a larger system can sound great for a small show; it's just more difficult to justify the extra cost and effort to set it up.

TJ,
I am in the process of building basically the same system you have. In your opinion with the right amount of subs will the 4886/4883 rig be able to do loud rock or hip hop in 1000-1500 seat clubs? We have been using EAW KF650's for the gigs in the past.

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

TJ,
I am in the process of building basically the same system you have. In your opinion with the right amount of subs will the 4886/4883 rig be able to do loud rock or hip hop in 1000-1500 seat clubs? We have been using EAW KF650's for the gigs in the past.

These are always "how long is a piece of string" questions.  My most recent show with the 86/83 rig was 4 4886 over 1 4883 over 2 TH118s per side for a hip hop artist in a room 100' x 220', of which we used about 100' x 100'.  I was watching the limiters and I was out of gas on the Danleys and the single 4883, but had quite a bit of headroom left on the 4886 boxes.  I left my other pair of 4883 boxes home because I didn't think I needed them, but they would have been nice to have.  To max out the capability of the 4x4886 boxes and 2x4883 per side I would have needed 4 TH118s per side.

I hesitate to give an opinion because I'm not that familiar with high-output club expectations, but you definitely get a lot of noise out of 4886/4883.

[eric lenasbunt]

Thanks TJ, that is helpful feedback. That is a similar size room and setup to what I am thinking. I typically use (4) dual 18" subs per side minimum for something like that if hip hop or DJ type of work, so that is encouraging. I have already started building the 86 rig, in large part to be flexible like the OP was wanting.

I will report back in August or Sept when our season starts and I have some real experience on the rig.

Thanks!

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