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[Doug Fowler]

https://www.paoftheday.com/showco-prism-sound-system/

[brian maddox]

https://www.paoftheday.com/showco-prism-sound-system/

This is really interesting. I had no reason to ever know any different [never worked with them] but I always assumed that the prism was just a huge pile of full range boxes. Learn something new every day.

[Steve-White]

Great stuff.  I can remember going to many shows that used those beasts and they sounded pretty good.  Anybody know what they were running for amps & crossovers at that time period?

[Tim McCulloch]

This is really interesting. I had no reason to ever know any different [never worked with them] but I always assumed that the prism was just a huge pile of full range boxes. Learn something new every day.

It was the down fill that kind of gave away "there's no horn in the bottom box" at low trims, but the rest were mysterious.  The mid bass box was a puzzle to me, never figured that one out.  The HF at the top was application-obvious, but the way the HF was done elsewhere was rather clever for its day and was also beyond my ability to suss it out.  The only clue I ever got from a ShowCo crew person was "they have to go in this order, and there have to be at least 4 rows."  That was the hint that each box was unique but that's as far as I got at the time.

Time delay, even really short amounts, was expensive and relatively noisy.  Physical time delay via Baltic Birch was baked in.

Have I said lately that it's a great time to be in audio?

[Mike Caldwell]

Great stuff.  I can remember going to many shows that used those beasts and they sounded pretty good.  Anybody know what they were running for amps & crossovers at that time period?

The original crossovers and drive were custom built analog and in a plug in card format with a main frame, kind of like the DBX 500 series, maybe they used a 500 series frame!
Had a chance to buy one once for cheap, looking back I should have and put it up on the audio nostalgia shelf.

Last time I heard a Prism show was 20ish years ago at a Robert Plant  WHO concert, it sounded great for both acts, by then it was processed with the original LAKE processors. Powered by lots of Crown Macro Tech's.

[Doug Fowler]

The original crossovers and drive were custom built analog and in a plug in card format with a main frame, kind of like the DBX 500 series, maybe they used a 500 series frame!
Had a chance to buy one once for cheap, looking back I should have and put it up on the audio nostalgia shelf.

Last time I heard a Prism show was 20ish years ago at a Robert Plant  WHO concert, it sounded for both acts, by then it was processed with the original LAKE processors. Powered by lots of Crown Macro Tech's.

I heard it at Busch Stadium in 1989 for The Who and I was shocked at how good it was.  I wasn’t in the business at the time.  The bass solos on My Generation were so present and so clear, the whole thing was just stunning. 

Side note: I was in their unassuming Dallas shop and was shown a dbx compressor with the comment “that right there will drive every amp rack we own”. 

[Doug Fowler]

https://www.paoftheday.com/showco-prism-sound-system/

And what are these “magruder screws” referred to?

[Mike Caldwell]

And what are these “magruder screws” referred to?

A screw with a head that needed a special bit to take out.

[Tim McCulloch]

A screw with a head that needed a special bit to take out.

If you have to make the drive bit yourself, it becomes a McGuyver screw...

[Chris Hindle]

And what are these “magruder screws” referred to?

Pre-curser to Security Torx?
I hate those fuckin things.....
Chris.

[ProSoundWeb Community]