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[John Chiara]

Set up 3 Versarrays/side..mounted on my 4.5 foot high stage..straight array. Subs are Danley TH 115's. Upon first listen with recorded music it was apparent that they sounded radically different than what I have been using the past 6 weeks...PAS RS 2.2's  I believe..they worked well in the room..plenty loud..didn't array well and had the normal high frequency "hash" that I have learned to hate and tend to roll off.
Listening to Michael Jackson hit CD....I am hearing reverb tails and really apparent modulation effects on guitars and even back round vocals that I didn't know were there. Part of this due to the fact that the highs sound even and smooth so I didn't feel the need to low pass the system. Panning of chorused guitars are very distinct.
Church service this morning..quasi acoustic setup..real drums, upright bass with a VERY inexperienced player..slide acoustic..electric keyboards..acoustic...4 vocals.
Regular parishioners comments..

....I am hearing things I never heard before...
.... I really noticed the difference when the drummer used his brushes.. I could hear them clearly..
....way more articulate than before...
....You can hear every flaw...
....the bowing of the bass was like a Jaws movie....

my thoughts....
This is much more in line with my studio listening experiences.
I hope that I can get closer to studio quality mixes with the increased clarity. I have a show tomorrow...Sleepy LaBeef..will post after that.
And oh yeah..the biamped QW monitors seem to be capable of some serious SPL.

[Lee Jacobson]

John,

 forgive me for not being up on you and your room/rooms. Is this the same room that had the Danley rig before?? If so, where did that go? If not, never mind. Glad you like the Versarray boxes. I am still working on getting mine. Still have to sell more stuff. These pesky gigs get in the way of that....


Lee

[John Chiara]

Sleepy Labeef...no sound check..opening band was a 4 piece..2 guitars/bass/drums blues/rock thing. All good players..my drum kit..which always helps.
1. Snare drum was amazingly punchy..it really took me off guard at first..both kick and snare seemed to have really good dynamic headroom..maybe because of the high freq. extension. Really had a good time using the Transient Designer to bring out side stick..etc.
2.Bass guitar was very good through FOH...I have raised my sub crossover point a tad...to about 75hz..and the clarity through the VRays was was very good. Again a good instrument with a good player helped.
3. Vocals were pretty easy to get on top...first band was singing through an Audix OM5..NOT the right mic for the guys voice but I thought he was using a different mic. Effects were very noticeable..especially on Sleepy's vocals..through an OM6..his baritone with a slap back really sounded right for the music..again I had a lot of headroom with the effect returns..small changes in level were easily noticable.

This is all in a shallow room..35 feet from front of stage to back wall. Interesting also is how up front it is not noticably louder than in the back of the room..actually the opposite..at FOH I am in the pattern of multiple boxes and it was cranking...and I had at least 4-5 DB of main fader to go..and the amps were just cruisin'...tons of headroom. As I mentioned I have had at least 6 different mid/hi setups in this room so the gain structure fluctuates a lot. I will get some more gigs in the nest few weeks to experiment..and I will be adding a 4th box/side.
This room was not one that I was considering a line array for..as flying one would be stupid...I need a lot of volume for the downstairs audience and the ways that work all involve having the speakers near or on the stage..as stage volume..with a thrust stage..is a huge part of the mix...and having the stack up and out wouldn't provide enough vocal headroom to cut it. Always a compromise. The Versarrays might offer the gain and the fidelity ..at a price point..that I'd hoped to achieve. To hear clearly the reverb and delay tails ..as well as modulation effects is really getting me jazzed...I am going to break out some vintage effects units and see how they sound.
These would also be great for dance systems I would think..getting very loud without sounding like it...and the highs!!!!

[Lee Jacobson]

John,

 'Cupla things. Are you running the VRs down to 75Hz?? If so, that is quite a bit lower than the factory settings. Not being critical here, more of a "hmmmmm" moment for me. Secondly, thanks for more details about the room. I didn't recall how big it was from the earlier thread about it. Thirdly, yep, I agree with everything you said bout the boxes. I found when running them that MOST of the channels I normally have to massage with EQ to get to sit where I need were flat. Bass GTR, flat. Vocals, flat. Just kind of "turn it UP and it works".

Great boxes. Nice review.

Lee

[John Chiara]

Lee Jacobson wrote on Wed, 22 August 2007 08:49

John,  'Cupla things. Are you running the VRs down to 75Hz?? If so, that is quite a bit lower than the factory settings. Not being critical here, more of a "hmmmmm" moment for me. Great boxes. Nice review. Lee

Nope..factory settings...the room is really live from 75 to 100+ so little is needed in that area.

[Mike Pyle]

John Chiara wrote on Tue, 21 August 2007 09:20

Interesting also is how up front it is not noticably louder than in the back of the room..actually the opposite..at FOH I am in the pattern of multiple boxes and it was cranking...and I had at least 4-5 DB of main fader to go..and the amps were just cruisin'...tons of headroom.

This is what it's all about with line arrays. When you get enough cabs stacked up you can hit the back row with hot levels and still stand right in front of the line. With the SLS ribbon columns I use it is also amazing how hard it is to induce feedback. I've had MCs wandering directly in front of the columns without issues. The subs are actually far more prone to feedback than the arrays.

[Andy Peters]

John Chiara wrote on Tue, 21 August 2007 09:20

Sleepy Labeef...no sound check..

Arrgh.  Did a Sleepy LaBeef show once and natch no soundcheck, and while they were setting up, someone from his band asked me if I had any tubes, 'cause apparently his amp got knocked around in the van and one of the 6L6s in the beat-up silverface Fender Twin got broken.

I didn't have any tubes (though if I'd known about the problem BEFORE the show, I'd've called my housemate, who was coming to the show, and asked him to bring a set with him), so I pulled out another tube and ran the amp with one pair of output tubes instead of two.

Sometimes the ol-skool guys were sweethearts, like Ronnie Dawson (RIP), and sometimes they were nutty, like Sleepy LaBeef, and sometimes they were just outta their minds batshit, like Hasil Adkins (RIP, too) (in a funny way) or Arthur Lee (RIP, three) (in a not-at-all funny way).

-a

[John Chiara]

Andy Peters wrote on Wed, 22 August 2007 18:30

John Chiara wrote on Tue, 21 August 2007 09:20 Sleepy Labeef...no sound check.. Arrgh.  Did a Sleepy LaBeef show once and natch no soundcheck, and while they were setting up, someone from his band asked me if I had any tubes, 'cause apparently his amp got knocked around in the van and one of the 6L6s in the beat-up silverface Fender Twin got broken.

Also, when they got onstage they needed the monitors WAY louder than the opening act did..that took a while..the drummer plays harmonica from behind the drums..without a level check..and then!!!!..they all changed instruments multiple times and let me say..Sleepy ain't no drummer!!

[Don Boomer]

Hey John

I'm so glad they're working out for you.  This is the best part of my job, as I am the Product Manager for the Versarray project ... and it is not uncommon at all.  Everybody that drives this system loves it.  Really!

I wish that I could personally come and demo this system for all that are interested.  Unfortunately that's not part of the Peavey business model.  Hartley has always been driven to provide the best for the lowest possible price and to do that means we sell a little different than other companies ... I know, I sound like a stinking used car commercial.


Also I'd like to say thanks for sticking to the factory preset.  I know it looks weird and I don't know how other manufacturers do their  processing.  But we worked very hard on getting this right.

[John Chiara]

Interesting week. The new owner made me move my FOH platform back 4 feet.....which with the bottom 3 boxes in a straight array brought me right into the 3rd box's pattern..making it almost impossible to mix at FOH with all the extra high end..soooo...I did a major cob mod and forced the boxes into a concave array..meaning the 3rd box now is facing down about 2-3 degrees..which the hardware does not allow..but I managed to get holes lined up and it is stable..and solved the problem perfectly. The room is very even now front to back. I have noticed that a few of the T nut things and a few other screws have come loose..seems like a little locktite and some glue may be needed. Church this morning was great..sooo much headroom on vocals and everything.and that snare is pounding me in the face if needed..cool.

[Mike Pyle]

John Chiara wrote on Sun, 26 August 2007 12:34

Interesting week. The new owner made me move my FOH platform back 4 feet.....which with the bottom 3 boxes in a straight array brought me right into the 3rd box's pattern..making it almost impossible to mix at FOH with all the extra high end...

If you are mixing from outside of the pattern of the ribbon drivers, are you hearing what the house is hearing?

[John Chiara]

Mike Pyle wrote on Mon, 27 August 2007 10:43

John Chiara wrote on Sun, 26 August 2007 12:34 Interesting week. The new owner made me move my FOH platform back 4 feet.....which with the bottom 3 boxes in a straight array brought me right into the 3rd box's pattern..making it almost impossible to mix at FOH with all the extra high end... If you are mixing from outside of the pattern of the ribbon drivers, are you hearing what the house is hearing?

I was before..just the bottom 2 boxes..now that I moved back and angled the 3rd box I'm hearing a good rep of the house...pretty much every seat is getting 2 boxes of ribbon..not perfect but way better than any other arangement I've had here so far.