Lee Jacobson wrote on Wed, 30 May 2007 22:37 |
FWIW, I am a cunning linguist..... |
Tim McCulloch wrote on Wed, 30 May 2007 21:29 |
You quoted me too fast. Gee, thanks. Yes, it leaves a bitter taste. I was told by to see a local dealer, who would have to order for stock, the demo I wanted. No local dealer was willing to take the risk, and I think it silly that I have to try out of state dealers who don't know our firm. WE ARE PROFESSIONAL END USERS. Not a church committee, a municipal council, or other indecisive, wishy-washy buyer. And we have both cash and excellent credit. I was unaware of Lee's oratory prowess. I will take notes. Tim Mc p.s. Obviously, the offer to buy is now off the table. It will take some serious convincing. |
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JR- If Hartley says "sell it this way" that's what will happen. My disappointment comes from finding out there *is* a rig for the Road Test but not being told so. Hearing a system deployed and operated by someone else is like taking a car for a test ride, rather than a test DRIVE. The BadTastingLiquorFest Post by: Cory 'Rooster' McKinnon on May 31, 2007, 04:32:15 PM Good luck with the Road Test. I'll look forward to hearing what you have to say about this system. What is the price point for the Tops and Subs? Post by: Phil LaDue on May 31, 2007, 04:49:17 PM
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?&s=Versarray& amp;sb=catalogprice&so=asc Post by: Lee Jacobson on May 31, 2007, 08:18:53 PM I played with the crank stands today, and flew 6 boxes. Nice rigging. The stands are not just a "crank 'em up" affair, but they assemble into a 13' tall mast, which the "cradle" rides up and down. You undo a bit of cable, then pull the top of the mast off, and add in two pieces of mast, then reassemble the thing. Takes longer to type than to do. FIGURING OUT how to do it the first time, however, took a few tries~! The boxes go together real quick, and setting the angles is a snap, or a click of the pics, if you prefer. My plan for tomorrow, again mostly due to the power I have to tie into, is to hang 6 boxes per side, but only run the top 4, over one sub per side. The stage this rig will be used on has a steel drum band. ALL steel drums, plus a regular drum kit. No bass player, keys, gtr, vocals, nada. I expect good things. I'l get lots of pics tomorrow. Might even share a few with you guys! Lee Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 01, 2007, 11:34:42 PM First things first: I don't care for the stands. Unlike the Genie type, you need to break these apart, extend the mast, then use them. PITA, to me. They cost well over half what a Genie/Sumner would, and those would hold more, and go higher. 'nuff said. The rigging is easy and fast. As you can see in the pics, there are some bolts in the holes. In this system, since the boxes live "3 high" in their little 6pack cases, Boomer has opted to bolt them to the flyware. You can use pins for all of the connections, it'll cost more, and it'd be faster to take the single boxes apart, but for this rig, two bolts and one pin per side seems to work well. If you blow up the close up pic of the side, you'll see the "12 O clock" bolt, then a "2 O clock" bolt, then the "angle pin/bolt". The angle pin/bolt is the one it makes the most sense to use pins in, as these are the ones that you'll be pulling regularly. We got the rig out, built the cranks, and had all 6 boxes in the air in about 15 minutes, and my guy had not seen these boxes before. He watched me to do side, and did the other himself. This rig is VERY easy to do as one guy. How's it sound?? Short version: anybody wanna buy some TX4s??? Seriously! For a guy who swims in the ponds I swim in, where the name on the box is less important that what the system sounds like, this is a GREAT system. I heard things in my test CDs that I had not heard before, mostly triangles and things of that sort. Vocals were very smooth, everything just worked. Granted, we got rained out, so no live music was played through this system. That said, I am VERY impressed with what I have seen/heard thus far, and look forward to using it again while I've got it. Pics?? Here you go: http://www.campuspa.com/images/versarray/ Post by: Robin E Venters on June 05, 2007, 09:06:46 AM Hey man thanks for your interest in the Versarray. As JR says, Peavey's marketing is what it is, and sometimes doesn't allow for some desires to be met directly. Now in the 4 states I cover there is no easier or more accommodating Dealer than Phil U. I spoke to him (father Phil) re this situation, and he says he would like you to come talk to him, and he will try his best to work with you. He says that you and he have gotten along well in the past, in various dealings. It's really up to you in this situation to convince Phil that you are a serious prospect, and that it's possible for the dealer to hook you up with a system without being beat to death on a reasonable margin for the dealers support. So far Peavey has between 125-200 systems somewhere out there pushing air, and I have yet to hear of one single case where the owners of the system wanted to get rid of it for any reason. There has yet to be anything used on Fleabay. It is somewhat amazing that absolutely everyone who has purchased these has had the same reaction as the tester who started this thread. Phil said he would help you get into Summer Namm in Austin if that would help. There you could see the system demoed in a small room and talk to Boomer etc etc... Basically the system is too expensive for dealers (Even good ones like Phil) to put on the floor to demo in some crowded music store PA room, and too inexpensive for us to have lots of systems and trucks and crews going around the country demoing them in the field. Hey they will be on the "B" stage of the "Top Grossing Tour in the history of the World"...that's pretty high profile set of possible venues to hear the system do it's thing. Good luck and please talk with Phil, and or Nick U re this....Good luck Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 05, 2007, 09:31:39 AM
Yo, Robin.. great to hear from you, long time... I know this is not a new issue for you guys. Hope you and family are well... JR Post by: Robin E Venters on June 05, 2007, 10:10:54 AM
Thanks John, good to see you here. I am doing OK as is the family...as well as any family with a 53 year old dad and a 7 year old Boy can be expected to do...lol Glad to hear about your drum thingie. Here's an ad idea for you: "Resotune"...Can't beat it, without it. Bah doomp pah, ching!!.....thank you very much, I'll be here till Thursday....Try the Veal. Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 05, 2007, 11:45:31 AM
I miss you guys, the PV reps were often the sharpest cats in the room... JR PS: I was thinking along the lines of "tune it or die" , but probably not friendly enough. Post by: Tom faderjockey Brandis on June 05, 2007, 03:21:09 PM Tom in Baltimore Post by: Tim McCulloch on June 05, 2007, 10:56:36 PM Thanks for the reply, and check your private messages for a more detailed response. Have fun, good luck. Tim Mc Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 07, 2007, 12:23:36 AM
Tim: Robin is good folks and will help you as much as he can. I've known him since before he was a rep (he used to be normal). Let us know what you end up buying if you don't like the sound of the PVs. I haven't heard them yet either, but I suspect I will. JR Post by: Tim McCulloch on June 07, 2007, 02:48:31 AM Robin seems to be a very on-top-of-things guy and I'm very glad he's the rep for our region. I doubt that any of us will be disappointed in the Versarray when it is deployed properly and fed a decent mix. We had a Mark VIII years ago, and I thought it was a great sounding desk, although the confusing pre/post switching took some getting used to. For us, the only operational downside was that it really didn't like being trucked around, and some mixerpersons had a gear snob attitude about the name plate. In all, it was a pretty impressive piece. I suspect the Versarray will be similarly impressive, and might just be one of the products that breaks the anti-Peavey mold. Have fun, good luck. Tim Mc Post by: Craig Leerman on June 08, 2007, 08:35:04 PM
According to a game show I just watched on TV, the top grossing tour ever was by the Rolling Stones, not the Warped Tour you allude to. Here is a link supporting that. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_ content_id=1003438485
Post by: Robin E Venters on June 08, 2007, 09:02:01 PM
Ok OK I was just repeating something I heard without checking my facts. The tour that will have a Vray system on the B stage in several cities, is Ozzfest 07" Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 08, 2007, 09:29:45 PM
I figured "Top Grossing Tour in the history of the World" was the name of the latest tour from the "free beer every night" band. JR Post by: RYAN LOUDMUSIC JENKINS on June 08, 2007, 11:37:45 PM
I would bet that inflation adjusted The Grateful Dead still would top the stones! Of course they toured for like 30 years straight so was that just one tour or many tours? Plus the promoters for the stones over charge for their shows. I watched the Superbowl for free on my TV and I thought I got ripped off! Post by: Matt Harris on June 11, 2007, 02:12:32 AM Post by: Kevin Ballard on June 11, 2007, 04:22:09 AM According to the listings in our local gig guide "The grapevine" it's likely that a band called "TBA" are in the running. www.grapevine.co.uk Post by: Jeff Babcock on June 11, 2007, 03:15:57 PM Cheers Jeff Post by: Ronnie Shaffer on June 11, 2007, 10:25:54 PM I'm interested in finding out if this box will cross that line of meeting the need of a "b" national, much like the TX-4's mentioned in an earlier post. Is shading for the nearfield accomplished solely through changing angle for less coupling or do the lower boxes get gain adjustment as well. I looked back through but didn't notice what processing is being used for the demo. I'm anxious to read the remaining road test results. Hope they're forthcoming soon. Thanks for making the effort to enlighten those of us out of the loop. Post by: Mac Kerr on June 11, 2007, 10:27:54 PM Mac moderator Post by: Ronnie Shaffer on June 11, 2007, 11:03:54 PM Post by: Michael 'Bink' Knowles on June 11, 2007, 11:50:04 PM
Just so you know, JBL gets the same treatment with their VRX boxes which are a vertically arrayed speaker system but NOT a line array. The definition of line array is fairly tight and exclusive but that doesn't mean a vertical array of speakers such as the Versarray or VRX can't be a good solution to many live sound problems. I keep hearing about folks using two VRXes a side for all those sorts of gigs that used to need two main speakers-on-sticks PLUS two delay speakers. The vertical stack throws farther and sounds good. -Bink Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 12, 2007, 11:58:09 AM There are two amp racks. Each amp rack contains two VSX26 2x6 DSP units, as well as two Crest 5200 amps for HF, and four Crest 9200 amps for all the cones. The way the rig is set up, each 18" cone gets a channel of 9200 for 1300W program per cone, or 2600W program per sub! The tops are set up to run two 8 ohm cones per channel of 9200, which is still 1100W program per cone. The HF in these boxes is configured to 16 ohms, which puts the program right at 145W per box. The suggested method of wiring allows one to shade boxes in pairs. My only "worry" with this system is the power handling of the HF vs its SPL@ 1w1m. That said, at no time running the rig did I ever feel like I was lacking in HF. I think the typical compression driver numbers are higher, but also not as correct as the ribbon's numbers. Peavey rates the ribbons at 99dB 1w1m. Typical 2" exit HF drivers, which handle similar power, are rated in the 108-113 range, depending. BUT, compression drivers tend to fall off rapidly above a certain freq, and require big boosts in the higher end of their drive to remain "flat". This adds up to LOTS more power burned in the top end, while the ribbons Peavey is using are flatter up there, so the numbers seem to work themselves out. After talking with Boomer about this, I am confident that the HF "odd numbers" thing is a non-issue. He actually says that if the boxes are driven as mine were, and run "normal" (meaning with a flat-ish curve, not super boosted HF to compensate for hearing issues), that you'll burn the 1000W cone before you'll burn the HF drivers. OK, gigs: Saturday... One of my clients is the local hospital. They had a grand opening for their new, $27M satalite facility. When we discussed sound needs for the event, they were very clear on what they needed: "we want the CEO to be able to stand at the podium, and talk to 2000ppl". No problem. We had the rig hung 6 deep, over one sub per side. Due to power distro/genny location issues, I opted to run 3 boxes per channel and lose the shading. The mains were a good 40' in front of the stage, due to the shape of the location. As such, we had gain for days. The CEO got up, said his things, and EVERYBODY heard him. He was very pleased. I heard it from him personally, which means a little. I also heard it through the back channels, which to me means MUCH more, as that means he wasn't just politely saying "everything was great", but that he was truly happy. In addition to the speaking stuff, they had a taiko (sp??) drum group on my 24x20 stage. We very sparsely mic'd the stage for that, and had extremely good coverage for the whole area. I had the lifts on the ground, all the way up, so 13'. The box angles were 0 degrees for the top 3, then 2.5/2.5/5 for the next three. I had a single self powered 12/1 box set up as a front fill, to cover the area between the stage and the hangs, fwiw. Sunday.... Drive 2 hours NW to a farm, set up the rig on an SL100 stage. We put the lifts on the deck, and had them about 12' off the deck. This put the tops at about 16' high. I opted for angles of 2.5 between the top 5 boxes, with the bottom box at 5 degrees. We had two subs per side, and ran the tops in pairs off the amps. The rig sounded BEAUTIFUL. I had no problem getting it up to high 90s , A weighted. I like to drive around 95-98, with peaks no louder than 102 or so. FOH was 125' out, and coverage was VERY smooth. I walked back a good 300+', and still had plenty of SPL. I have the screen still open on the tablet which drove the 01v96. My only eq was a -4dB cut at 600 on the mains. That said, my vocals were flat, and the vox mics were e835s, which seem to like 600Hz, so.... We got through 3 of the 8 scheduled bands that day before it rained and hailed and blew like a sum-bitch. As an example of the winds, the front section of the SL100's roof got LIFTED UP off the supports. A wee bit of wind..... Prior to that, I got nothing but compliments on the sound. There were quite a few "THIS is PEAVEY???!!!!!!" type compliments, which is both good for Peavey, and bad, I suppose. My impressions: I like this rig, quite a bit. My only gripe is the lifts, they are a class-A pain in the ass. If I bought this rig, I'd get Genies, or Sumners, or something of that ilk. I have already run the numbers, and I figure I have subs, power, and drive, (DR260s) although Boomer suggest I look into their VSX dsp if I go with these boxes. These boxes sound GOOD. They are smooth. They lack that "in your face" compression driver thing. The businessman side of my brain has had the "dude, it says PEAVEY on it" internal debate. In the end, for where I am today, the name Peavey won't hurt me. These boxes are NOT "your father's Peavey" to borrow from an Oldsmobile ad from a few years ago. More later, including quite a few pics. I have to go clean the rig up and get it all ready to ship, so Boomer doesn't kick my ass! Post by: Renard Hurtado on June 12, 2007, 08:25:57 PM Thanks for your comments. I watch this thread everyday, waiting for more on this Versarray system. I like the way the system can be setup and also the pricing is very attractive. I hope to hear from more users about how they like this system, so I can give a positive advise to Mr. Wallet. Thank you Renard (from Curacao) Hurtado Post by: Don Lanier on June 13, 2007, 02:01:56 AM Its a weight saving system, with a pair of Genies one guy can actually go out and do a system, using a small UHAUL trailer you can carry enough PA to cover several thousand folks EASY.... We used thsi system for several Private Partys during the Kentucky Derby and from the minute it came on folks were saying the music sounds great. When people who dont know DA DA about sound are listening closely and commenting to the engineer that the sound is good what do you say..... I also found the lifts to be cumbersome, Sorry Boomer but I actually got the cable caught and had to dissasseble one to fix it....the lift needs refinement and I think I would redesign that somehow, or use Genies, with Genies you can get higher and this allows you to really take advantage of the Aiming ability of these, very easy to Point and shoot. I think the guys down there deserve a real pat on the back for building something I as a longtime Peavey guy can be damn proud of, NICE JOB !!! Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 13, 2007, 06:27:14 AM There has been some discussion "backstage" with some folks here about their own experiences with these boxes. I know Dave Lowum called me Saturday to say he was mixing later on a 3-deep hang. He then called and left a two word message "not impressed". We talked about it for a while, and my experience with the boxes is exactly opposite his. Different drive??? Too few boxes??? I, for one, would like to hear/read any hands on you guys have with these. Brandis has that rig in Baltimore. How is it?? Who's driven it?? What do you like, dislike? Bennett told me "I'd happily mix on a Versarray" , and I gotta say, he has "picked apart" several other offerings. In my brain, this rig is a 6-box minimum to-be-worth-the-effort system. Fewer boxes than that, and I'd just as soon have something without the cranks. Maybe that is the cranks' fault, dunno. If I were to pick this rig up, and believe me, I am "this close" to doing so, I'd like to be able to run 6-8 of them per side. That many boxes, and I'm covering 2-3 Kilofolk, easily. Maybe not at "big mick" SPL, but my soon to be 40 year old ass doesn't need triple-digit SPL these days. If I ever feel the need to compensate for shortcomings, I'll buy a corvette! More later, ramblings of a tired old fart. Lee Post by: Don Boomer on June 13, 2007, 10:51:31 AM
I think "PITA" is a little overstated. The point was to provide an affordable unit. Yes ... it takes more effort to assemble the Vermette unit but on the other hand since you can break it down into smaller pieces thereby reducing the weight (should you have to wrangle it by yourself) it may be a better answer for some users. I often use Genies because they will carry more weight (more speaker boxes) and go up higher. If you checkbook says OK then go on ahead ... it's fine with me. We're not really in the lift business but I did want to provide users, especially those that usually do their shopping at music stores, a way to actually fly this system ... not just drop some boxes in their lap. Hey ... where's the pictures? Post by: Marty McCann on June 13, 2007, 10:58:05 AM Marty Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 13, 2007, 12:38:04 PM I still haven't heard these myself. I'm a little surprised they weren't in the local showcase venue (a restored old theater with great acoustics) when I was there a few months ago, but it's almost too small of a room to really need them and they're still new. So guys keep those reports coming in. I'd be interested to hear specifics of DL's experience and what he is comparing them to. It appears these like lots of power, that amp complement is not exactly slapping a few CS800s on them. I hope the PV faithful get the hint and drive these properly so we don't get more of the PV negative halo from poor application. JR Post by: Geri O'Neil on June 13, 2007, 02:22:38 PM
Trust me, JR, that's a bit of a sore subject with me and I've gone to bat with the management several times to get the Versarray in there, temporarily or otherwise, and regardless if we put it in there or PV made the arrangements for it. That place has the Aesthetics Committee from hell! We ain't through, though. And one might land in there (maybe no thanx to us) when it's all said and done. There's a lot more going on there than we're involved in, no doubt. Geri O Post by: Geri O'Neil on June 13, 2007, 02:24:13 PM Geri O Post by: Jeff Babcock on June 13, 2007, 02:34:12 PM We played a variety of tracks through the system as well as tested out a few favourite mics. I will sum it up like this - If these boxes could go into a "blind test" against other boxes on the market, I can almost guarantee they would place very well, maybe not at the very top, but certainly high on the list. I have heard rigs costing inordinately more that were far less impressive. Lee said it well, these boxes are REALLY SMOOTH. The HF performance is wonderful, very rich and detailed, and the transition from the dual ribbons to the 12" seemed very smooth as well. We just listened to 4 cabs, and the output was far better than I expected for such a small rig. It's a shame that the Peavey name will be an obstacle for some people. This is a GREAT PRODUCT, at a REALLY GREAT PRICE. If you are skeptical because of your preconceived ideas of Peavey products, you really owe it to yourself to listen to these boxes. Did I mention the price! Re the vermette lift, I didn't see one first hand, but the rep had photos of the assembly process. There are better choices in lifts, I think a genie is better suited and will go higher, but hey, the vermette would work I suppose. Another thing, if you buy these and use them in a mobile situation, get the quick release pins, it will save a ton of time. I have a number of applications where these will be a very good fit and i have no issues in recommending this product. Peavey has really done a great job on these, and i commend them for it. Feel free to ask questions if you have them and i can try to help. Cheers Jeff Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 13, 2007, 02:51:45 PM
Yeah after 20 years I forget that there's something in water down here that makes people so disagreeable and hard headed... Whatever,, the theater is a sweet sounding room and would make a nice showcase, but I do recall how screwy and counter productive the local politics is... I guess if they wanted historical accuracy they should return to gas lamps and acoustic acts only.. JR Post by: Phil LaDue on June 13, 2007, 02:53:06 PM
Maybe they should start slapping some Crest name badges on the demo rigs as an experiment. Post by: Geri O'Neil on June 13, 2007, 03:35:39 PM I guess if they wanted historical accuracy they should return to gas lamps and acoustic acts only.. JR [/quote] And imagine my popularity status there when I told them that very thing!... well, someone had to... Geri O Post by: Renard Hurtado on June 13, 2007, 06:51:55 PM I have no doubt that the high freq. section is very nice sounding with good projection etc. For me to get an idea what this system could replace in my inventory: If i were to replace a set-up consisting of three KF-850 (or APOGEE 3x3) cabinets + 3 double 18" sub cabinets per side , what size of a versarray set-up would you recommend? Thanks for satisfying my inquiring mind Renard Hurtado Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 13, 2007, 09:45:58 PM As for the question about how many of these per side will replace how many "typical concert boxes", I can't say. In my experience, the versarray is more about fidelity than sheer SPL. Of course, the fact that it is out with Ozzfest on the B stage means it gets purdy loud as well. My current business path is leaning toward fidelity, not SPL for the sake of SPL. I have minimal experience with some of the "jet engine" noise generators out there. I will say that with 6 per side, and "rock music", I had no problems reaching my target SPL at mix, and felt no indication that I was anywhere near any limiters. The rig never got "squashy" at all, it just did what was asked of it. I'll let Lowum speak for himself about his opinions. If I recall, the rig he used was 3 over 2 per side, with the Peavey suggested CS3000s on the tops (one per side?? dunno) and CS4080 on the subs, VSX26 dsp. Now, the system tech may have played with the drive settings. On the other hand, perhaps there were simply too few boxes to do what Dave needed. Dave and I have been friends for several years, somewhere around nine+ at last count. During that time, we've had enough conversations about "sound&shit" that we have a pretty good understanding of each other's mindset, system expectations, mixing styles, etc. Given that, I feel like I understand what he's saying, and that it has not been my experience with this rig. I think Peavey has done an outstanding job with this line. I hope they are able to break some of the current "no peavey" stigma out there with the performance of this system. This one is currently on my short list of "next box" candidates. More later, and pics to come soon! Lee Post by: Don Boomer on June 13, 2007, 10:46:27 PM I have a better idea. Go to our website and download the Ease Focus program. It will let you easily model up a system and will show you what to expect. Just tell it the number of boxes you want to use and the distance you want to throw and how high up you will be using the boxes. It will show you where your coverage is (and where it isn't ... also very important!) at how loud (and in what bands) it will be along the way. Maybe EAW has some data that you could load in and compare. If you can't figure it out quickly ... email me with your requirements and I'll grind the numbers for you. Here's the link ... http://www.peavey.com/support/software/ease.cfm Lee ... How big was your "rock show" (before you were blown out? and what would you estimate the system you used would handle Post by: Dave Lowum on June 14, 2007, 01:49:56 AM
Thanks for the intro, Lee! My scenario was the typical "80's style rock act at a festival"... no soundcheck, just quickie line checks and go... I had the opportunity to listen to the last half of the previous band's set, and the CD interlude, but no real "tuning" time. This is a band I've been working with for YEARS (longer that I've known Lee!), so I know the subtleties of their tones and interactions quite well. Before I get into my observations and reactions, let me say a couple of things... First, I was honestly looking forward to mixing on this rig, since I dig new kit. Second, yes, I am a bit of a gear snob (I tend to preach the Gospel According to Nexo), but I also generally keep an open mind towards things until I have my own experiences to draw from. There has been a lot of good press about the Versarray, and I was finally going to get my ears wrapped around it! The rig I was presented with is one I am going to assume to be fairly typical for the targeted market. A&H GL2800 console, DBX 10-series graphs, Vermette stands, and a total rig of 3 tops and 2 subs per side. The house EQ was rather hacked up, and had a suspicious rolloff above 10K or so, but I politely inquired about the power, in a curious way, and was told that it was the "factory recommended setup" with the Peavey high-output amps. Okay, cool. I'm all-in with Scovil wanting the "latest version of the factory software for the system DSP, with no user edits." I won't swear that the DSP in my situation was virginal, but the provider wasn't exactly the type that I would imagine diving into the box... First impression was that the system was severely lacking in low-mid punch, but at the same time, was kind of boxy/flubby sounding in the same area. Murky and indistinct would be the best description. The upper mids were okay, if a bit on the harsh side, which I wasn't able to get rid of, and I never experienced the airiness and crystal clarity that Lee was raving about. I looked for it, but I couldn't find it. The sub freq's were fine, decent oomph from the kick and bass, and really shone on the VLF keyboard stuff. Definately a sub, and not just a "bass box." Once I got the initial fires put out and some semblance of a mix happening, I did a little wandering to get a sense of what was happening out from under the 10x10 mix tent. The coverage was uneven in tonality at different horizontal angles, and directly on axis with the hang, it had a distinct "rip" to the sound, right around +/-5 degrees from dead on. I went back into the tent and essentially flattened the graph, then pulled 500, 800 and 1K down a tad, and if memory serves, all but crushed 125, which was bleeding all over the deck. I could tell from the sudden vocal mic resonances immediately following me undoing the house "curve." In the end, I spent most of the 90 minute set trying to EQ the harshness out, since I just couldn't get the warmth that I was looking for. To be fair, I have to acknowlege the fact that the provider had JUST gotten the rig, and may not have properly deployed the system. In conversations with Lee, I did get up on my soapbox about mis-application of line/vertical arrays, and how far too many vendors (including ones that should know better!) hang lines that are just too short. My biggest worry with a product such as Versarray (affordable high-technology) is that it will get into the hands of those folk that don't have the technical chops to use the tools they have, and wind up creating all kinds of problems with poor sound. I really don't want to come off snobbish, but I honestly think that you should have to pass some sort of test before being allowed to deploy lines by yourself. I know experienced guys that blow off shooting the room in the software, and it hurts them. Now that we have a product aimed at a market that may not have the chops even if they have the tools, I can see a serious danger ahead. These are the same folk that will blithly and smilingly flat-front their trap boxes "because it's louder that way." Letting them play with lines gives me the willies! Okay, I'm off my soap-box now. Would I give the Versarray another chance? You bet. But when I next get on one, I REALLY hope that somebody like Lee or Don was involved, and that it was hung, processed, and powered properly. Please give me a moment to don my fire-retardant clothing... Post by: Jeff Babcock on June 14, 2007, 02:11:18 AM Thanks for your detailed comments. The house GEQ shouldn't have needed to be hacked from what I heard of these cabs. They were very satisfying just based on Peavey's preset for them in the VSX with no other eq. What I heard, like Lee, was very opposite to your experience. I experienced no harshness, and the high end detail thanks to the ribbon drivers was very apparent. I also thought they were pretty well behaved in the lower mids, certainly not boxy or "flubby" as you put it. I really think these must have been misdeployed, which is very unfortunate. You make a good point, due to the price point of these, they may end up in the hands of inexperienced users who cause more problems than good with them due to lack of understanding what they are dealing with. Perhaps peavey should include some detailed "primer" documentation with these cabs to at least make inexperienced users aware of potential deployment issues. I think you're right in wanting to hear them again under different circumstances. Thanks for your comments... Jeff Post by: ThomasDameron on June 14, 2007, 03:31:01 AM Probably more to Boomer, is there any kind of user manual for the lifts? I couldn't find anything on the site. I'd be curious to see a quick run through of what exactly is involved in setting up those lifts and flying out the pa. Pictures would be great. How high is the bottom box off the ground with 6 boxes flown? Thanks for the review. I appreciate the time everybody is putting into it. thomas d. Post by: Don Boomer on June 14, 2007, 08:16:35 AM You were using 3 tops per side for how big of an event? That's not much of a system for outdoors. 80's rock act at a festival? Three tops per side is a "classic rock" system for maybe 200-300 people indoors. Was there any angle between the cabinets? Post by: Don Boomer on June 14, 2007, 08:18:49 AM
Kinda like the primer that comes with an Indy racing car? Post by: Don Boomer on June 14, 2007, 08:33:45 AM
There's a lot fo "funny stuff" in the dsp processing. You can go to our website and download the VSX PC GUI and then load the PJ8 setting (well that's for a single set) You have to look at the effects of all the elements happening together ... by themselves they are very non-textbook. There are a number of elements that deal with the polars of the box (especially around 2k Hz). What we are interested in it getting the best performance out in the air ... electrically it doesn't really matter. As far as the Vermette lift ... they don't provide a manual but it's pretty much a Tinkertoy. You fold down the legs and crank out the cable, then you pull the head off (while it's lying on it's back) and snap on to center post extensions. Then plug the head back in and stand it up. I can do it by myself (but I prefer having a little help). One of the design elements of the Versarray system is the a single operator (especially and old guy like me) can get this out of the truck and set up by himself. You do very little lifting and when you do the top boxes only weight 50 lbs each (and they are small so you can get your arms around them). I've done too many low budget shows over the years where my "crew" were either kids that were little help or the load out crew was drunk or gone come time to break down the system and I ended up loading it myself. The bottom box is about 6 feet off the deck with a 6 hang. It's pretty much useless to have any boxes below head height. The top goes up 13 feet ... and it always goes up the whole 13 feet. I'll post some pix when i get to the office. Post by: Dave Lowum on June 14, 2007, 10:03:17 AM
Joking aside, in a way, yes... The average bloke on the street can't just buy one of those million-dollar rockets, jump in and drive. It requires a competition license, which is only obtainable by demonstrating that you have the skills necessary, developed on lesser cars in lesser circuits. Even then, the rookie license is a provisional license, and subject to revocation for "stupidity." Applied to the line/vertical array, this would be YEARS of working with older systems, a firm understanding of system optimization, and the fundamental knowledge of the relationship between line length and pattern control/LF coupling. Granted, the Versarray isn't aimed at the same market or price point, but think back to the v-Dosc days, and how they were sold only as complete systems, with mandatory training. With a typical 15/2 two-way box, it's actually hard to screw up deploying a one- or two-box per side system. With a line, deploying a one- or two-box per side system is guaranteed failure, but the average "newbie" to the system doesn't know that... Post by: Dave Lowum on June 14, 2007, 10:14:45 AM
That was pretty much my impression as well... From memory, the top two boxes in the array looked all but flat, and the bottom was fairly steeply pulled back. I wound up mixing in the low 90's (A, slow, c. 80') because trying to push past that simply sounded worse and worse the further I got above the stage mush. My personal opinion was that this was a typical mis-application of a line. I don't own any LA gear, but I have spec'd it for various shows, and I always spec a reasonable length of line. Unfortunately, the groups I work with are at the level where the "C" grade providers live, and I get all kinds of good and bad. I can go from a flown 40-box Flash/Flood rig on one night, to a deck-stacked 3-box M2D rig the next. Which do you think sounded better? It wasn't the Meyer, despite the advanced technology, it was the 20 year old Barney rig. I've also walked into a 12/side M2D rig, and it was spectacular. With lines, it all comes down to deployment and line length. With the Versarray experience I had, it's the same old story. Too short, and the provider was proud of the fact that he could do the show with such a small rig... Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 14, 2007, 10:20:36 AM
This is not exactly a new issue for PV brand and probably responsible for the lions share of their reputation. A great deal of engineering effort is usually committed to anticipating how users are likely to deploy the gear. With any kind of arrayed speaker system there are always opportunities to get it wrong, I'm sure Marty and crew will provide training to dealers but it will be hard to get comprehensive training to end users cost effectively. Not to give PV, merchandising advice, perhaps a tutorial on the website at least covering the basics would give the dealers somewhere to point their customers, some of whom will surely be over their head deploying these. IIRC most music stores feel their work is done when they close the sale and boxes are in the customer's possession. So far it appears they are capable of sounding good, or not. Better than never sounding good, but training will be useful. JR Post by: Don Boomer on June 14, 2007, 10:38:03 AM I do go out and teach the system ... to dealers anyway. In retrospect I wish that I had released a dedicated processor with everything locked down. I was under the mistaken notion that if I offered a more versital, adjustable system that it would be used for the cause of truth, justice and the American way. If V-dosc required it before they would sell you a system ... I wonder how many people they actually turned down. I don't know how much it helped as I have heard very good systems and not so good systems. Ya never know. Post by: Marty McCann on June 14, 2007, 11:16:46 AM
The equipment that was spec'd for the venue (Peavey AA ILS enclosures) was does a couple of years before the completion of the rennovation, and the VersArrays didn't exist. RE: "Aesthetics Committee"; like any building that is on the Historical Preservation list, there are multiple hoops to jump through. It's amazing to me that they were able to modernize it to the degree that they did, otherwise there may still be gas stage lighting. And in 1894 they didn't have Crest consoles either. They were forced to keep to the original seating plan that results in some seats NOT even facing the stage directly. Even in the mucky muck boxes, you can only see the far side of the stage. Back in the Opera House days, people went there as much to be seen as to see the performance. marty Post by: John Roberts {JR} on June 14, 2007, 11:41:51 AM
The beauty of software based products is you can change your mind. I even designed analog PV products where you could remove the knobs and pop in a hole plug to keep the wrong folks from adjusting things they shouldn't. Also made crossovers with screwdriver level controls to discourage use as system EQ. When in doubt do what's right.... JR Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 14, 2007, 11:47:35 AM OK, the DSPs I had were running the stock settings for the boxes. There was no shading done via anything "inside" the dsp. I was told I could shade the boxes via level if I wanted. I never did that. Boomer sez a 3 box rig is good for 2-300 ppl. That supports my earlier statement that any fewer than six, and I'm gonna use something else. I can do 500-750 or so with two of my boxes per side. What I CAN'T do with mine, is pile 6-8-12 of them up and have them get BETTER. They get louder, and more comby, nasty. The Versarray does not, it gets better and better. My 6 box rig was covering an area easily 150' wide, and 200' deep, plus additional depth. I was a good 125' back, and there were folks seated behind me for another 75' or so. Behind them, I walked back to 300+ feet, and the rig was still VERY MUCH together and nice. How many folks were there, probably 1500 or so. I had it into the 97A-ish range at 125', and never felt the slightest bit of "pushed" sound from the rig. I will say that during my several conversations with Boomer, he's said the ribbons don't ever sound "pushed". They just go until they die. I was not into any limiting, however, so we'll assume I had some headroom left. Is that loud?? It is loud enough for me, and the clients I intend to work with. A question was posed about 850s. They are a loud box. Will these get as loud at 1 meter as the 850s will?? Not on your life. Will they be as loud at 200'??? Given enough boxes, yes. Again, for me, my expectations, the magic number is "at least 6" per side. With that many, I have had zero issues reaching my SPL/distance/coverage goals. The one time I hung 3 per side, all we got to do was hear CD playback before we got rained out. It sounded great. I was not trying to cover a large area with that rig, so I would have been fine. I just got off the phone with Boomer, and we had a nice wrap up to this road test. He is VERY interested in what we all have to say, good and bad, about this rig. I myself am VERY much considering buying this rig. I find that particularly ironic, as I was one of the first to go "hey look, PEAVEY's doing a ME TOO line array". Hey, it works, it sounds very good, it takes up very little space, and it is affordable. Still more to come, pics as well. Lee Post by: Geri O'Neil on June 14, 2007, 04:53:09 PM
This is all true, I wasn't referring to the original spec, but a few (very few, really) acts had not necessarily balked at the existing system, but simply inquired about the possibility of bringing in another, in their minds anyway, more advanced system, with one act even mentioning the Versaary specifically. And when I brought it up, you woulda thought I insulted someone's mama in the worst possible way (and no, I don't know what that would be!) I've mixed a few events in there and the existing system does a pretty nice job. Now about that mix booth... Geri O Post by: Geri O'Neil on June 14, 2007, 05:02:06 PM Geri O Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 14, 2007, 10:13:43 PM Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 15, 2007, 12:13:02 PM http://www.campuspa.com/images/versarray2/ Lee Post by: Tim Padrick on June 16, 2007, 06:27:28 PM
This has been a problem for Peavey's since they started making PA gear. One can make a listenable sound even with an original SP1 if he knows what he's doing. As Peavey gear has always been comparatively affordable, it's usually been configured and driven by the under-qualified, and an undeserved reputation for poor performance has been the result. Post by: drewgandy on June 17, 2007, 09:58:06 PM
I was just looking at the photos posted to campuspa but the bottom box is certainly not 6 feet off the deck in the photos where the lift is sitting on the stage. Am I misreading your above post? I had the impression that the lift had to be all the way down or all the way up. Of course it looks like its at least 13' high too. Maybe the picture is obscured. ? drew Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 17, 2007, 10:26:04 PM No, sorry. To clarify, the lift's mast has to be 13' tall, from the surface the lift is sitting on, at all times. The "carriage" rides up and down the mast. In the pics of the rig on the stage, the lifts are on the deck, which was about 4' tall. Then, the rig is up about 12' or so of the 13' the lifts have, or not quite all the way up. This puts the top of the rig at about 16' off the ground. Lee Post by: drewgandy on June 17, 2007, 10:42:38 PM
Lee, I just (probably as you were typing) read the first parts of your review and looked at the lift closer. I can see now how that works. So how much does the lift weigh? drew Post by: Michael Kurczeski on June 17, 2007, 11:23:54 PM Post by: Lee Jacobson on June 17, 2007, 11:32:26 PM I didn't weigh the lifts, but I did LIFT them. I'd say at least 200 lbs, maybe more. Not too bad. Two of us got them onto the deck without killing ourselves. The SL100 was set up thursday. My show was Sunday. The stage guys were not there until the end. We did talk about "next time" flying the rig off the roof. Post by: Mike Kivett on July 10, 2007, 04:25:45 PM However, our bread and butter is mostly smaller gigs where rider acceptability is not as big an issue. The 3K is normally accepted happily, for instance. That said, we've come to the conclusion that our 4-top per side rig (think TX-4 style) is no longer adequate for our normal gigs, which would typically be 125' wide and 200-250' deep outdoors. Think blues fests, county fairs, jazz in the park, etc., and for corporate functions/speeches/dinner parties in (up to 90'x160' or so) hotel ballrooms. If we had this rig, we'd either ramp up or down based on coverage need. The truck space savings would be huge for us, as we resort to a big trailer if the truck gets packed. (We do lights, canopy and staging gigs as well, and every combo in between.) We'll end up keeping the JBL rig anyway since selling it won't make us rich (and it still makes money), but given the level we're at, do you think the Versarray is viable as an everyday solution for us? Post by: Jeff Babcock on July 11, 2007, 05:00:40 PM Sounds like it's a good fit to me. A colleague from Toronto area just purchased this rig for exactly the types of shows you describe, and for the money he paid I really doubt if he could have done better. Cost/Performance ratio on these boxes is really impressive. Cheers Jeff Post by: kevinnemrava on July 13, 2007, 12:13:43 AM
Who is your buddy? I am out in Calgary, land of the working poor, and and in almost the same situation. PM3K at FOH, DBX comps, LABSUBS! (I have 6 , 2 more to be done in side a week). do stuff like festivals ect. I have been looking really hard at this rig thinking about it. and how well it will work with 4 lab sub a side, and about 6-8 tops per side. Kevin Nemrava www.Hyper-cube.ca Post by: Don Boomer on July 14, 2007, 01:12:43 PM Post by: Jeff Babcock on July 16, 2007, 12:03:05 PM Cheers Jeff Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 16, 2007, 04:40:50 PM Post by: Don Boomer on July 16, 2007, 11:48:50 PM Post by: kevinnemrava on July 17, 2007, 12:38:23 AM
I think I just developed a nervous twitch.......or is it a tick ... anyway.... I will see if I can get a hold of our friend in the okanogan. Post by: Mike Kivett on July 17, 2007, 12:06:39 PM I've been discussing the Versarray with the other guys in the shop, and there are a couple of "...Peavey?..." holdouts at this point. If there were a rig in Missouri somewhere close where we could see it (or Illinois, bordering, etc.) in action, that might help a lot. That gig above is one of the shows we're bringing in stacks and racks for. Twelve 850s and 8 850SBs for a outdoor reggae show that will likely have 2-3K in attendance tops, with a chance for 5k if it sells well. As a point of reference, would this show still be a six-box (over subs) Versarray gig, or would this be pushing it? Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 17, 2007, 04:25:26 PM
Our engineering firm has suggested we do 16 JBL VRX boxes and adequate subbage. I can't find a Versarray to hear anywhere....(yeah, I am in St. Louis area too). I can't in good faith order the Peavey system sight un"heard"... Post by: Mike Kivett on July 17, 2007, 05:40:41 PM As an aside: How are you going to array 16 VRX tops? Unless I misunderstand and you're ordering this many to create multiple systems. From what I've seen, you really can't array more than four together. By the way, how do the JBL VRXs sound to you? Post by: Don Boomer on July 17, 2007, 10:28:55 PM
Probably work fine ... but for Raggae you'll want a LOT of subs ... 4 per side or more Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 17, 2007, 11:35:55 PM
They are suggesting (4) 4 box hangs + VRX Sub on each hang.. L C | C R with the | being a center beam in the room. I actually like the sound of them. Very smooth, especially on vocals. Thought I may be in the minority, I kinda like 12" + horn tonality. Post by: Mike Kivett on July 18, 2007, 11:14:24 AM I agree with that. My own little personal rig that I take to shows that I work on the side (clubs, pet bands, etc.) uses 12"+horn tops as well. Post by: Mike Kivett on July 18, 2007, 11:35:27 AM We normally use Labsubs with our own rig (6 at the moment), and for bigger shows we've used them in a center ground stack. I've always like them fine, but when we separate them (2 or 3 per side, etc.) they can have issues like any other subs. It's just been awhile since we did a show with anything but the Labs, so it might make for an interesting change of pace... Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 18, 2007, 01:02:55 PM Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 18, 2007, 01:20:00 PM
If there's three in St Louis, there could be a lot more around the country. PV's pricing model does not support much individual show and tell. That's one reason there may be cost savings available. If you have an urgent time line, and there is significant money on the table, perhaps meet them half way. There have to be systems out there in use closer, or easier to get to than MS. What does your local dealer say? I agree it is never good to buy speakers without listening to them. Early reports suggest these are worth checking out. I haven't heard them yet myself. JR Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 18, 2007, 01:50:47 PM
You know, I just don't see me dragging the Senior Pastor out to Ozz or Jager fest to hear the rig. Peavey suggested I drive to Nashville to hear it. My dealer said he would do his best to get something when the time came or get me into a place nearby that was doing a demo. He is not the size place that would stock a Versarray though. Every time I contact Peavey regarding installs of the system, I get no answers. I have to believe that it does not exist except in a demo rig...and that is only rumored to exist from where I sit. Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 18, 2007, 02:33:43 PM
I don't have the energy or inclination to dispute your impressions, if you feel like you've been under serviced do what you feel appropriate. My comment was along the lines of "you can't get blood from a stone". Sometimes the squeaky wheel just falls off. JR Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 18, 2007, 04:43:43 PM Post by: Phil LaDue on July 18, 2007, 04:53:07 PM
At least it works now, I couldn't get to it for about a week last month! Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 18, 2007, 05:27:40 PM JR Post by: Tim McCulloch on July 18, 2007, 07:59:52 PM
There's a echo in here..... Tim Mc Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 18, 2007, 08:31:44 PM
Is it plagiarism if I copy myself... If I didn't repeat myself I'd rarely have anything to say JR Post by: Don Boomer on July 20, 2007, 12:08:22 AM So if you're gonna buy 32 boxes you could save $32,000 with this system. You just can't have it both ways. That said let me find you someone near your area that has them. Post by: Don Boomer on July 20, 2007, 12:10:47 AM It's almost back up to speed now. Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 20, 2007, 01:19:59 PM
If I can hear these, I can almost guarantee going that direction. Please let me know. I will be in Austin, TX between July 23-27 if you have anything there, I can make that happen too. Thanks, Post by: Robin E Venters on July 20, 2007, 05:57:49 PM
Take a deep breath here and relax. The web site issue has been caused the last 10 days or so by all new servers at Peavey, and is speeding up everyday lately. As to the issue of "dealer demos", it is a real problem. As John R said, Peavey's business model is based on dealers stocking and demoing gear to end users, and (hopefully) educating neophytes into not being intimidated by somewhat more complex stuff. If I had a nickel for every sound tech on this site who was first exposed to real world bi- and tri-amped PA systems by a Peavey dealer who was touting Peavey amps, crossovers and enclosures, I would have a great number of nickels....I sort of do have a few nickels directly because of that.....LOL. I do have enough money to last me the rest of my life....if I die tomorrow at 4:30 PM. Anyhow, when gear gets to the level of the Versarray, the customer is usually among the most hard core shoppers, and most dealers are loath to put a bunch of money into stuff that when they sell it, they are likely to be beat to death on a reasonable profit margin....none of which is your fault. AS it happens, somewhat more rural dealers are often more pro active than large metro shops. They can afford to be because of the pace of business in those areas. There is a relatively new store called Dexter Music, in Dexter Mo (duh) that is owned and operated by one Steve Agee. Steve is a long time dealer at a different store, and since he has his own shop,has exceeded my most optimistic expectations. He is a knowledgeable sound installer and portable guy, AND HAS ON THE SALES FLOOR in his high ceilinged demo room the 3 high ground stacks over 218's. So Dexter isn't right around the corner from Halpin...lol, but it's a drive well worth your time to put an ear to such a unique system....unique partly because this is how you have to audition it... for now. I hope this helps, it's the best I have for now. Robin Venters, area Rep OK KS MO AR...405-550-9484 Post by: John Roberts {JR} on July 20, 2007, 06:31:04 PM JR Post by: Don Lanier on July 20, 2007, 07:17:12 PM My weblink is below and I can be contacted through the website or via e mail here, dlaudio@earthlink.net. Post by: Don Boomer on July 20, 2007, 08:56:22 PM Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 21, 2007, 12:14:39 AM
That was fast work Don. Post by: Don Lanier on July 21, 2007, 01:45:39 AM The Versarray is really the easiest PA to setup and the amount of sheer volume that it can do is really impressive, best yet its pristine in its Quality and actually takes your ears a bit to realize its Ribbons, not Horns and its crystal clear at volume. The best thing is you can actually downsize your truck !!! Post by: John Chiara on July 26, 2007, 07:52:10 PM
I will hopefully have my 8 in a week or so..hopefully..hint..hint!! And anyone will be welcome to come and check them out. My situation is a short..35 feet..throw under balcony setup..I need good volume at a short distance..hoping the 4 a side will do the trick..subs are Danley TH 115's. Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 27, 2007, 11:43:07 PM Post by: Robin E Venters on July 28, 2007, 08:13:57 AM
Hey Tom if you come back by today say hey to me as well, I will be wearing a very bright yellow shirt on saturday.... I like the term "lovely"...when I look at the system, and start thinking about actually dragging around a system, the small size and ease of dealing with the Versarray, makes me start hoping it would handle the venues......cause anything too big, is bigger than I want to fool with. Verry nice, as Borat would say. Post by: Lee Jacobson on July 28, 2007, 09:34:17 AM Lee Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on July 28, 2007, 11:56:08 PM
I wish I could. I had to fly back to St. Louis late last night. I was in Austin all week before the NAMM show. Post by: Tim McCulloch on July 31, 2007, 11:10:38 PM First, a big thanks to Robin Ventner from Peavey, and Jack and Dave from Jaegermeister for their help on short notice (I had a gig on Monday that canceled a couple of days before, and I'd forgotten about OzzFest until the tech from Hatebreed mentioned it). For Monday, Dave flew 10 per side, with 8 218 subs left and right. The space that day was very wide, and Dave deployed extreme left & right fills of 3 tops pinned to a 218 sub. Per-sub power was a bridged Crest 9200, and a rack of 6 (I think) Crest 8200s powered each line... The outfills were powered by a pair of CD3000s per side. There were about 5,000 in the area, and for the most part the coverage was very good. It threw a lot further than one might think... as I approached the FOH area, I thought the delays sounded really good, too... until I saw that the delay amp rack wasn't powered up (it took a big rain hit a couple hours before I got there). Everything I was hearing came from the main hangs. Dead center in front of the FOH (about 100-120' from stage) I thought the rig sounded very good, although I don't think it sounded "metal." It lacked the low-mid 'grunt' I associate with the genre, but otherwise was well balanced. Probably about 108dB, A weighted... my "calibrated ear" estimates... and maybe 112dB C. Peavey claims a 90 Post by: Lee Jacobson on July 31, 2007, 11:21:17 PM Your test ride with them seems to go hand in hand with my roadtest experience. It is very nice to have a rig that small cover that many folks, isn't it??? Lee Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 01, 2007, 12:02:47 AM Versarray got a lot louder than I thought it would, and that given optimal deployment can sound very good at the same time. Just walking up to the Jaeger stage (I found it by following the music) I liked the basic sound. I'm used to an over-bearing quality to metal of this type, and that's what I didn't hear. The juxtaposition of distorted vocal (cupped mic screaming) coming from a box that otherwise sounded very clean was kind of ironic, in a way.... I have concerns regarding the HF section; being how much additional drive level is required when you start curving the array. It looks to me like one could be out of ribbon head room quickly. FWIW, Dave told me they average a couple of ribbons a week. For as hard as those are getting hit, I'm not surprised. I think he's carrying 32 tops, so that's not really outrageous. Replacement takes about 10 minutes per box. I've heard it on brutal music, now I want to hear it on something more mainstream. Time will tell. Hopefully I'll find another listening, or better, operating opportunity. Tim Mc Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 01, 2007, 12:28:59 AM Lee Post by: Pascal Pincosy on August 01, 2007, 12:39:59 AM
How about some sound transparent and waterproof covers? http://www.undercovernyc.com/pr_fsw.html Post by: kevinnemrava on August 01, 2007, 12:48:30 AM I too have my doubts about the ribbon section, mostly cause I know nothing about thought (fear of the unknown). Post by: Don Lanier on August 01, 2007, 01:03:27 AM Second gig was a DJ gig in a Hotel Atrium where I thought it would be a terrible echo drome of sound, WRONG, The gig was a dance party, RAP and its hard hitting groove, DJ was a talent from Miami and he was mixing it up, Dance floor was being moved about by the thump from these Versasubs, serious bass the kind of bass that the Mythbusters used to try and recreate the "Brown Note" for me it was too much, But were talking a crowd of a couple thousand dancing and doing the groove thang, the system took all that in stride and was smooth and very powerful. Easily transported into the area up 2 sets of Escalators, No elevator, ESCALATORS..Because of the low weight and small size it was simple, even the lifts went up the escalators... Best of all with the rigging setup we were able to use a pretty severe J hang and not feed too much up and into the atrium, We did leave the uppermost top boxes aimed high to hit the DJ right in the face, He loved it and it wasn't too loud but it had cut, and its was easy to listen to, no 4 K honk...Pristine is my word for the system. 50 Lbs a box, 8 stacked on a dolly,4 subs,amps, lifts DJ gear, all in a 14' box truck EASY !!!! Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 01, 2007, 01:16:59 AM These things are pounded with a genre that puts a pretty much non-stop signal to the HF section. What 'dance music' does for the subwoofers (torture), metal does to the HF, too. I hesitated before posting that, because I was afraid it would be mis-interpreted, as you did. I'm not criticizing you, but you have to understand the way the product is being used, and what is being asked of it. This is one of the reasons I said "this is not a BigRockShow PA." No reports of coil failures (opens or shorts) in the 12" sections, and the subs have needed no repairs. Considering the use this rig is receiving on OzzFest, a few ribbons neither surprises nor concerns me. On "lighter" program material, Dave said the HF is solid. OzzFest is nothing short of an endurance test for Versarray. I think it's going to come out looking pretty good. I can't say anything else until I'm behind a console, hopefully with an act I'm familiar with, and hopefully a little more 'artsy.' Have fun, good luck. Tim Mc Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 01, 2007, 03:06:30 PM I'll back you up on that, and add that not only are we talking about drving the piss out of the rig, but if they're losing "a couple" a week, that is two out of SIXTYFOUR per week. I don't know what the replacements cost, but that sort of ratio doesn't scare me too badly. As for the rain covers, I haven't seen them, but show me how they work with a lone array, and I'll buy you dinner.... Lee Post by: kevinnemrava on August 01, 2007, 07:24:40 PM
Thanks for the info. I don't want to but words in your mouth, but would it be fair to say that, yes, some of the HF drivers were blown up, but really we were asking for it, and it is not really a flaw in the design, only a reasonable limiting factor of the system? Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 01, 2007, 09:53:08 PM
The rig I heard was 100% functional. There are limits to every electromechanical device. This type of program material, at that level, on a daily basis will fatigue the ribbons. Any product regularly pushed to it's limits will exhibit failures. IMO the HF section is the limiting factor in this design. Knowing just how far you can push it determines if this could be the right system or if one needs to continue auditioning. Have fun, good luck... oh, and try to hear the Versarray at OzzFest. Tim Mc Post by: Ryan McLeod on August 01, 2007, 11:31:15 PM On my Versarray Rig I've been concerned about water as well and I've been toying with the Idea of a "Waterproof" type of cover to protect my "6-on-a-vermette-lift" rig. I think I'll call Undercover NY and see what they offer..... Post by: Pascal Pincosy on August 01, 2007, 11:31:42 PM
Give them a ring. I spoke with them just a month ago about waterproof covers for a line array. You can get them custom-made for single cabinets or in larger groups (2+ cabinets per cover). Obviously the more cabinets per cover, the cheaper the overall price will be. Post by: Don Lanier on August 03, 2007, 05:00:05 PM Ill have Peavey, Crest and Ben Q products on display. Anyone wanting to attend should RSVP me, The date will be Sept 13 and the time is yet TBD, More details can be found in the Peavey Forum under the topic as above. E mail me if you wish to attend. Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 04, 2007, 12:48:49 PM Might I suggest getting a GOOD band to play for this demo?? Let folks hear the rig with live music. Lee Post by: Randy Frierson on August 05, 2007, 03:19:32 PM PS i love the Fox News Channel so i am trying to be fair and balanced also in a room where i normally do 7 melodie's per side i did the 8 geo S and they said it was the best sound ever in that room, it was a concert w Johnny Rivers so there ya go Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 05, 2007, 05:35:37 PM The boxes are 15 degrees, max. That said, it is not uncommon to splay them less than that, vertically, as you well know. To power 6 per side, you'd need a minimum of four amp channels, two for high, to for low. The rack PV sent me had a channel of 9200 and a channel of 5200 per pair of boxes, and each rack could drive eight tops that way. Each rack also had two 9200s for subs. I have done the math with these VS the Geo-S. While the boxes are about half as much $$, they are also taller, meaning you need fewer of them for a longer line, if that makes sense. Yes, the Geo has the NEXO name, and requires fewer amp channels to drive it. That said, for the market Peavey is aiming these at, the NEXO name means very little. Lee Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 05, 2007, 06:05:42 PM After looking at your numbers, I ran some numbers of my own. I am in no way "the versarray champion" here, just putting out numbers for folks to consider. Without giving away any proprietary info about pricing, suffice it to say each Geo-S box costs TWICE what a VR-112 does (I know this to be true). For the sake of argument, we'll call that number $1000/2000 (VR/Geo). Now, the NX dsp is what, $2K also?? Let's look at a rig capable of doing 105 at 125'. Randy sez it took 17 boxes per side of Geo S. OK, I'll go out on a limb here and assume he had AT LEAST two channels of large amp running that rig. I'd have done it with more like four channels. So, for the sake of this comparison, we'll assume the amp rack for the GEO-S rig, per side, without subs, to have been one NX241/242, and two Camco V6 amps. Now, we've got two of those amp racks, and 34 tops. The NX dsp is $2K, the amps are about $4400ea(high street), for $10,800 in "electronics" per side, so $22K there. Thirty four tops, at roughly $2K street each, is $68K, plus $22K in racks to drive that, is $90,000. This does not include subs, or sub amps. I have Ease Focus open here, and it sez EIGHT VR-112 per side will do 112A, at 40 meters, average. That is 7dB hotter than your 105. FWIW, peak SPL is 122 at 40 meters. Now, let's look at boxes: eight VR 112s is $8K, give or take. We'll drive them like the demo rig, with TWO '26 DSPs in each rack, and two 9200s, two 5200s driving the 8 tops per side. So, we've got about $800 in dsp, and $7000 in amps (at "high" street cost), per rack, times two. So, we've got $16K in tops, and about $14K in 'tronics to drive them. This totals $30K. I see a slight difference in cost there. OK, will 17 Geo-S do more than 105dB (no weighting given) at 125'? Who knows. We do know it took 34 of them to do this show in question. Will the VR do it?? Based upon my experience with them, yes. Based upon others' reviews, yes. Are the Peavey boxes going to be accepted by everybody potential users might run into?? Dunno. Maybe, maybe not. Can one get more $$ with a Geo rig than a Peavey rig?? Prolly. Can one get more than 3X as much??? Prolly not. Have any of my clients ever asked for a NEXO rig?? Nope. Do I do shows where "this type of rig" (almost said line aray) would be useful?? Yep. Do I get real $$ for those shows?? Yep. Would I be able to use the Peavey on those shows?? I have already, and will again. Randy, What was the point again??? Lee Post by: Randy Frierson on August 05, 2007, 06:38:05 PM Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 05, 2007, 07:45:23 PM Those opinions are valid. I submit that the cost difference between a GeoS and a VR-112 is about 2X, with the Geo being twice the cost. The DSP is also LOTS more. Can you do more with the Geo-S than with the VR?? Sure. Does Peavey have a bit of a name problem?? You bet. This forum is for road test stuff, not "hey, try these, I sell 'em" stuff. If you'd like to continue a "what small format line array box to buy" thread, feel free to post it in one of the other forums. I don't feel like I made a bad choice with TX4s. They served me well, and if it weren't for a slight change in direction, I'd be keeping them. Not everybody can afford to go into relatively large debt to buy PA. Some of us are happy making a few grand a month and having NO loan payments. The few times I have been to your shop, I have been amazed by how much gear you've got, and, more importantly, how much of it sits around most of the time. If that is gonna be the case, would I rather have a $30K rig sitting, or a half a Mil rig sitting??? Lee Post by: Randy Frierson on August 05, 2007, 09:54:09 PM Post by: John Chiara on August 05, 2007, 10:24:39 PM Post by: Don Lanier on August 06, 2007, 12:52:34 AM Post by: Bennett Prescott on August 06, 2007, 12:00:51 PM
Randy, Doesn't having just one amp per side scare the hell out of you, as well as severely limit your options for array EQ? Super easy deployment is great and all, but I'd be sweating bullets on a corporate gig. Post by: Dan Brown on August 06, 2007, 12:41:38 PM
You can run 1-6 GeoS boxes per amp channel(Vortex6). I never have just one amp on a show. As far as shading, as you know that can open a whole new can of worms. However I have at least 2 channels of amp running from 2 seperate channels from nx241 so I can do a little bit of eq/gain shading. To tell you the truth however I really have only done this for one client where the venue was an outdoor amphitheater with a sloping hill... Anyway, I am not scared at all and my Nexo cabs have treated me very well. I am also looking at getting a GeoS12 rig as it is about 6db more than the 8 per box. simply amazing. sincerely, Dan Brown Post by: Randy Frierson on August 06, 2007, 01:38:17 PM PS if you ever have any of your stuff around florida i would love a demo, looks very intersting and very well made (from the pics) thanks Randy 813-394-0333 PS if you know anyone that might be interested in a Mint XL250 I need to sell it Fast as i have a tax issue i must clear up....thanks R Post by: Kurt Jeske on August 06, 2007, 03:17:19 PM Post by: Don Boomer on August 06, 2007, 03:48:29 PM There are indeed Sound Guards in the boxes ... in fact a seperate one for each driver. But almost every burnt ribbon we see was caused by exceeding the excursion limits of the driver and again almost every case here happened when someone thought they could roll their own crossover. It's a complex set of parameters that not only divide the frequencies but also take into account polars for the line. We've done a dozen Ozzfest shows now and only lost two ribbons. The speakers really take a beating on these gigs. They blew a lot more drivers last year! With the proper processing ... the ribbons will handle 1000W peaks per box. Normally we rate drivers with AES noise with a 6 dB crest factor. But these hold up fine with a 12 db crestfactor noise signal. That gives you tons of headroom possible ... one of the reasons these systems sound so good. Again, with the processing you would burn out the woofer before you burn out the ribbons running normal music through the system. Post by: Don Boomer on August 06, 2007, 04:02:37 PM
Actually we upped the amps in the Jager/Ozzfest system to Crest Pro8200 amps for additional headroom. Post by: Don Boomer on August 06, 2007, 04:15:15 PM
The day I was there it was about 106 - 110 dB "A" weighted but it was about 116 - 122 "C" weighted. Do you think it might have been a bit bass heavy? Actually there would be a lot better bass if the subs didn't have to be split apart to show the corporate logos ... but then who'd pay the bills?
Yes more height with a very slight curvature would have helped but because of how the trailer is built we were stuck with what we got ... pretty much a hugh ground stack. We would have liked to add a couple more top boxes but they just wouldn't fit. btw ... the best setup for sound quality from the cabs is with 2.5 degrees between boxes ... if that fits the demand. Yes ... we played just a little with the processing and both HP for the 12's and the ribbons were raised just a little to prevent excursion failures. I think had we been able to use more tops we would have just used the stock preset. Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 06, 2007, 05:23:33 PM
Don- Thanks for the update on both the processing and the ribbons. Based on my limited hearing of the rig and not being in the driver's seat, I still can't make the kind of determination I'd like, but I think you have a very nice little rig that will surprise the crap out of people... I know I was pleasantly surprised with the output and overall quality for only 10 a side. I'd be interested to know when/if you have another rig coming thru our area... the drive to Kansas City is about 3 hours of turnpike, and I'd gladly drive again to hear the Versarray with a different type of act. For the rest of the nay-sayers like Kurt that seem to think the HF should be bullet-proof, NOTHING is. Our rigs that use 2445s get diaphragms blown ocasionally, too, even with protective limiting from our OmniDrives. So far, so good, Don. Thanks for your help and patience! Tim Mc Post by: Don Boomer on August 06, 2007, 09:40:28 PM For the rest of the nay-sayers like Kurt that seem to think the HF should be bullet-proof, NOTHING is. I could make it bullet proof ... but you wouldn't like it. The idea is a compromise between the best sound quality and a reasonable amount of protection under most conditions. You can always get struck by lightning! Post by: Bob Kenton on August 06, 2007, 10:45:28 PM Im kinda wondering how well these boxes will work for smaller shows with just 1 or 2 tops per side over a single sub or two center clustered? Like a small outdoor outreach with about 200 peeps, or a hotel banquet room with about the same amount of listeners. I would just stick them on a pole most likely. Music is mostly rock with a few hip-hop acts tossed in. Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 06, 2007, 11:08:12 PM I'll give you my opinion on that. Keep in mind others have gotten different results, namely Ryan. Look through his versarray thread in the reviews forum. That said, when I get my Versarray rig, I probably won't use fewer than six boxes per side. In my limited experience with the boxes, they really start to shine with that many. Can you use fewer?? Sure. Lee Post by: Don Boomer on August 07, 2007, 12:06:00 AM Post by: Randy Frierson on August 07, 2007, 12:37:35 AM Post by: Tim Padrick on August 07, 2007, 12:39:19 AM If I use a micro line source (SLS8695, A-Line Emma) I need a double stack with the bottom 1.5' below the deck. And I'm not so sure that coverage will be perfectly even from front to rear (a one-channel only test is in the works). If I use "point source" boxes, ones with enough vertical are rare (and most get very beamy above 2K, so I'd be killing the folks in the middle to do a decent job in the back. Maybe three or four capable yet affordable boxes like the Versarray - raised a ways off the deck most likely - would do the job (IF there are no issues with being that close to the boxes.) Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on August 07, 2007, 01:23:53 AM
Maybe that will balance out the OzzFest Demos. Post by: Randy Frierson on August 07, 2007, 09:02:33 AM Post by: Robin E Venters on August 07, 2007, 10:14:45 AM Is this thread getting esoteric, or what? The fact is, 2 VR112's "On a Steeck" over a sub or two can work insanely well for many many smaller applications. Forget for a moment anything to do with LA effect...(although the VR does it above 2.5K ish with ONE box due to the true flat wave front of a ribbon) If the smaller VR systems are loud enough for the room and the pattern availble is close to ok for the layout, the ribbon drivers have literally 1% of the THD of even a first quality compression driver....that's 10 to the second less distortion from the high frequency transducer... This manifests in a tonality that is so foreign to the ear of compression driver calibrated listeners, that it is hard to guess how loud it is. It is exceptionally non fatiguing. Now this has more to do with ribbon drivers than "line arrays", and Peavey is far from the first to use these....just the first to stir up mid level sound companies about them... Post by: John Roberts {JR} on August 07, 2007, 10:37:55 AM No loudspeaker can be all things for all people. They are purpose designed for a general application. It sounds like you guys have a winner, doing what it does well for a good price. There will always be applications better served by other approaches, got to have something for those guys in transducer engineering to work on next..... JR Post by: Jeff Babcock on August 07, 2007, 10:39:07 AM The sound is very non-fatiguing. I could pretty much walk right up to the box and it was never painful even though is was loud. Try standing a foot away from most compression driver boxes at loud volumes. In most cases it gets pretty uncomfortable. Randy's point regarding arrays is important, however due to the price of these I think there are lots of other uses for them even if you're not getting true array performance. Post by: Don Boomer on August 07, 2007, 02:00:45 PM If you want to see how any situation will actually work, go to the support/software section of our web-page and download the free Ease Focus program and just model your situation. Typically you wouldn't need much vertical if you pole mounted a pair of Vrays if you were playing to an audience on a flat floor. http://www.peavey.com/support/software/ease.cfm Post by: Randy Frierson on August 07, 2007, 07:20:03 PM Post by: Don Boomer on August 07, 2007, 10:09:48 PM Single "Point & Shoot" boxes don't have any real pattern control beyond what their horn does ... so you are about even ... right? Post by: Don Lanier on August 08, 2007, 05:48:33 AM Post by: Don Lanier on August 08, 2007, 06:04:39 AM Post by: Geri O'Neil on August 08, 2007, 07:06:28 AM You can argue nuts and bolts all day about "selecting the right tool for the right job" (gagus ad nauseumus). That's for the LAB and/ or the Lounge. Anyone coming in here to make that case, well, I smell agenda on their breath. Geri O Post by: Lee Jacobson on August 08, 2007, 08:50:32 AM Is that kinda like "why buy the VR, when Geo-S is so much better?? I sell NEXO, btw"..... What do I win?? Lee Post by: Robin E Venters on August 08, 2007, 09:28:26 AM The post I did yesterday, was done in a fit of pique...the one that began "Jimminy Christmas". I apologize for it's condescending tone. I can hardly believe myself for using an exponential number in a conversation, and as if that wasn't bad enough, I implied that you all are "Compression driver calibrated listeners." I am proud to be a CDCL.....2" exit though. I am just a kibitzing guitar player...Robin V. Post by: Don Boomer on August 08, 2007, 01:30:14 PM
a baby's arm holding an apple? Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 08, 2007, 05:24:01 PM
"... or a Winnebago. Never heard of Winnebago? We're giving them away..." The Tubes What Do You Want From Life Tim Mc Post by: Al Limberg on August 08, 2007, 08:05:09 PM Well, you can't have that, but if you're an American citizen you are entitled to: a heated kidney shaped pool, a microwave oven--don't watch the food cook, a Dyna-Gym--I'll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home, a kingsize Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum, a foolproof plan and an airtight alibi, real simulated Indian jewelry, a Gucci shoetree, a year's supply of antibiotics, a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth and Bob Dylan's new unlisted phone number, a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick, Rosemary's baby, a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams, a new Matador, a new mastadon, a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego, a Merc Montclair, a Mark IV, a meteor, a Mercedes, an MG, or a Malibu, a Mort Moriarty, a Maserati, a Mac truck, a Mazda, a new Monza, or a moped, a Winnebago--Hell, a herd of Winnebago's we're giving 'em away, or how about a McCulloch chainsaw, a Las Vegas wedding, a Mexican divorce, a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot, or a baby's arm holding an apple? Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 08, 2007, 08:12:17 PM Tim Mc Post by: Randy Frierson on August 08, 2007, 11:53:26 PM Back to road test so i have not heard the product and have no useful information pertaining to it's deployment so i am scurring back to the PRO Sound Web Lab as I shouldn't ahve interjecting when i had no useful info...sorry R Post by: Tim McCulloch on August 09, 2007, 12:23:39 AM I hope you get a chance to hear or preferably drive a Versarray rig. I'm not drinking the cool aid, but I think Peavey has a useful and interesting product. There's more to deploying the VR than just hanging it in the air.... careful attention paid to the instructions regarding processing changes with the length, shape, and splay of the line. Some people will pay attention, and some won't. Nitwits are not brand-conscious; the last 2 bad sounding line array deployments I've heard were both Meyer, deployed by 2 different AV companies. Oh well... as they say. Have fun, good luck. Tim Mc Post by: Randy Frierson on August 09, 2007, 01:02:58 AM Post by: Dan Brown on August 09, 2007, 09:43:25 AM
Lee, I agree with what you said later in this post about Randy posting info about another product out of the blue. However I see some discrepancies in your numbers between SPL between the boxes. The Peavey has a 1w/1m for the lows of 97db, the highs are 1w/1m of 99db. The Nexo GeoS8 has a 1w/1m for the box wideband of 97db and 99db band limited(+/-3) Peak output for the peavey is rated at 130 for lows and 131 for highs. Peak output for the GeoS8 is rated at 128db. While I agree that there are price differences between the boxes I do not feel like the stated SPL differences you made are correct and the above numbers seem to agree with me. Also Lee I am sending you a PM sincerely, Dan Brown REACH Communications Post by: Don Boomer on August 09, 2007, 01:04:34 PM Here's the thing about line arrays and sensitivity numbers. If you had a "perfect" line array when you add boxes you wouldn't really see a rise in output SPL sensitivity wise ... but you would see a longer line that would have a better availability to actually project sound. Speaking for the Vrays ... A single box is a line array once you are talking about the frequencies that output from the ribbons because the ribbons are a true line source. The woofers add and become a line or at least like a line (depending on your defination) This varies with frequency and the length of the line that you are creating. Even when you do not have a long enough line you do begin to get pattern control but at this point you are getting summing so that the sensitivity goes up on the low end but it does not go up on the high end. The basic rule when adding Vrays together is that you need to roughly add 1 dB of drive to the ribbons with each box you add to the system. I'm still not clear as to what Randy was saying about using a small number of boxes. With a small number of boxes you still do have a line array in the HF and you have a cluster in the low end. I don't see the real difference between this and assembling any "cluster" of point source boxes ... except that the Vray just plain sounds soooooo good. Post by: Dan Brown on August 09, 2007, 04:10:30 PM
Don, I understand all of these things. The GeoS8 numbers I gave were for 1 box not an array. The Versarray numbers I gave I believe were also for 1 box, at least from what I can say on the lit. Yes the woofers combine and give you 3db more everytime you double the woofers. I just wanted to put these numbers out there. As far as Versarray goes, ribbons are very smooth to the ear and so using that was a good way to go for peavey. From the reviews it sounds like a good box for the money and will more than give VRX a run for its money. Especially at that price point. sincerely, db Post by: Mike Kivett on September 17, 2007, 10:03:02 AM How was the Versarray? Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on September 17, 2007, 09:49:15 PM
Now....I need to preface this with a couple things. First, I have been a longtime proponent of Peavey. In the 80s, I used a large 3020HT/415/118D System. Second, I really wanted to be impressed with this system and presentation. I went in really pulling for the system to come out on top and allow us to put a really nice Versarray install in a brand new, state of the art, properly acoustically treated venue. Basically, I was looking for a reason to NOT buy the JBLs. That said....read on. I was able to make most of it. I have to tell you, it was not good. Lots of technical issues sitting around waiting for Marty to find the right buttons to unmute the signal chain. Really frustrating for me in the audience, it must have been a killer being the presenter. As for the Versarray, I frankly am not sure. It sounded the same in 95% of the room so that is good. It was very mid-rangey and completely lacked low end. I kept asking myself if they even had the subs on....really. Here is a freebie for the folks at Peavey that are reading the board. LOSE THE SLIDE ANIMATIONS!!!!! It looked like someone just discovered the animations panel. My 8 year old does more tasteful work in PowerPoint. Just because the effect is there, does not mean you have to use it. I would have thought that Peavey would have better QA on stuff like that. Really "rookie" looking. From all the good stuff I have heard about Marty in the past, I guess I was expecting too much. Good news is, Don says he will have the VArray at the Poco show next weekend. I hope that is a better representation of what the system can do. Based on what I heard the other night, I would be better off with my current Yorkville system. Post by: Kurt Jeske on September 18, 2007, 10:00:34 AM Guess I was expecting more of the system and less of the audio 101 seminar, but I have been in the same boat so I can relate and Mr. Murphy seems to have also attended. Never know when he is going to attend a show. I saw enough that I am not turned off by the system but need some more research to make sure it will be the right choice. As far as the Bass goes I'm not sure I agree. I got there about 4PM and they had some music through the system (don't know who it was but was some great bluesy gospel if anyone knows who that was please let me know) and I thought the bass was very detailed. Seemed to have been rolled back a bit for the demo but on that one piece I was impressed. Not in your gut but very present and detailed which is what I am looking for. My current subs have lots of bass but no detail to go with it. What are they referred to? one note wonders? I think Don also mentioned that he was running one amp channel per driver (8ohms) and with 6 tops per side I think they were under powered. Might have been better bridging the sub amps to a cabinet. (Don, any comments) Anyway I was impressed with the detail and stereo image on the system but would like to hear it with an actual band not just with CD's probably selected for demo purposes. Luckily the Yagy rig will be in the area in a couple of weeks and can check out the system then in a real outdoors environment. I would like to thank Don for putting it together. Post by: John Roberts {JR} on September 18, 2007, 11:09:16 AM Keep those reports coming. JR Post by: Mike Kivett on September 18, 2007, 11:53:55 AM I have heard really bad sounding Vertec systems. While I am positive that it depends on who's mixing, it's always best if you can get hold of a rig and use it for awhile to see what you can get out of it. Alas, there are only a privileged few who can be delivered a system to try out before buying... Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on September 18, 2007, 09:55:05 PM
Yeah, and that is what scares me. I have heard Don's mixes and they are solid. I have not heard Marty mix but he was name dropping like crazy (SRV, ZZ, etc) so I would hope he could make it sound good. Post by: Kurt Jeske on September 19, 2007, 04:49:29 PM As I think about this I don't agree with the mid-rangy comment. I actually felt that it was a little brighter than I expected but in no way was it harsh. Considering that the rooms back wall was what 40ft from the stage and they had a hang of 6 on both sides with all powered it seemed like way to much cabinet for the room. That said I was expecting to see the whole system hung and that is what Don delivered whether right or wrong. If you have never seen the Alton HS auditorium you should check it out. Kind of a joke. In my opinion a lot of money was spent in the wrong places. Large proscenium and a good looking stage area but the pit took up almost 1/3 of the house with about 20 rows of seating after that. It had acoustic treatment on the side walls and ceiling but nothing on the back wall, just brick. It also had a large (for the room) JBL system hung in the center (3 tops divided by 2 subs H-L-H-L-H) that was placed in such a way that anyone in the pit would be hit but very little to the rest of the room. They had balcony\front fills towards the back to cover what the main system missed because it was all in the pit. Could you be referring to the system Marty used for his seminar? That was definitely “mid-rangy" even after he rolled off some mids. They did not use the Versarray system for the main seminar just for music during breaks and near the end for the actual Versarray portion. Not being that familiar with current PV products I think they used 1 SP2 and a double 18 sub for the majority of the seminar located just left of center stage behind him. Anyhow that’s my 2 cents worth. Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on September 19, 2007, 10:19:00 PM I guess my perception of too much midrange could be my same "lack of bass" feeling. Maybe it would be have been right in the sweet spot if the lows would have been more present. I didn't get there till about 6pm so I didn't get to hear anything at the very beginning but the Versarray "listening session" at 9pm was what I was basing by impression on. As for that room, I can tell you that orchestra pit really screws with you from the stage. Although the room could be very nice and intimate, it seems like everyone is miles away. Post by: Kurt Jeske on September 21, 2007, 09:50:33 AM Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on September 21, 2007, 06:10:33 PM
We put our teleprompters and prompter ops in that space. I keep threatening to flood it and do a Vegas style dancing waters show. Hehe Post by: John Chiara on September 22, 2007, 07:55:01 PM Post by: Don Boomer on September 24, 2007, 11:12:32 AM Yes ... in series if one goes out you will lose both but you are usually using large multiples of drivers so it isn't the end of the world. The boxes have a jumper inside and can easily be switched to parallel 4 ohm operation if you are worried about it. BTW ... normally I'm not in favor of series connected speakers as there are some problems introduced by the minute differences in performance of the two drivers. The ribbons in the Vrays are remarkably matched so it's a tiny issue compared to anything else I've seen. Post by: Don Lanier on September 28, 2007, 12:47:23 AM Marty has a Classroom in Meridian thats normally used for these seminars and we moved all his gear, meters,scope, demo gear etc into this space and set it up. Some folks didnt like all the science But I feel if you want to learn this business you dont start in the middle, you begin at Magnetism and Ohms Law, again some felt this was below them but many who attended wrote and said they learned allot from it. Some of the things we had difficulty with were just so crazy and I always say if Mr Murphy wants to make you look like a boob he will, now frankly I think many folks here know Marty McCann and he is far from that. I believe hes one of the smartest guys on the block and thats all Im gonna say about that. If I had my druthers I would have gotten another day for the setup but the School just couldnt give us that and we did the best we could with the issues as they unfolded. As far as the Powerpoint goes, its a teaching tool, a simple display its not meant to dazzle you with a million colors and vivid techno BS, Ive seen this Powerpoint many times and it does whats needed, its a talking point that Marty uses to teach beginners and advanced guys, no more no less. The Line array wasnt represented well in this space, as Tom says he fills the room with sound using Speakers on sticks, and as soon as we got the system up we knew we could not expect a great representation, Short throw room, Highly reflective back wall. Marty played some different cuts of music mostly with very wide dynamic range, But I think had he played some Van Halen loudly they would have had a better reference. We listened to some Bob Dylan Gospel cuts and some very interesting music that has to be as esoteric as it comes BUT the dynamic range of the music was full and vibrant and I think thats what he was trying to get across. The system as it sat has 6 tops and one sub per side ,I operate the Concert version of this PA with 4 Versasubs per side under 6 tops and it sounds great, clean and powerful, Im not using a bunch of bridged amps as it just doesnt need that, I use 4080s for subs, 4000's for mids and 1400's for ribbons. I use the VSX 26 for my system but I am swapping to the Digitool MX within the month as it has the Connectivity and is interoperable with the Laptop and a Tablet. One other thing is the system was FLAT AS A BOARD, there was no fancy EQ curve, no smily face no tricks, he set it and it was flat so imaging was just so full and clean to me, the bass wasnt weak, but some folks have to feel it yet it was full and with a single pair of Versasubs, These subs werent being driven anywhere near the capacity they are capable of but it was balanced, full and sounded great to me. Would I have enjoyed some SRV at a loud volume yes, but Marty is the instructor and you dont tell your mentor his choice of music was not appreciated by the class which by the way was a very broad cross section of Church, Production People, Sound Co, College guys, DJ's etc. Anyway some times things dont go the way you like, we had so many different technical issues, a virus, PC Issues, Power issues,Gear that didnt make it,(I got several boxes of literature from dealers on the monday after the seminar) Gear that was broken etc...I definitely will break down the seminars to smaller feature rich versions covering separate systems and components, The point is we will continue to bring these seminars and refine the topics and improve them, that was a first time and it will get better and be more product specific, again this seminar is usually taught over three days and was severely compressed. I think if we do that again well do several topics and get more into the details of specific issues or product. Anyway It was a first for us definetly not the last and well improve by your feedback and we hear you, thanks to all that came and we hope youll continue to be interested. Were doing POCO in Alton, IL at the Block Party Sept 29th anybody wanting to hear the system outdoors come on downtown and enjoy Poco's 40th anniversary bash. Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on October 04, 2007, 10:43:12 PM
Don did a nice job with the system and Poco last weekend. Good smooth sound and the subs kicked!!! Really nice and deep. He had the EQ almost flat if not totally flat. From what I heard, the Versarray sounded good and really threw well. I kept wandering back and forth between the VA fronts and QW side fills (the venue was a T shape with the VA down the middle and QW stuff point out the sides). I have to say I kinda liked the sound of the QW stuff better. I must be really fond of compression drivers. On another note, I was in Chicago M-W of this week at a convention and the main system was a JBL Vertec Hang using VRX stuff for side fills and delays. I could hear a difference between the Vertec stuff and the VRX. The Vertec was a lot smoother but the VRX was not shabby at all and this was a 3700 seat all concrete room (the new McCormick center). It was cool to get to hear both systems within two days of each other. Post by: Geri O'Neil on October 06, 2007, 06:24:48 PM
Yeah. I imagine that rooting around among all those tweeters strung up over the door was a real bitch. Oh, wait... Geri O Post by: E. Lee Dickinson on October 21, 2007, 10:22:42 PM
It just so happens I had an excuse to hear Tom's install this weekend. Tom's got a center cluster of, I believe, 6 tops. The bottom-most cabinet is well above the heads of the audience. On stage, he's got QW series as L/R. Finally, on the deck, the VR218 subs. He will have to remind me of the number of cabinets all around.. I was paying more attention to how they were hung and how they sounded. Tom's got the mix set up with vocals in the center cluster and instruments in the L/R QWs. Aux fed subs. All of the above processed by a pair of Peavey's VSX DSPs. This is a long room with a concrete floor and TVs along the walls. What most impressed me was the clarity of the vocals at the back of the space. Tom informs me that he spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get the room to work with a pair of L/R arrays. I think his solution of center clustered vocals is spot on in the space. Very clear and articulate throughout the space. The center cluster felt a little awkward up towards the front of the room. In the rear, there was a nice blend of L/R instruments with center vocals. The further towards the front, the more dissonant the two sounded. My overall impression of the VR tops was quite good. I don't think too many people are going to be blowing ribbon drivers on indoor gigs, as these cabinets get nice and loud with lots of clarity. I listened to a classic/southern rock set, and felt like the overall balance (vocals, instruments, subs) was quite good. I would have liked to pump some urban into it to see how the subs kept up. My instinct is that the center array would have outrun the subs, but there's no real factual base behind that thought. I'm quite certain that the manufacturer's pictures of 6 112s over a single 218 are not going to be a realistic configuration for live music. In this long, live room, the center cluster line array was an excellent solution. Side traps would have been a muddy mess by the time you got to the back. The VRs maintained clarity to the rear, with plenty of loudness for the several hundred people in attendance. My daily drivers are JBL VRX. If I weren't heavily entrenched with lots of cross renting, I'd have given the PVs a serious look. Having finally heard them this weekend, I can say that they are a very capable box. At this price point, it is a great entry-level array without an entry-level sound. Post by: Peter Verkerk on October 22, 2007, 05:17:25 AM
We have don a report already... not for the sound but; "there is a sort of mesh in front of the original fountek drivers (we also use this fountek drivers) but we have protected them extra with ac. foam for dust, metalparts (deadly for a ribbon) sand, mud or beer But i can't see what peavey is doing here." sofar my 2cents. greetings, Peter Post by: Evan Kirkendall on October 22, 2007, 02:17:30 PM VR112's: They have a good throw, and are very smooth sounding. They dont have the "in your face" sound that Im used to, but they sound good. They lack the ultra crispy HF that I like, but those Ribbons do a decent job. They are MUCH better sounding then the JBL VRX boxes, and Im hoping to pick up some of them in 2009. VR218: Power hungry beasts. They've got a lot of ass and a good amount of punch, but it take a good amount of power to get them up and going. Tom has a GPS3500 bridged into each, and thats probably the min amount of power they should get. The subs got a decent thump going in the room, and did sound pretty good though. They have a lot of the same characteristics that the EAW SB1000z's have. Evan Post by: Rob Spence on October 22, 2007, 02:31:31 PM He has 6 of the VR boxes but only 4 were hung at the time. As Lee said, the vocal clarity over the 85Db (my estimate) noise of the room plus the band, was great from 20ft back from the stage all the way to the rear. Even though they had put a little vocals into the QW3s, they were not enough for folks near the front. Of course, the folks at the front were getting a free full body massage from the 4 VR subs lined up on the floor Up at the mix position we were getting a little pants flap too! There was plenty of sub for the room. The audiance was loving it. My take is that he either needs a pair of vocal front fills or maybe a downfill in the form of a 5th or 6th VR box added to the hang. Marty seemed to think just adding the 5th one would do it. The Stage Left QW3 was turned in a little to keep the wash off the side wall and it worked well. The one on the other side, a long way from a side wall, was pointed more straight out. They did a pretty good job getting most of the way toward the rear of the room. I didn't catch what amps he was using (Peavey though) or what mixer was doing monitors. The wedges were Peavey as well. Overall, the rig sounded good. It is a bit unconventional for a bar rig but it works. If he had attempted a more conventional dual hang, one side would have been too close to a wall and the other side mixed up in the HVAC and lights. The center hang solved it well. Lots of good outboard gear at FOH where the mix came from a GL3800 40 channel frame. The Friday band really sounded great. Was it better sounding than Saturday? Hard to tell since I liked the Friday band music better I thought the kick sounded better on Friday but that could have been the drum kit too. Both bands were high energy and really put great sets together and had the place packed. Tom has done a super job making a tough room work well and I thank him for his hospitality last weekend! Post by: Don Boomer on October 22, 2007, 02:37:50 PM
That would be called THD in the compression drivers. Ribbon drivers don't have hardly any. Post by: Tom faderjockey Brandis on October 22, 2007, 03:34:15 PM Tom Post by: Tom Manchester on October 22, 2007, 06:42:16 PM
Hmm, something doesn't add up there, according to the Bar tab we drank more on Saturday so theoretically "Guiness focusing" should have taken over and made it sound really great on Saturday . Others have covered all the info on the layout so I'll just give my impression of the sound of the Versarray. I thought they were decent sounding boxes. Like everyone says the vocals really stayed on top and made it to the back of the room unlike many other systems I have heard. The boxes did get loud enough for the room but I thought I detected a hint of brittleness or distortion on the louder vocal parts, I can't say for a fact it was the array. The VRX subs kicked real well. They looked to be a little shorter and wider than the QW-218 subs, but they feature a tilt back rolling system. Overall I thought it was a good sounding system. To be honest I wouldn't put them as being my new favorite system, but for the money to performance ratio I wouldn't mind a set. Post by: Chris Semler on October 22, 2007, 06:44:42 PM
But the PA and the mix did do it justice! Post by: Chris Semler on October 22, 2007, 07:00:16 PM I agree that the VR-218's did the job very well. I was hearing some distortion in the upper mids in the vocals. I asked Marty what the crossover frequency was and he said that it was very high because the PA was in a safe mode so that guest engineers could not blow the ribbons. So possibly what I was hearing was the 12's trying to extend to far. Or it could have been channel insert related as it was different for the different singers. I would like to hear the VR112's with the recommended crossover frequency. Overall my impression was very favorable the system was very nicely designed for the room. I also agree a 5th VR112 would be nice. On a separate amp so shading can be applied. Chris Post by: Mike Butler (media) on October 22, 2007, 09:28:36 PM The sound of the array was crisp and tight, with no intelligibility problems and a definite "upfrontness." Clearly the benefit of longer throw from using line arrays was realized, with the sweet spot hitting about 2/3 of the way back. This is where 3-way boxes like the QW3 might have gotten lost, but the combination was enough to punch through. And like Rob said, the somewhat unconventional config works. I realize the array was being used basically for vocals, but that's where you need the most articulation. Amusingly, the stage wash from Friday night's band was almost all the lead gtr you needed to hear anyway. Midway through the show I began considering how a pair of QW3s might work its way into my inventory as some multipurpose tops. They certainly don't sound anything like the old bar-band Peavey boxes so many of us used back in the day (and most of which are probably still being used by somebody, judging from how often I still notice them turning up). To add my 2 Post by: Evan Kirkendall on October 22, 2007, 09:39:16 PM
Before those Qw3's were "installed" in that room he brought them out to a gig of mine just so I could play with them. We were in a gym with a crowd of over 500 in attendance and they had no problems covering the room. I was a solid 103dbA @ FOH, and I was just tickling the DDT on the Peavey amp powering them. The mids started to break up a little as I really pushed them, but other then that, they rawk! Evan Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on October 23, 2007, 10:36:34 AM Post by: Don Lanier on October 27, 2007, 01:23:35 AM Safe has the most protection for components from the guest engineer and is very conservative, Normal is less on the protection and more trusting of the operator, and sounds better. Rock and Roll is for the Heavy Shred Metal gods....such as the Jager stage used, each having varying degrees of limiting, and crossover settings, ie Bessel etc. Post by: John Chiara on October 28, 2007, 11:56:53 AM
I have been using the rock and roll preset for the past few weeks and have had no issues whatever..I did manually set the limiters. Post by: kevinnemrava on November 04, 2007, 09:45:28 PM I will comment on the rigging though. First off I find the cab to be slightly heavier then I expected. the rigging is fairly simple and straight forward. The metal is also thinner then I expected. As I understand it, the rigging is rated to a 16 cab array. I do want to ask though, at what safety factor? Hope fully I will report back in a week or 2 with more info. Post by: Don Boomer on November 05, 2007, 05:09:00 PM
Peavey had it tested by an independant lab and it tested at better than 5:1. Unfortunately they tested it incorrectly. They tested it as single sheer when it is a double sheer system. Since a 5:1 number is what they were looking for they did not retest it. Had they done so it would have tested even higher ... but I don't know how much. Peavey never thought that anyone would be using more than 16 boxes ... if that many. We used 11 top boxes for Ozzfest just to prove that it could be done ... but they system was not really designed for that kind of use. Post by: kevinnemrava on November 05, 2007, 06:14:29 PM
Sorry, I don't understand what you meen by double sheer, and single sheer? In the end though it is safe to use in up to 16 regardless. any caveates based on teh "j" splaying of the cabs, and useing tie backs to "point" the array downward (with in say 10 degrees). Post by: Marjan Milosevic on November 06, 2007, 05:07:22 AM Was it rock loud? Post by: Tim McCulloch on November 06, 2007, 05:28:58 AM Post by: Marjan Milosevic on November 06, 2007, 06:37:02 AM Post by: Don Boomer on November 07, 2007, 11:32:35 AM Sorry, I don't understand what you meen by double sheer, and single sheer? The bracket should go "between" the two plates on the speaker. When it was tested they put it on the outside instead of sandwiched between two points so the pin could sheer off supported by one point instead of two had they done it right. So ... yes ... it's rated for 16 (at 5:1) ... but that's with the top box straight dead hang. As with anything, you'll lose strength as you pull back Post by: Matt Vivlamore on November 08, 2007, 05:14:52 AM Say you are primary working with Loud Rock bands or even Metal bands... Versarray Project Twelve - 12 VR112, 2 VR218 Versarray Project Ten - 6 VR112, 2 VR218 Versarray Project Eight - 4 VR112, 2 VR118 Post by: Tim McCulloch on November 08, 2007, 08:57:02 AM I guess this depends on what one calls a "rock show." IMHO, 1 pair of 218s is woefully inadequate to match 6 VR112/side. At least 2, and maybe 3 would be much better. See my observations from OzFest about the quantity of 218s in use. This isn't a hard rock PA by it's nature, although it can do a surprisingly good job on rock... and understand the context in which I heard the rig... outdoors for about 5000 pax. No room gain for the subs, etc. The rig I heard at OzFest as pretty well balanced but it took a lot more subbage than Peavey's suggested systems lists. Have fun, good luck. Tim Mc Post by: John Chiara on November 09, 2007, 03:28:51 PM
I'm with Tim..I find 4 VR 122's a side with 4 TH 115's a good setup..calculate from there...that is a very good sub for every 2 top boxes. Post by: Evan Kirkendall on November 09, 2007, 03:33:35 PM
That sounds like what I want my rig to be this time next year. Evan Post by: The Guy on November 12, 2007, 12:10:14 PM The band was good and the mix was pretty well dialed in. Often times in situations like this, the vocals are not intelligible, but presumably having the VR boxes handling the Vox and the rest of the band in the QW's, this problem was alleviated. As far as the Versarray boxes go, I tend to agree with Tom. They were great for the room, but I wouldn't have expected a whole lot more out of them. After all, I think it was only a 5-box hang. It did seem to lack some VHF response compared to a "conventional" (compression driver) box, but running Vox this was not really an issue. I'd like to hear them in a L-R setup with full range music playing through them. I think the VR looks like a fantastic product for the price, and based on what i've heard so far, it would be a no-brainer compared to JBL VRX boxes. The subs were also pretty stout. I think tom had a GPS3500 bridged on each one, so power was ample. They had a nice sound to them, and I'm sure would get better once that 50Hz room thing gets figured out! I would absolutely take them over Adamson T21 subs (look in product reviews.) The rig was set up quite well; it's nice to see a place like this that has something decent and decently set up! Thanks Tom! -JB Post by: Matt Vivlamore on November 13, 2007, 06:16:52 AM Post by: Tom faderjockey Brandis on November 13, 2007, 10:37:36 AM Tom Post by: Matt Vivlamore on November 13, 2007, 09:32:19 PM
The tops two green circles has the overhang and the lower circle has a noticable gap, something that would catch the finger nail when picking at it. This picture is NOT the 3 I saw at the store. Post by: Rob Spence on November 13, 2007, 11:39:58 PM Post by: Evan Kirkendall on November 13, 2007, 11:49:17 PM
Yes, there are only 4. Evan Post by: Phil LaDue on November 13, 2007, 11:54:54 PM
As many of you know am a well known design snob and among the first to pick at things. Matt, I honestly believe you've come close to going off the deep end. Remember that a gap is not always an accident or a design flaw. I don't know about everyone else, but if I have to take a panel or outside covering off of something I appreciate a tad bit of wiggle room to get it back in. If the tolerances were 100ths of millimeters and everything was snug without fasteners it would be almost impossible to disassemble. Post by: Matt Vivlamore on November 14, 2007, 04:29:08 AM
So the section in the "V" comes apart to replace the Ribbon? Next time I am at the store, if its stillt here, I'll take a picture of it. I don't think I'll be going to a long time. (I bought two amps with no money that I had, I was susposed to just buy 1). Post by: Tom faderjockey Brandis on November 14, 2007, 11:52:51 AM Tom Post by: Matt Vivlamore on November 14, 2007, 09:53:51 PM
This wasn't plastic horn peice. This looked to be the joints of the corner of the box. The top, face and bottom wood peices. Post by: John Chiara on November 15, 2007, 01:24:19 PM
With music playback you will notice no VHF response lacking...quite the opposite...more like analog tape recordings with a gradual high freq rolloff. Stereo panned percussion stuff is remarkable. The articulation of the ribbons can be masked by blasting loud live music..but I've had little trouble getting vocals on top of even the loudest bands. The other benefit is this..at lower volumes..like the church service I do on Sundays...you can get very clear vocal reproduction at stupid low levels..the ribbons deliver an accurate reproduction of the timbre of vocals so that a little boost brings the voice out front...and without being too loud in the front rows. We have a dance/hiphop show on Monday and I will be interested to hear how the VR 112's do..we have vinyl, CD's and live performers. Post by: Tom faderjockey Brandis on January 28, 2008, 01:04:15 PM http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/286504/30561/0// /4016/#msg_286504 Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on May 04, 2008, 10:51:25 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 06, 2008, 01:35:23 PM Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on May 06, 2008, 03:13:42 PM Post by: Don Lanier on May 08, 2008, 12:12:11 AM Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on May 08, 2008, 12:25:54 AM Post by: John Moore on May 09, 2008, 12:39:16 PM take a look at the entire closing ceremony and load in..here http://www.trinityprosound.com/movies/relay2008.wmv Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on May 09, 2008, 12:42:49 PM Post by: Jeff Babcock on May 13, 2008, 02:46:41 PM The vsx presets sound good and work great. Post by: E. Lee Dickinson on May 16, 2008, 09:02:53 AM Post by: John Moore on May 16, 2008, 12:03:39 PM The sound was quite awesome and as stated above, covered the entire field quite well (except behind the stage) Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 17, 2008, 11:16:35 PM Got mine couple of weeks ago. Building new amp rack for them. Will do the first show with new rig this coming Friday then a outdoor show on Sunday. They shorted me a bunch of quick pins. Still waiting for those. Post by: John Moore on May 18, 2008, 12:48:14 AM BTW we have found a source for the pins with higher shear and half the cost. PM me and i will send you info. Post by: Tom faderjockey Brandis on May 20, 2008, 03:37:35 PM tom in Baltimore Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 20, 2008, 04:29:55 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 20, 2008, 04:39:15 PM Normal would be the least restrictive. R&R would be more restrictive. Safe would be the most restrictive. Post by: Tom faderjockey Brandis on May 20, 2008, 07:28:39 PM Tom in Baltimore Post by: Marjan Milosevic on May 21, 2008, 04:32:31 PM Post by: John Roberts {JR} on May 21, 2008, 05:00:53 PM
A couple of weeks ago while doing my grocery shopping I ran into a transducer engineer who was sunburned from spending hours outside dialing in presets for the new speaker. While I didn't play 20 questions with him, and wouldn't know the right questions to ask if I wanted to, I got the sense that it uses a proprietary custom driver and he was very happy with the performance. While this is only gossip, I know the guy and trust his engineering judgement. I still haven't managed to hear the boxes myself, not that I'm in any hurry. JR Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on May 21, 2008, 05:01:48 PM Post by: Don Boomer on May 21, 2008, 06:09:03 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 22, 2008, 11:27:17 AM Thanks. Post by: Marjan Milosevic on May 22, 2008, 03:24:52 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 26, 2008, 09:47:30 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 26, 2008, 09:48:59 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 26, 2008, 09:50:22 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 26, 2008, 09:51:35 PM Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 26, 2008, 09:54:28 PM Post by: John Moore on May 26, 2008, 11:25:39 PM Post by: Evan Kirkendall on May 26, 2008, 11:26:25 PM
An amp that doesnt overpower them? Evan Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 27, 2008, 09:08:31 AM Ohm Continuous Program Peak Cabinets 16 80 160 320 3 Total Continuous power Total Ohm 240 5.333333333 Sounds like a 5200 would be be closer. Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 27, 2008, 09:10:31 AM
Always a smart A$$ in the group. Don't have anything productive to offer? Post by: John Moore on May 27, 2008, 09:56:58 AM
remember, the VR's are 16 ohms so 4 cabs are a 4 ohm load 16/16=8 16/16=8 8/8=4 so we are using the amp with a potential of 1450w displaced between 8 drivers...we do have a bit of headroom i would say, since the program power of the combined drivers is 480 watts of power handling... Post by: Dave Barker on May 27, 2008, 10:08:03 AM Thanks Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 27, 2008, 12:28:10 PM
I'm only running 3. Post by: Kurt Jeske on May 27, 2008, 12:31:47 PM
Global Truss ST-157 with a custom bracket on top made of aircraft aluminum. Post by: Don Boomer on June 02, 2008, 08:04:12 AM Post by: Kurt Jeske on June 02, 2008, 09:22:02 AM Putting 150lbs on with 3 cabs. If I go with more I'll probably attach them to the trussing I have instead of to the stands so it is trully a vertical load. Post by: Kurt Jeske on June 02, 2008, 09:23:34 AM Post by: Tim McCulloch on June 02, 2008, 01:41:57 PM
I think this is what Boomer was getting at; using unrated components in your rigging system. Have a registered engineer look at your design, make a drawing and put his stamp on it. Make sure the components are manufactured correctly, welds inspected with dye-penetrant or Magnaflux (as appropriate to material) and that materials used meet the engineer's spec. The next step would be destructive testing of samples. THEN you can say "XXXlbs." Not trying to be a jerk, but *people* DO work, stand, and otherwise occupy the space below or would be in the debris path if they fell. Chances are your liability insurance doesn't cover "products" you design or manufacture. You would have all the liability. Have fun, good luck, be safe. Tim Mc Post by: Don Boomer on June 02, 2008, 10:15:20 PM
That's dangerous. You should allow a 5 to 1 ratio. Your lift should be rated at least 800 lbs. Post by: E. Lee Dickinson on June 02, 2008, 11:10:52 PM Post by: Tony "T" Tissot on June 03, 2008, 12:32:00 AM
That's the way they (GT) explained it to me before I got my ST-157s. 350 lbs. actual live load, safety already factored in. I asked the question several ways (such as any load/height variation?) Answer was 350 lbs. dead center, straight down. Maybe Mike P. can comment? Post by: Mike Pyle on June 03, 2008, 03:05:39 AM Post by: John Moore on July 09, 2008, 10:04:10 PM pics of our event are here.. http://www.trinityprosound.com/4thatstadium.htm Post by: Kurt Jeske on July 25, 2008, 03:27:26 PM I am not as impressed with the fit and finish of them. Went with the quick release pins and found a bunch of stripped bolts when I was removing them to put the pins in. Also have one that the paint looks like it just fell off of a 2inch area on the back of one top. Post by: John Moore on July 25, 2008, 05:41:11 PM
That sounds like, please send me an new one and when I get it, please send a call tag to pick up the defective one... I have encountered the stripped out syndrome, but we leave the bolts in thru the center support and use the pins to connect cabs and for quick adjustments. Post by: George Powell on July 30, 2008, 11:12:53 PM Rig is LS9 12 tops 2 versarray 218's 6 4x15 cabs 2 Crown MA5000 6 Crest CPX 3.0 2 VSX 48's Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on August 08, 2008, 12:42:42 AM Post by: Don Lanier on September 10, 2008, 02:37:54 AM I tried to upload the files but there too darn big, Ill have them on my website soon, were rebuilding and redoing the site with more pics and info. We used the Vermette Lifts and have no issues with the system,Weve built our own wiring panels and use the CS Series Peavey amps. Weve had the system a little over a year now and found it to be road worthy, durable and very capable of any music style. Ill try and shoot some pics of Tom Pullens install as well and get them uploaded, I need to shrink the files. I do have a pic of our EQ on the VSX 26 Showing the EQ as flat as glass while in use at the Show. Post by: Silas Pradetto on September 10, 2008, 10:22:38 AM
Use Irfanview to resize the pics. Post by: Joe Brugnoni on February 25, 2009, 08:47:52 AM Has anyone used the new box and How is it? Post by: Jason Phair on February 25, 2009, 11:40:55 AM What does that say? Post by: Art Welter on February 25, 2009, 01:23:04 PM Post by: kevinnemrava on March 02, 2009, 01:38:14 PM
I love irony. Post by: Lee Jacobson on October 22, 2009, 12:28:47 AM Thanx! Lee Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on October 22, 2009, 01:12:25 AM It sounds really great installed in our church. It is dialed in nicely and we get compliments all the time from visitors. Don and Jerome from the forum here have both heard it. Maybe they can comment. Post by: Gene Hardage on October 22, 2009, 09:45:37 AM
I'm curious about this rig and the newer version too but have yet to see or hear either of them in my small circle. However, since you live here in FL - here's a thread for you... http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/50205/17444/ Post by: Jerome Casinger on December 03, 2009, 11:01:38 PM
Of course I will comment, Thomas you should have told me you tagged me The church is the first time I have got to hear, or run on this system. I enjoyed running the system and hearing the different responses at different frequencies. At first running I found the highs to be sligtly harsh for my taste, but that was a quick fix. It did everything I asked it to. It really does cover the room well, we brought a show in and the Versarray smoked the headliners PA (I would like to use that term loosely). I think they didnt want to tie into the peavey system just because it would be something new as compared to throwing up there stuff. Needless to say, the opening acts truly had better coverage and overall a better sound for the gig. Only thing I would recommend is more low end, but for the church there is plenty there. When we do more concerts here, if they are going to use the house system we may have to supplement a little bit, but overall I think its a great system for the money, and it would be in the running for me if I had an constant application for it. Post by: Thomas R. Pullen on December 03, 2009, 11:11:17 PM
I did this at 12:12 AM. Anything after midnight does not count. Post by: Nick Wallette on January 19, 2010, 07:08:43 PM I'm looking at starting a small system with the intent to grow. Right now, I'm just a guy in a band looking for a PA that can handle as much power as I can afford. I have a couple of inexpensive traditional horn cabinets (Yamaha Club V) and a single SP118. For most of our gigs where I need to supply sound, this is all I need. But on occasion, I've tried to supplement house PA systems (or there IS no house PA) and I just don't have enough of anything to fill that need. So. I started researching and am looking into the VA subs. For one, because they're not exceedingly expensive. But also because, by spec and reputation, seem to go quite a bit lower, sound better, and handle considerably more power. It seemed a wise move rather than dumping money into lower-class models like the SP. Here's where things get complicated, though. The tops are rather attractive too, for the same reasons... expensive for a private purchase, but not entirely outlandish, the ribbon HF is a huge plus (speculative -- I haven't heard it, but the abrasive sound of a typical PA has always been my biggest gripe), and I'm seriously considering an entry into coordinating shows beyond our own gigs. The end goal is going as big as a relatively remote market will bear, preferably being able to extend a single system along the way, rather than replacing it. Even if it's a bit of a shoe-horn to fit it to lesser needs. Now, at this point, 90% of you are shaking your heads and sucking air through your teeth. That's fine.. I know how this sounds. Here's why I'm hoping this isn't crazy... A few pages ago, there was some debate over whether a 2-top would be suitable for 1-200 people in a medium-small venue. I'm aware of the directionality issues, but I really wonder if around maybe 20 degrees vertical dispersion wouldn't be enough? I'm also aware that in a small vertical stack, the dynamics of coupling LF drivers changes. I don't know exactly how (new.. naive..), but from what I have been led to understand, my needs don't demand that level of efficiency just yet. Admittedly, I am totally ignorant of line array principles, just clued-in enough to know there are things I need to know before I can expect to implement anything remotely resembling one. So yes, I am the market segment you all fear. I'm paid far too well doing what I currently do to jump into apprenticeship with guys that know what they're doing, so I'm investigating (and that's all for now!) the trial-by-fire route. The worst that can happen is to waste my own money and end up with horrid sound. No one has ever lost limb or life by that, as far as I know. Help. Please. I'm an IT guy used to being given technology way beyond his understanding. I learned Fibre Channel by trying to make it work in a production environment, I can do my homework here if someone can point this horse to some water. Any good books? Online resources? I'm soaking up what I can, but most discussion is based on the assumption that an end user has worked for a production company and learned the ropes the traditional way. Is there a ground zero, Professional Sound for Dummies that is considered a must-read? Post by: Art Welter on January 19, 2010, 08:45:55 PM Most other line array manufacturers have papers and the manuals usually are helpful. There are about a thousand threads on why short lines don't work here in the LAB and Lounge. Post by: Tony "T" Tissot on January 19, 2010, 09:37:24 PM
I don't know what you've listened to, but that "abrasive" sound is not characteristic of mid to high-level cabinets. Post by: Brandon Blakeney on March 28, 2010, 11:47:24 PM Post by: Scott Shaw on March 29, 2010, 05:12:08 PM Scott Shaw 601-757-5880 nshaw@cableone.net Post by: Sammy Barr on March 31, 2010, 04:50:03 PM Post by: Brandon Blakeney on March 31, 2010, 08:50:18 PM Post by: John Moore on April 04, 2010, 12:27:57 AM Post by: Tom Roche on April 07, 2010, 01:02:27 AM It seats about 350 comfortably and has enough room for at least another 100 people. The half moon shaped stage is large and juts out from the wall, so we had to position the lifts more foward and spread farther out than desired. The VR122s did a fine job with horizontal coverage, alleviating my concerns about adequate coverage front and center. We averaged about 100dB using C-weighting, fast, at 60'. It was a lot more rig than we needed given the size of the room, but boy, did it sound great. Received lots of compliments. Post by: Brandon Blakeney on June 07, 2010, 04:14:27 PM Post by: Hasse Queisser on June 15, 2010, 08:20:45 PM The rig might have sounded good, but I wouldn't want to be under that roof, even without the PA hanging from it. Not even close to being safe. Post by: justin sircus on June 17, 2010, 10:56:12 AM JT Post by: Brandon Blakeney on June 17, 2010, 08:53:22 PM
I'm glad you liked it JT...I recently heard somebody else's V ray rig that was deployed in a similar manner. One of the biggest problems I've commonly seen is a poor top to bottom ratio (VR112's to VR218's) I recently saw a rig where they had (1) VR112 over (1)VR218 per side. You could not even tell the sub was on because it was being held back so much to stay flat with the VR112. Probably a 2:1 ration of VR112's to VR218's would be better, however you can adjust the crossover to compensate. |