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Title: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Weogo Reed on March 01, 2017, 11:01:27 PM
Hi Folks,

We all have used speakers that worked really well for what we are doing, and some that did not.
Over the past 27 years I have used many different speakers, but by no means everything out there.

Most of my gigs are smaller, in the 100~300 patron range, though I do some bigger events around 1000~2000 and last month had an overflow crowd around 10K.
Most gigs are acoustic instruments and voice, mostly just making everybody louder.

For most of my gigs, one speaker, hands down, is my favorite. 
This would be my desert island speaker.
This is the, well, any guesses?  Read on:

Most of my gigs are fairly modest volume.  Check.(OK, most speakers will do this!)
For a few gigs I have pushed these speakers harder than I would have liked and they got pretty loud and sounded good doing it.  Check.

Wide frequency range.  Wide enough that if a Guitar is my low end I'm ok without subs.  Check.

Fairly tight and consistent roughly 60 degree conical pattern.  Check.

Very good pattern control.  Sure there are bigger boxes with better pattern control, but this box is above average.  Check.
(I have bigger boxes when needed.)

High accuracy / intelligibility.  This is a huge consideration for me.  Check.

Speakers don't need massive or expensive processing to sound great.  Check.

Efficient.  A Peavey IPR3000 at 4 ohms will drive a pair of them quite nicely, though I use a Crest ProLite7.5 for louder gigs.  Check.
(On-board amp is an option.)

Light and compact.  This speaker is fairly compact, smaller than 21" x 21" x 17".  Check.
Under 60#, with the factory tilt yoke; they are light enough for me.  Check. 

High reliability.  I plug them in, they work. 
I plan on using these speakers a long time and believe they will be there for me.  Check.

(Relatively)Inexpensive.  Ok, so these are not the cheapest boxes to get in to.  But they get me repeat gigs. 
I figure over the life of these boxes they will pay for themselves many times.  Check.


What is your favorite speaker, and why?

Thanks for reading my ramble!    : -)

Good health,  Weogo
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Hanno Meingast on March 01, 2017, 11:19:39 PM
It depends.

Right now my Runts are my favorite speakers, even though they are a bit heavy for my taste


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.    Hanno
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Robb Albrecht on March 02, 2017, 12:23:04 AM
I used some QSC K-10s with Meyer UMS subs for a 4 piece band and was pretty happy with the sound. Buy, yeah, like Hanno said it depends.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Lou Kohley on March 02, 2017, 03:23:33 AM
Weogo,

Are these the ones Im thinking of?
I used to have a pair just like them. ;)

Glad to know you are enjoying them.

LOU
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Aisle 6 on March 02, 2017, 06:14:48 AM
There are many that I like on different days for different reasons. I choose to purchase KV2 Audio ES series and EX series for my own inventory as they scale up and down well, are priced well and perform well above their weight.

Having said that, I love V'DOSC, Kudo, Clair i series. I am currently on a tour with Meyer MSL3, very old but very powerful. Martin MLA...do I need to keep going. There are lots of great options out there but where you spend your own money says a lot.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Brian Bolly on March 02, 2017, 07:39:49 AM
I am currently on a tour with Meyer MSL3, very old but very powerful.

To OP, mine would be a Meyer UPJ.  Ticks all of the above boxes except the pattern, but a great box nonetheless.

To Scott - ok, I gotta know - who dragged the MSL3 rig out of the barn and evicted the critters long enough to send it on tour?   ;D
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: John Halliburton on March 02, 2017, 08:38:48 AM
Light and compact.  This speaker is fairly compact, smaller than 21" x 21" x 17".  Check.
Under 60#, with the factory tilt yoke; they are light enough for me.  Check. 

High reliability.  I plug them in, they work. 
I plan on using these speakers a long time and believe they will be there for me.  Check.

(Relatively)Inexpensive.  Ok, so these are not the cheapest boxes to get in to.  But they get me repeat gigs. 
I figure over the life of these boxes they will pay for themselves many times.  Check.


What is your favorite speaker, and why?

Thanks for reading my ramble!    : -)

Good health,  Weogo

I will recuse myself in this...;>)

I am still amazed at what one of my pair of Runts(SH95) can do.  Always a great sounding box, they were called upon in January to handle a great crowd of 200+ for a "Johnny Cash" night fundraiser I've been doing for the past three years.  I had my small 15" B&C loaded subs under them, powered by a rack with QSC PLX 3402 and 3002 and a Protea 4.24.  My extra engineer for the evening at the helm of this system is a veteran locally and nationally, and had the place rocking.

That said, I'm still thinking about a pair of SM80(or the outdoor version) to really up the compact output capacity of one of my rigs.  I know we both own TD-1s for large gigs, which still hold their own easily in today's market(I know three clubs in town still using systems with them, and two are 600+ capacity), and I love their performance, but having a pair of 70lb cabinets I can put up on stands like the SM80 and do what people have been doing with them for years now is just appealing to this "no longer 25 year old" feller.

Best regards,

John
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: William Schnake on March 02, 2017, 09:19:03 AM
I am currently on a tour with Meyer MSL3
Scott,  I just did a show last Saturday on the Meyer MSL3 with a Midas Pro3 at FoH and it sounded great.  They may be old, but if processed correctly they work great.

Bill
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: scottstephens on March 02, 2017, 09:31:56 AM
Hey guys & girls,

    The speakers that I use all the time, that have paid for themselves over and over and over again are my JBL MRX 512's. I pair these with a Crown xti4K  and the they just get the job done. They aren't my favorites as far as sound, that would be our VTX monitors, but the MRX's weigh 34lbs each and are consistently used for gigs under 250 people or so. They are 70 degrees conical, have been dropped, rained on, and require very little processing to sound decent. Yeah, they have a bite to them that needs tamed, but once that is taken care of the money rolls in. Probably the best financial purchaseI've ever made for the business.

  Scott
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Weogo Reed on March 02, 2017, 11:47:39 AM
Hi Hanno,

The Runts(Danley SH95s) are great two-way speakers with a 90x55 pattern.
Sensitivity is 91db. 
The speakers I have are three-way and sensitivity is 8db higher.
My speaker has a coax 5"/1" for mids/highs, which
maybe makes it a slightly more complex box than the Runt,
making the Runt a better desert island box?

Robb, I've been happy with the K10s as modest volume wedges, and
as smaller show, lower volume mains. 

Lou, yes, I'm certain you are VERY familiar with these speakers,
and thanks again very much!    : -)
How's the BandotGW doing?

ScottM, I heard KV2 for the first time about 15 years ago.
Cranked up they held together very nicely.
At 240#, MSL3s are a solid choice, if somebody else is moving them!

Brian, agreed, UPJ is another very good, solid box.

John, I believe we are on the same wavelength here!
SM80s are another great box which will run circles around mine for SPL. 
For many of the gigs I do I wanted just a little tighter pattern control, and
the option of not bringing subs.

William, nothing wrong with old school boxes or boards;
I used to work in a venue that had an XL250.  Nice board,
if you have somebody else to move it around!

ScottS, I've heard good things about the MXR512, in particular for its low weight.


For anybody still guessing, the speaker I'm talking about is the Danley SM60F.
Having heard them only once in a demo,
I bought these a year ago with a bit of trepidation, 
in particular wondering if they would really go loud enough for what I needed.
And again I was reminded that Danley is one of the most
conservative companies when it comes to specs.
They go plenty loud!

Thanks and good health,  Weogo
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Chris Grimshaw on March 02, 2017, 12:50:25 PM
My favourites so far are the ones I've built. 2x10" + horn, similar layout to a JTR 3TX, different drivers.

I've got it so you can block some of the bass ports to change the tuning. 1 open gives 50Hz, 4 open gives a peak at 90Hz. When you knock the peak down, there's a lot of headroom in the kick region. Leaving one open and boosting the bottom end a bit gets a usefully full-range sound that's fine for smaller gigs.

I did just trip over a step and drop one on my ankle, though, so we're not best friends at the moment.

There's not much Danley stuff in my neck of the woods, but I keep an eye out.

Chris
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Ivan Beaver on March 02, 2017, 01:25:41 PM


For anybody still guessing, the speaker I'm talking about is the Danley SM60F.

That is the #1 selling Danley box.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: john lutz on March 02, 2017, 02:31:15 PM
Hey guys & girls,

    The speakers that I use all the time, that have paid for themselves over and over and over again are my JBL MRX 512's. I pair these with a Crown xti4K  and the they just get the job done. They aren't my favorites as far as sound, that would be our VTX monitors, but the MRX's weigh 34lbs each and are consistently used for gigs under 250 people or so. They are 70 degrees conical, have been dropped, rained on, and require very little processing to sound decent. Yeah, they have a bite to them that needs tamed, but once that is taken care of the money rolls in. Probably the best financial purchaseI've ever made for the business.

  Scott

Agree on the MRX512s.  Inexpensive, light, easy to mix on, and they cover the small gigs very well.  I had used them as wedges for a few years until recently - deployed them as a PA and they really surprised. 

For more output Fulcrum DX1565s make me smile, 90lbs and FIR required – but worth it.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Uniz Kazz on March 02, 2017, 04:08:04 PM
That is the #1 selling Danley box.
:O wow, what's the number 2 Ivan? Top 5 ? ;)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Hayden J. Nebus on March 02, 2017, 06:20:55 PM
Professionally, I'm very impressed with d&b Y7P. Light, loud, stick-able.

constant directivity all the way to intercept frequency, and flat as a ruler with a tight impulse response.

Personally, JBL4412 is my favorite loudspeaker for listening enjoyment. This stands until Tom and Ivan can get me a living room pair of SH50. In cherry veneer if possible.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Ivan Beaver on March 02, 2017, 08:20:52 PM
:O wow, what's the number 2 Ivan? Top 5 ? ;)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I am not sure.  It was just a comment made by the salesmanager a couple of weeks ago.

It is used a lot in installs.

I think the TH118 and the OS80 are others near the top.

The SM80 is very popular, but the OS80 sells many more because of the stadiums, large and small.

Some stadiums use a large number of them.  A typical HS football stadium may use 3 or 4, while a 100,000 seat stadium may use 20 just for distributed fills.

Sometimes a school will do several athletic fields at one time-so a large number are sold that way.

Typically SM80s are sold 2 at a time.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Ivan Beaver on March 02, 2017, 08:24:54 PM


Personally, JBL4412 is my favorite loudspeaker for listening enjoyment. This stands until Tom and Ivan can get me a living room pair of SH50. In cherry veneer if possible.
Do you mean like this?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0a/b3/a6/0ab3a61d7a294424387c28ecd7132ac8.jpg
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: John Ferreira on March 02, 2017, 08:33:27 PM
Do you mean like this?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0a/b3/a6/0ab3a61d7a294424387c28ecd7132ac8.jpg

Work of Art and science!
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Hayden J. Nebus on March 02, 2017, 08:36:45 PM
Do you mean like this?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0a/b3/a6/0ab3a61d7a294424387c28ecd7132ac8.jpg

Shut up and take my money.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Ivan Beaver on March 02, 2017, 09:14:56 PM
Shut up and take my money.
Here is the sub-TH50 (can't find photos of the SH50s) for a high end home setup in piano white.

It was for a Arab Sheik in his glass/chrome apartment.

http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/126/5acf6c1a580c4da8ab2ff7871f3f97bc/l.jpg

Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Steve Eudaly on March 02, 2017, 09:52:38 PM
Professionally, I'm very impressed with d&b Y7P. Light, loud, stick-able.

constant directivity all the way to intercept frequency, and flat as a ruler with a tight impulse response.

Our Y10Ps are truly the unsung hero of our speaker inventory. They continue to exceed expectations in pretty much every situation--front fill, side fill, delays, ballroom mains. Paired with a V-Sub they are pretty hard to beat for a "1-person-setup" situation.

Of course they don't really tick OP's "inexpensive" box, but the topic has seemed to have swerved a bit to a general list of faves.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Weogo Reed on March 02, 2017, 10:21:03 PM
Hi Hayden,

The front of the Y7P is about 228 square inches, while the SM60F is about 466s.i.
Does this mean the SM60F has pattern control to about an octave lower?
The SM60F CLF file shows useful pattern control starting around 200Hz.

Does the Y7P require d&b processing to sound good?

Thanks and good health,  Weogo


Professionally, I'm very impressed with d&b Y7P. Light, loud, stick-able.

constant directivity all the way to intercept frequency, and flat as a ruler with a tight impulse response.

Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Aisle 6 on March 03, 2017, 05:31:57 AM
To Scott - ok, I gotta know - who dragged the MSL3 rig out of the barn and evicted the critters long enough to send it on tour?   ;D
LOL! The crew who run the MSL3's have been running them since the early eighties I believe and have never wavered. I kind of inherited this production company when I took the FOH/TM gig for this band. They are cheap, need I say more. I have to say that they push like a freight train though. Brute force and ignorance. ; )

In most rooms I am running two MS3's over two Martin WS218S subs a side. This is for 400-600PAX rooms. So plenty of damage can be achieved. I have to say that the Martin subs are incredible.
Also, thank god I do not have to lift a single thing.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Aisle 6 on March 03, 2017, 05:35:03 AM

ScottM, I heard KV2 for the first time about 15 years ago.
Cranked up they held together very nicely.
At 240#, MSL3s are a solid choice, if somebody else is moving them!

Bang for buck, the KV2 are really hard to beat and the ES system is a real swiss army knife in it's configurations. I have done some truly incredible configurations with those systems and I am about to take delivery of VHD5.0 which is a point source giant and potential game changer.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Ivan Beaver on March 03, 2017, 07:26:06 AM
Hi Hayden,

The front of the Y7P is about 228 square inches, while the SM60F is about 466s.i.
Does this mean the SM60F has pattern control to about an octave lower?
The SM60F CLF file shows useful pattern control starting around 200Hz.

Does the Y7P require d&b processing to sound good?

Thanks and good health,  Weogo
I think the only horn in the Y7p is the HF driver.  So the pattern control would only work for it. 

It is also not just the size of the horn-but also the radiated pattern.  They are equally important

For a given size horn, the one with the wider pattern will have control down lower.

So smaller wide horns can actually have more control down low than larger narrower ones.

The formula is (so you can play along at home):

Pattern control freq= 1,000,000/(size of exit of horn in inches x rated pattern of horn).
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Steve Eudaly on March 03, 2017, 08:46:07 AM
Does the Y7P require d&b processing to sound good?

With the exception of a couple of models, any d&b speaker needs to be powered by a d&b amplifier loaded with the appropriate speaker profile for proper performance.

Would it work if you plugged it into a generic amp with no processing? Yes, but it would be complete waste of money and performance and risk damaging the speaker. With "system" based manufacturers like d&b, L-Acoustics, Nexo, etc. the amp/processor is a vital part of the equation. Think of it more like a powered speaker system only the amp module lives in a rack giving you some added flexibility.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Robert Healey on March 03, 2017, 11:14:14 AM
Hi Hayden,

The front of the Y7P is about 228 square inches, while the SM60F is about 466s.i.
Does this mean the SM60F has pattern control to about an octave lower?
The SM60F CLF file shows useful pattern control starting around 200Hz.

Does the Y7P require d&b processing to sound good?

Thanks and good health,  Weogo

The Y7P has a dipole arraingement of the 8" drivers. It produces a pattern that doesn't quite look smooth like large horn (As you decrease in frequency the pattern pattern widens and narrows, if you look at the datasheet) but it does extend the pattern control to lower frequencies. Having heard the Q7 I think D&B has created an excellent sounding speaker using the technique.

Think of D&B speakers as a powered speaker with the amp on the outside - you shouldn't expect to use them with anything but the D&B amp.
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Craig Leerman on March 04, 2017, 01:18:53 PM
Here is the sub-TH50 (can't find photos of the SH50s) for a high end home setup in piano white.

It was for a Arab Sheik in his glass/chrome apartment.

http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/126/5acf6c1a580c4da8ab2ff7871f3f97bc/l.jpg

Sheik Yerbouti needed some low end?  :D Sorry, couldn't resist, was just listening to Zappa
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Darren Scaresbrook on March 05, 2017, 11:33:17 AM
Here is the sub-TH50 (can't find photos of the SH50s) for a high end home setup in piano white.

It was for a Arab Sheik in his glass/chrome apartment.

http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/126/5acf6c1a580c4da8ab2ff7871f3f97bc/l.jpg

Abdul?
Title: Re: Favorite Speakers
Post by: Jason Raboin on March 05, 2017, 01:43:44 PM
Fulcrum Acoustic FA22AC in 90 and 60 degree horizontal dispersions are our go to for what you describe.  Sound great as is and have the option to get into the onboard DSP if needed.