New PA Speakers

[Rog]

Firstly, to set the scene, I only ever use my PA for vocals. No instruments at all - no miked cabs, no drums, only vocals. Its been that way for a long time for me, it's my preference.

My PA head is a Peavey XR600E. 150W per side, 6 mic channels, no onboard effects other than reverb. I use a digital delay on my mic for the only fx - reverb switched out. The others just use the spring reverb.

Speaker-wise, for years I've been using the Peavey 115H cabs, which are a 15" Scorpion with a horn. For the bigger gigs, I change them out for Peavey SP2, which are a 15" black widow with a horn. However, the 115H is small and light and the SP2 is large and heavy. Thus I prefer the small and light.

Now, I've had the PVs for close on 20 years I guess and they've never let me down, but - old style cabs. Recently I bought a set of Wharfedale Pro Titan 12 cabs. These are a polypropolyene modern blown cab with a 12" and horn. My intention was to use these for the really small venues.

However - I have now retired the PVs, 'cos these new Titans just blow them out of the water. I thought the 12" wouldn't handle it, but bugger me, they are just so much clearer than the 15s.

Volume-wise, they appear to be louder and I can't work that out either. The club owner we played for last weekend even noticed the difference. It was like a new band, according to him. Also, he said he could understand every spoken word, where with the PVs, the spoken word was often unclear.

I also enjoy the small size rather a lot, fits into my car boot very easily and are much easier on my back during load in/out.

All-in-all, I am very pleasantly surprised by the performance of these Titans. Older Wharfedales I've used were not as good to my ears. IMO they've done a fine job and they're a keeper for me.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/ ... _243546525

[philipnz]

The p[ractice rooms we use have peavey speakers. They sound like shit. We use yamaha tops and proel bottoms but we will replace the yamaha's with proels one day.

We basically have two rigs. A 12 channel yamaha powered mixer with speakers and a borrowed sub, and then our mofo rig which would take a page to describe

[Rog]

My compromise for all my gear is - can I fit it all in my car? For each gig, I must be able to fit:

PA head, speakers, stands and leads
Bass or guitar or keyboard amp
Bass, or guitar or keyboard
Keyboard stand if playing keys
High stool
leads, mics, effects, etc bags
Bottle of diet coke
etc

If I can't fit all that I need in my car, I downsize my gear until I can. I have a mid-size car.

[stark]

So something has improved in the last 20 years?

. I thought the 12" wouldn't handle it, but bugger me, they are just so much clearer than the 15s.

Volume-wise, they appear to be louder and I can't work that out either. The club owner we played for last weekend even noticed the difference. It was like a new band, according to him. Also, he said he could understand every spoken word, where with the PVs, the spoken word was often unclear.

As far as volume goes, how does the SPL compare? ( ususally xx db @ 1 watt / 1 meter) As far as clarity goes, maybe the horns are much higher quality with wider dispersion? Crossover may be different too.

I was talkin to the guy at Livesound some years ago and his theory was that the horn is much more important than the cone. I was gonna get some spkrs made and he said "Whatever $ you are prepared to spend on 12s or 15's, double that figure for the CDs and horns"

Anyway, always good to hear someone happy with their gear

[Rog]

Jeez, mate - technical.

Ok, according to the spec sheets for each:

PV:
sensitivity = 92dB
SPL = 116db
Freq resp = 70Hz to 17kHz
Coverage = 60 x 40 degrees
Horn = paper diaphragm
Weight = 24.1kg
Crossover f = 2.8kHz

Wharfedale:
sensitivity = 98dB
SPL = 120dB
Freq resp = 55Hz to 20kHz
Coverage = 90 x 60 degrees
Horn = titanium diaphragm
Weight = 12kg
crossover f = 2.2 kHz Linkwitz-Riley
long throw EQ compensation = 3dB (switchable)
Cool blue LED in throat for HF peak indication


I hope all that shit means something to you, mate

[ash]

Damn. That looks like a vast performance improvement to me. No wonder you like the new ones better!

Funny how all those things would supposedly make a guitar amp sound worse!

[Bg]

Yep your new speakers are cocking their legs in the general direction of your old ones (oh dear, more urine jokes...).

I've just bought three sets of speaker stands if you want some

[Rog]

My speaker stands arrived yesterday, thanks.

[Rog]

Both sets of PV's are now residing at new addresses. Sold (v/cheap) to mates. Helps them and gives me more space in my garage.

[stark]

I hope all that shit means something to you, mate

Hell yeah, they're streets ahead on paper, (as well as in RL)

Cool that you dedicate them to vocals-only.