Amp help!!

[dj_kuddlez]

Right, got meself some Skytec speakers - 2x 18" 400w subs, 2x 250w tops.

On a budget, but still want to get the most of the speakers, what should I be looking to spend and what's out there to drive the lot? Any e-bay offers anyone know about...?

Cheers folks!!!!

[A1DL]

Right, got meself some Skytec speakers - 2x 18" 400w subs, 2x 250w tops.

On a budget, but still want to get the most of the speakers, what should I be looking to spend and what's out there to drive the lot? Any e-bay offers anyone know about...?

Cheers folks!!!!

are you intending to run them with two amplifiers and an active crossover, or passive?

[Thames Valley Discos]

are you intending to run them with two amplifiers and an active crossover, or passive?

? if active would he be looking for amp? Id go for two behringer 2500,s if on a budget.

[dj_kuddlez]

They're passive speakers...

To be honest, I've little experience with mobile PAs, so a little help here would be appreciated.

I need two PAs? One for the subs and one for the tops? Then I need a crossover - so does that feed in from the desk and distribute to the two amps? Aren't the behringer 2500 a little bit overkill on the power?

Cheers for the advice so far!

[TonyB]

Yes the Behringers would nicely frazzle the Skytec speakers. I believe you are quoting peak handling power. You should be looking at the RMS which is 200watts for the subs and 150 watts for the tops.

Singly the speakers will be 8 ohms but if you use two per channel, the impedance will be 4 ohms per channel.

The subs have a built in crossover but if you run both off one amp, the power will be shared equally between the speakers so you should be looking for an amp with about two times the handling power of the tops i.e. 300w RMS per channel at 4 ohms.

If you are on a budget, I would suggest looking at the warrior DA series - the Warrior DA800 gives 400w per channel at 4 ohms which should do it.

[dj_kuddlez]

Chap who used to have it ran it off a 1kw and a 500 watt amp and never had any problems. He suggested that...

[A1DL]

? if active would he be looking for amp? Id go for two behringer 2500,s if on a budget.

Paul, I didn't mean active in the context of "powered cabs"

I meant "active crossover" (i.e. separate bit of 19" kit, either analogue or LMS) as opposed to "passive crossover" (utilising a crossover in the cabs)

sorry for the confusion

[TonyB]

Chap who used to have it ran it off a 1kw and a 500 watt amp and never had any problems. He suggested that...

Is that 1kw peak, 1kw rms, 1kw at 4 ohms or 1kw at 8 ohms? It was probably 1kw total which is 500w per channel at 4 ohms which is about 300w per channel at 8 ohms which would be fine for the subs.

Likewise 500w is probably 250w per channel at 4 ohms or 150w per channel at 8 ohms which is fine for the tops.

Amplifier manufacturers like to quote the highest output so its looks good :-) .

If you want to go the bi-amped route with an active crossover, I suggest a DA800 for the subs and a DA500 for the tops.

[dj_kuddlez]

Great, liking the warriors so far! What about the crossover...?

Ta!

[Thames Valley Discos]

Paul, I didn't mean active in the context of "powered cabs"

I meant "active crossover" (i.e. separate bit of 19" kit, either analogue or LMS) as opposed to "passive crossover" (utilising a crossover in the cabs)

sorry for the confusion
My mistake, read it wrong. Makes sense on second reading.

[Thames Valley Discos]

Yes the Behringers would nicely frazzle the Skytec speakers. I believe you are quoting peak handling power. You should be looking at the RMS which is 200watts for the subs and 150 watts for the tops.

Singly the speakers will be 8 ohms but if you use two per channel, the impedance will be 4 ohms per channel.

The subs have a built in crossover but if you run both off one amp, the power will be shared equally between the speakers so you should be looking for an amp with about two times the handling power of the tops i.e. 300w RMS per channel at 4 ohms.

If you are on a budget, I would suggest looking at the warrior DA series - the Warrior DA800 gives 400w per channel at 4 ohms which should do it.

I would recommend upto double the rms power of speakers for amp. If speakers are 400w rms, then go for atleast 600w for amp. Ideally 750W

[TonyB]

I would recommend upto double the rms power of speakers for amp. If speakers are 400w rms, then go for atleast 600w for amp. Ideally 750W

Well I wouldn't :-) Having a higher output amp is fine for live music where you have peaks and troughs so the speakers are not constantly being run at the peak output. Up to about 7 years ago, CD's were not very heavily compressed so you could also get away with it then. But today, sound engineers produce CD's that are heavily compressed almost to the point of clipping so if you are using recorded media such as CD's, having an amp with an output exceeding the speaker handling capacity can seriously damage the speakers (usually blows the tweeters first).

You can get away with it with more expensive speakers where they are more conservative with the power ratings but it is not a good idea with speakers in the lower price bracket.

With regards to a crossover the BEHRINGER Super-X Pro CX2310 seems to be quite popular.

[dj_kuddlez]

Dear oh dear, was just getting the cash together to buy the Warrior DA500, DA800 and a Super-x Behringer Cross over and I've just got an earfull about how terrible all this equipment is, how it'll break within a couple of gigs, how it'll sound like your Mum's underpants and I chickened out...

Are we all confident these are worth it, and it wasn't just a guy in the shop trying to sell me more expensive equipment? (Which I can't afford!)

TA!!

[TonyB]

There are quite a few people that use Warrior amps including myself. My DA500 is getting on for over a year old and has had a hammering but still works fine (I only use it to power the tops in a bi amped system). If you search the forum, there are quite a few people that use the Behringer crossover (not including me but I have other behringer stuff such as a sound processor and Mics) again I haven't had any problem with it. My crossover is is an old Gemini one and I think a Behringer one would be an upgrade but it does the job.

It is budget stuff but should be good for a fair few years as long as you treat it with respect (like most gear!). I'm sure the shopkeeper was trying his best to persuade you otherwise. What did he recommend that you buy?

[dj_kuddlez]

Oh, you know the score, "blah, blah, you must spend at least £500 - £600 on amps alone to get good sound..." "Behringer's **** (I disagree with this, my Behringer notepad at home has been going with no problems for 8 years!)" "Shouldn't buy Skytec speakers".

As far as I'm concerned, I'm doing 100 - 200 size events, so this lot should be more than enough.

I'm not going to name the shop, but it's a very well known internet shop in Leigh-on-Sea...

Bugger it, I'm doing the Warrior set up.

[Silver]

Regarding crossovers, I invested in one of these just before Christmas, not cheap I admit but it really does do the biz.... http://www.absolute247.co.uk/shop/view_product.php?product=sams3way&searchlink=yes&search=SAMSON&page=4 http://planetsmilies.net/music-smiley-1306.gif