Blown Pa? Blown Speakers?

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off so rude.  I'm just speaking from experience.  You could probably throw in a cheap pair of Emi's like Jack suggested for less than $200 and give the cabs back, and never use them again.  Bottom line, you blew somebody else's cabs, and you need to replace the drivers.  If they were my cabs, I would demand that they be returned in the same, or better condition than they were loaned out as.  If I would have known that they were going to be used for DI Bass, I never would have let you have them.  I know times are hard, but you really need to use cabs in the way they were designed to be used.  DJ cabs are not sound reinforcement cabs.  It's that simple.  Anyway, good luck with that.  I'd suggest you invest in some PA mains that are designed to take the abuse of general sound reinforcement.  You can pick up Yamaha Club series for fairly cheap, or even Carvin cabs, which also use Emminence drivers.  Either of those would be leaps and bounds better than those DJ cabs, but still be somewhat affordable.  There's always Peavey too.  You get what you pay for, but you really need some general sound reinforcement PA cabs.  A pair of passive 2-way with 15's would fit your bill perfectly.  I'm also curious about the specs on that amp you mentioned.  I'm assuming you're not bridging the outputs to mono, so why not state the true RMS output per stereo channel at an 8 ohm load?  That's where you need to figure out how to match up a pair of cabs (unless you're loading one channel to 4 ohms or less for mains and using the other for monitors).  I like to leave as much headroom on an amp as I can, and prefer to keep the loads at 4 ohms or higher per channel.  In other words, run in stereo with one cab per channel.  The amp will be less likely to clip, overheat, whatever.  Not always possible for $$$ reasons to add another amp, but better for the system overall.
 
Well the DI bass wasn't the reason we had them. It was actually so that we  had something to practice for vocals.  It was after our bass players cabinet developed an unforgivable rattle that we plugged the bass in. (we do it at live shows so i figured it would be alright right? just keep the volume down, which we did)
Funny thing Is the advice I took on how to set the thing up was from the owner. (who is my father in law). He's been a DJ for a couple decades and was on the radio as well.  I just kind of trusted what he said because he's the voice of experience right?  But its like ByteFrenzy said. Live music and Canned music are very different and behave differently on equipment.  I figure I'm just lucky it happened when It did and now I know better.  And that it hadn't happened with more expensive equipment.  I'm still learning about all this live sound stuff.  Its so much more complicated than a guitar amp.  Maybe thats just me being naive but you have to learn somehow right?

I"m just glad the amp and the mixer are fine. I checked them out with my guitar cabinet and they're working well.
 
Hmm...father in law, and he's experienced.

My want to have the wife break the news and consult with him.  Just so he doesn't notice the difference and start asking questions.  Who knows, you may get off cheap.  :dontknow:
 
Volitions Advocate said:
Well the DI bass wasn't the reason we had them. It was actually so that we  had something to practice for vocals.  It was after our bass players cabinet developed an unforgivable rattle that we plugged the bass in. (we do it at live shows so i figured it would be alright right? just keep the volume down, which we did)
Funny thing Is the advice I took on how to set the thing up was from the owner. (who is my father in law). He's been a DJ for a couple decades and was on the radio as well.  I just kind of trusted what he said because he's the voice of experience right?  But its like ByteFrenzy said. Live music and Canned music are very different and behave differently on equipment.  I figure I'm just lucky it happened when It did and now I know better.  And that it hadn't happened with more expensive equipment.  I'm still learning about all this live sound stuff.  Its so much more complicated than a guitar amp.  Maybe thats just me being naive but you have to learn somehow right?

I"m just glad the amp and the mixer are fine. I checked them out with my guitar cabinet and they're working well.

Well, good luck with the in-law.  DJ's are a different breed than live sound engineers.  I've never been a DJ, but I've seen the crap equipment they use sometimes.  I've mixed live shows for years (from jazz/blues to hard rock/metal), and the gear is completely different.  That's all I care to say anymore.  Use the right tools for the task at hand.  Not to dis your father in law, but a DJ with 20 years of experience doesn't know squat about live sound reinforcement of a live band.  It's a completely different can of worms, and you need the know how to deal with it and the equipment to do the job.  You are right, the 2 different situations present completely different scenarios on the gear being used.  My general rule of thumb is to have slightly more power than really needed by the power amp(s) to maintain clean headroom, and maintain a clean signal to the speakers. You can always dial back the sensitivity on a power amp slightly, if you're concerned about over-powering the cabs.  In general, I like to run my power amps anywhere between 3:00 o'clock, and full-on, depending on the situation.  Other than that, you just need to watch the gain stages on the channels to the main outs, and make sure nothing clips in the process.  A compressor/limiter is a nice tool to have if you're concerned about transient spikes to the mains, as long as you minimize the use of compression on the master outs.  Anyway, enough techno-babble.  I've been enough of an ars.  I guess I just have an attitude today.  I have plenty of life's other crap to whine about, and would rather not go into it.  The masses can flog me at their discretion.  Rock On.  Just get some descent cabs, and drive them with an amp that has plenty of power / clean headroom, and your life will be less complicated.
 
If I had the money I'd skip the confusion and buy a Bose L1 for every member of the band.

But those guys are sharks and at 3K canadian a pop for the base model. I wont be buying them before I somehow make it rich.
 
Volitions Advocate said:
If I had the money I'd skip the confusion and buy a Bose L1 for every member of the band.

But those guys are sharks and at 3K canadian a pop for the base model. I wont be buying them before I somehow make it rich.

Funny that you mention this - I'm actually running a pair of L1's these days.  After years and years of crappy PA, I just decided to do it.  My ears are much happier.

BTW, I got them off ebay for less than half price - Stay away from Long and McQuade!  Those guys are a bunch of F*****g goofs  :laughing8:

Regarding the borrowed speakers, if you're in ontario, try Q Components.  They have a cheap ass 12" in the catalog for $33.51 CAN.  Should work fine for DJ.  'course they also have the Eminence Lab 12 for $265.33 - that's probably what you'd need for the band  :-\

www.loudspeakers.ca - they are only mail order, but they are pretty fast.  Check 'em out!

 
I just read in your profile that you're in Alberta.  I'm fairly certain that QComponents will ship out there.  Besides - you'll skip the sales tax.. :)

If you're in or near Edmonton, there's always AXE music - they should have some cheaper stuff.  Not sure about Calgary.
 
Yeah Long n Mcquade has them for the huge price i was mentioning. But I know the guy in calgary that deals directly with bose and he has a better price on them.  Still a crapload of money.

But bose basically sets the list price and its way too much.  So much markup because of how much "value" you get from them.
 
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