EV Tour X 1152 -- Amp Recommendation?

[Tejager910]

I have a pair of EV Tour X 1152s for tops and a QSC KW181 for a sub. I'm currently powering the 1152s with a QSC PLX 3402, 700w @ 8ohm. The power ratings on the 1152 are 500w continuous and 2000w peak. With those ratings, I'm thinking of getting another PLX 3402, running each bridges mono to put out 2,200w @ 8ohm to power each speaker. The system is also protected with a DriveRack PA2. I'm using it for DJ gigs currently but am doing research now to start doing larger DJ gigs and live sound.

 

Overkill? Or does this fit with the power ratings for the 1152s? Also, any idea why such a huge variance between the continuous and peak ratings?

[Tomm Williams]

No..........you're going to fry those speakers like chicken if you power them like that. Your 3402 is a good match. Peak means what the speaker can handle for mere milliseconds, not what they can handle continuously. The continuous rating is what they can handle at all times. Generally you lose some power through heat, crossover design, etc... So going a bit over the continuous rating is no problem but make sure you use the amp limiters.

[Pro Sound Guy]

Do NOT run a pair of those amps bridged into those loudspeakers. How much more output do you feel you are going to get?

Squeeze blood out of a turnip? Run at 8ohms and the 700 watts per channel is really perfect. Program power would be 1000 watts.

If you are NOT getting the output over the top of your act then you need more loudspeakers period.

[Tejager910]

Excellent, thanks for the advice! I'm thinking about getting another pair of these, another 3402 and either 1 or 3 more KW 181s to have a full system in the end that can handle a decent outdoor environment and maybe a ballroom environment in a hotel of up to 1,000 people. Would that be enough for FOH or would I be pushing that system beyond its capabilities for 1,000 people?

[Tomm Williams]

Well that's hard to answer as you mentioned DJing or live sound and then what acts? Metal or Jazz, Bluegrass?. Indoor or outdoor ? What volumes are you needing to push at what distance ? 1000 people can be crammed in a medium size room or scattered all over a football field

[Tejager910]

I think the biggest environment would be a hotel ballroom that sits 1,000 people. Bands in the range of classic rock to rock cover bands, but nothing metal. I don't think I'd be looking at an overwhelming volume, perhaps 85-90db at 100-125'? Would anticipate drums, keys, bass and guitars. I think anything I'd have which would cover that space would handle DJing weddings or school dances without issue at all.

[Tomm Williams]

Depending on a few different factors, you might find that for many events, a volume that permits talking towards the back of the room is preferred. Without running delay side fills, if you are loud at the back of the room, it's intolerable at the front.

 

Outdoor events may or may not require front fills if you have a fairly wide speaker spread yet audience members are sitting at the edge of the stage. Hone your skills in applying eq and hpf's to achieve a clean, detailed mix. This will make things sound much better at a lower volume. You didn't mention it but you will also need monitors which is a skill unto itself.

At this point I don't think projecting sheer volume at any given distance should be your first concern. Although with some DJ events that might work out, live sound is a entire 'nother animal.

[Tejager910]

Thanks Tomm, I have quite a bit of experience mixing, running small set ups for small rooms in the range of 100-150 people, 2-3 monitor mixes, etc. The goal of my post was to gauge what amount of gear I would need in order to expand into larger environments and make a potential side business out of this; really being concerned about having the proper amount of speakers/power for coverage in larger environments since they would be new to me.

[Tomm Williams]

Well I think to answer your basic question in its simplest form, as noted do not go the bridged route with those amps and speakers. If you're looking for more volume and coverage, add additional mains and get them up in the air as high as safely possible. I think with four of those boxes and adequate subs, you should not have too much of a problem with what you're trying to accomplish. Indoors most likely can be handled by one pair. I recommend considering some small lip

fills at some point, they really can help considerably in many situations where volume control per zone is an issue.

[Tejager910]

I'm a big fan of the KW181's, I would think 2 per side would really do the trick as far as indoors, outdoors I'm not entirely sure. As far as small front fills, do you control those via a separate matrix output of of your FOH desk? Should they be full range with a HP around 70hz (obviously depends on speaker, general question) or would I cross them over similar to my mains and the subs would cover for them?

 

Any preferences on powered vs passive monitors?

[Tomm Williams]

Whenever possible I prefer to couple my subs as it increases output. Should you find your subs lacking, try coupling to see if things improve. Most likely it will.

For center fills, I use a number of Community 2x6" two way boxes. Front fills don't really need to reach down low as your subs are omnidirectional anyway. I run mine on a spare aux as I have 10 on my board. The most common use for me is vox, guitars, keys and you don't need much. I find it not uncommon for there to be a sound hole right in front of the stage where numbers of people seem to invariably congregate.

In terms of hpf's, l picked up a habit from fellow forumite Dogoth where I high pass just about everything. As you shouldn't be sending any real low frequencys to these fills, their passive xovers will work just fine. You can place a GEQ on your fill aux if need be. Front fills require some compromise as they clearly are not designed for low frequency- high volume situations and they need to be visually unobtrusive. Applied correctly I find them to be very helpful.

[Tejager910]

Is it possible, from a mix standpoint, to send a matrix feed of the overall mix out to those fills? Or is that gap, due to its proximity to the stage and being close to louder sources such as the drums and guitar amps, that a specific mix only adding in the missing detail is the best way to go?

[Tomm Williams]

Exactly.... There is an area where things like the drums carry acoustically but the vox or other things are missing because that area is between the mains instead of in front. This is why front fills don't need the entire mix placed in them nor do they need to be as loud as the mains. Many times it's just the vox that's missing especially if all other instruments are using amps rather than going direct.