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newbie with ?'s..here goes


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Hi, were are setting up a church "coffee house", about 100 people. This is what was purchased for equipment.

 

12x2 Mixer Peavy MD III

Power Amplifier Peavy M3000 Mark V Series

Power Amplifier Peavy CS1200

2 Peavy Model-SP-5Ti 15

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Welcome to the board.

 

I have a couple of comments.....

 

After the purchase is generally not the best time to question sound quality of the speakers. That being said, you are missing some elements that will help you achieve what you are looking for. You should add some decent quality 31 band EQs (one for mains and one for monitors). You should also use a crossover. Your set up will work but the 15" speakers over the 18" subs will take some work to tame. I, among many others here, prefer 12" speakers over subs. the 15/18 combination has a tendency to have a lot of mud in the middle and that will make the system not sound quite as clear as it should. Decent, properly set EQ will go a long way to give you the most clarity that system can provide.

 

Out of the box, your system might not be very clear but it will be loud. You will need to keep control of the reigns, especially in a coffeehouse setting.

 

Overall, not a bad start but asking questions before the purchase might save you some money and you help achieve a system that actually meets or even exceeds your needs.

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Since you have already purchased the equipment, unless you are looking to replace things, you have the clarity that the boxes and mics can give you. Other elements of the system play a part, but I do not find them to be nearly as critical as the boxes and mics.

 

While I am not intimately familiar with the current line of Peavey products, I would think they would be good enough for a Coffeehouse application. If you get to a point where you are looking for something better, it certainly exists, but it will, of course, cost more.

 

As for "Best practices", that can be a long discussion, that is more easily approached when you have a specific "how to" question.

 

I agree on the need for a crossover and EQ's mentioned above.

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Welcome to the board.


I have a couple of comments.....


You should add some decent quality 31 band EQs (one for mains and one for monitors). You should also use a crossover.

 

 

Thank you I understand the after purchase issues. That part was out of my hands. Can you give me your advice on the following:

 

BEHRINGER FBQ3102 31 BAND EQUALIZER/CROSSOVER FBQ 3102

 

Going for like $122

 

Thanks

Greg

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Thank you I understand the after purchase issues. That part was out of my hands. Can you give me your advice on the following:


BEHRINGER FBQ3102 31 BAND EQUALIZER/CROSSOVER FBQ 3102


Going for like $122


Thanks

Greg

 

 

Behringer's reliability is a never-ending issue. You get what you pay for.

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Church budget... like cheap is more important than baisc function and quality?

 

Let me ask you a question... what criteria do you use when selection pastors/ministers? Do you select the cheapest, even if they may not deliver "the goods" and come with "excessive baggage"?

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issues as in bad? if so any recommendations


remember church budget



greg

 

 

Don't use that excuse/term, "church budget". If it were truly a "church" budget, then you would get the best equipment there is since it's for the Lord. Right?

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Oh boy did I open up a can of worms.

 

Look I don't know the level of all the people here. I can't spend like it is a professional studio. I am funding the additional purchases, and the budget is tight. This is a trial run and would like to make it sound good enough to justify additional gigs and personal. If all works out we may be able to upgrade and invest.

 

Again don't mean to offend anyone, but Jesus will accept all glory no matter how it sounds.

 

I honestly just want recommendations on musical equipment.

 

greg

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It's something that gets brought up alot, people will come in expecting the world for a $400 budget. Behringer is known for having reliability issues, mileage may vary but no one would argue that it's the best out there, best for the price maybe.

 

I personally would suggest stepping up to DBX or even Peavey prcoessing. I just did a quick check, the DBX is $200 for a dual 31-band EQ that is very solid and well respected. If you run the system in mono and only have one channel of monitors you could get away with just one of those.

 

Peavey has a crossover for $99, there are also several others in that price range. Again probably stay away from Behringer, spend the extra $20 and only buy once.

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Since you already have the gears, make do with what you have first. Try it out and let the fine folks here know how it sounds (and be honest). There are many industry veterans here (I'm not one of them) that can give you pointers on how to make your existing system sound good without breaking the bank, but they need to know what's wrong.

 

I do agree that you definitely want a crossover. Get a simple, 2-way active crossover like Ashley XR1001 or Rane AC22S. Getting a good crossover will pay off many times over, as you likely won't need to upgrade it again when you get new speakers, etc.

 

Behringer seems to be a taboo word here lately, so I'll pummel it for you: stay away. This is based on my own experience owning Behringer gears and they broke down on me, 3 out of 4 pieces. A headphone amp. An active DI box. A mixer. The only one that didn't break was a very old compressor. Funny, other pieces I own by numerous brands do not have such failure rate. Yes, my sample size is small, but add up all of the other people's Behringer woes and sample size is not so small anymore.

 

Let us know how your system sounds.

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We will be taking delivery of the system this evening. We most likely won't get a trial run with it until after the weekend.

 

I appreciate all the input and look forward to returning for additional questions and comments.

 

Greg

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A good "meat & potatoes" system. You may or may not need GEQs. That depends on the room you play in and your ability to set them up so they actually benefit you ... a task beyond most users.

 

You will need electronic crossovers to go between the subs and the tops.

 

So how do you get "clear" sound? Well you make sure you do not clip anything in the signal chain. Peavey mixers (even old ones) are better at this than most other brands in the way they monitor themselves. You set the mics up carefully to minimize pickup of unwanted/unnecessary sound. You carefully aim the speakers to go to the audience and not to spray sound around the room where there is no audience. Getting the top boxes up above head/ear level helps here.

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Thank you I understand the after purchase issues. That part was out of my hands. Can you give me your advice on the following:


BEHRINGER FBQ3102 31 BAND EQUALIZER/CROSSOVER FBQ 3102


Going for like $122


Thanks

Greg

 

 

Don't do it. Don't waste your money on Behringer.

 

Save your money and get a dbx Driverack or the Peavey version.

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Church budget... like cheap is more important than baisc function and quality?


Let me ask you a question... what criteria do you use when selection pastors/ministers? Do you select the cheapest, even if they may not deliver "the goods" and come with "excessive baggage"?

 

I'm sorry but that was just too funny! :facepalm:

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A GEQ is good if you know how to use it. If not, I would say you are better off without one. I've heard many systems Eq'd very badly and have a dramatic increase just removing the EQ than using it how it was set up.

As far as a crossover, I've used a Rolls SX21 Tiny Two way crossover for 5-6 years with no issues. For a budget crossover I believe it does the job just fine.

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I think that system is good enough that as long it is not asked to do anything beyond its design limits, the clarity of the sound will be largely determined by the talent of the operator, the acoustics of the room, and the talent of those behind the mics.

 

As others have said, you do need a crossover, though.

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Depending on the music even not using subs is an option. But they can be so...

 

The behring FBQ has nothing useful in the way of a crossover, they put the Low-Pass-Filter on there to sell units, it has no practical use. Aside from that I'd say 2x dual 31 band EQs (not behringer) for Left/Right and mon1/mon2 then add a stereo 2 way crossover (Rane SAC22 is my fav and I also have one for sale for 75 bux).

 

I understand about budgets, especially church budgets and while we can all argue one side or the other the truth is the church either is full of amazing tightwads or the money really isn't there (ask the congregation if anyone has the eq/crossover directly and maybe someone will donate one to the cause and no money has to leave the church). Crossover 1st, then EQ. sounds backwards but a system not being pushed hard will be more forgiving lacking EQ. good luck, I'm atheist, no one donates anything to me.

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Now that I think about it, I think the CS1200 comes with the old-school Peaver x-over can jumper setup.

 

I bet the previous owner had those installed. Oh, and beware of the whole pin 3 is hot thing on the CS inputs that could cause it to play poorly with newer gear.

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Thank you I understand the after purchase issues. That part was out of my hands. Can you give me your advice on the following:


BEHRINGER FBQ3102 31 BAND EQUALIZER/CROSSOVER FBQ 3102


Going for like $122


Thanks

Greg

 

 

Personally, I'd stay away from Behringer. For a little more you can get a dbx or Rane. Dont get a stereo 15 band EQ - look for a pair of 31 band or a dual 31 band. Run everything mono so you can use one side for mains and the other for monitors. A simple 2 way active crossover will really help a lot. You will have a decent set up with these two additions.

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the 15/18 combination has a tendency to have a lot of mud in the middle and that will make the system not sound quite as clear as it should.

 

 

Shouldn't matter one bit if the x-over is correctly set.

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Guys thanks a lot for all your info.

 

First off the system was delivered and everything functions as it should. We connected the equipment and tried all channels and like I said that everything works.

 

Our next step is to set up the eq. in the area that will be hosting the coffee house. We will run a rehearsal with the setup we have, see what we can do with it.

 

The CS1200 does have a cross over, but I doubt that we will be using the subs anyway. I don't think that we will would gain anything, with the music style, with the subs.

 

So I believe that we will be looking for the following, in the same order. A snake, a dual channel eq., and then a compressor. Comments on a snake? Looking at a Rapco and Horizon. Use is going to be minimal, care will be used when in use.

 

Keep the comment and recommendations coming.

 

Greg

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Guys thanks a lot for all your info.


First off the system was delivered and everything functions as it should. We connected the equipment and tried all channels and like I said that everything works.


Our next step is to set up the eq. in the area that will be hosting the coffee house. We will run a rehearsal with the setup we have, see what we can do with it.


The CS1200 does have a cross over, but I doubt that we will be using the subs anyway. I don't think that we will would gain anything, with the music style, with the subs.


So I believe that we will be looking for the following, in the same order. A snake, a dual channel eq., and then a compressor. Comments on a snake? Looking at a Rapco and Horizon. Use is going to be minimal, care will be used when in use.


Keep the comment and recommendations coming.


Greg

 

 

 

My new Mantra for all your cable needs: Audiopile

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