Can anyonetell me about the Peavey PV118 subwoofers?

[myname1]

I was thinking of getting a couple of these for our church. But I wanted to know a few things first:

 

1. Is it worth anything at that low a price? I know the peavey SP118 is 2400 watts max...where the PV118 is only 800 watts max...still it seems to be a good deal for a church.

 

2. I know we would never get it near 800 watts a side....let alone 2400 watts a side!

 

3. Has anyone tried these? Are they any good??

 

4.could you end up putting an 18 inch Black widow in it if you wanted to get more out of the cabinet?

 

 

Here are the specs for the two I am talking about:

 

The PV118

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-PEV-PV118.html

 

The SP118

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-PEV-SP118.html

 

 

I KNOW the SP118 is a much better speaker and twice the price, but for a church of around 200 people, would 2 of the PV118's work?

[Coppertone]

I like to know this also.

[agedhorse]

2400 watts per speaker is (IMO) a rediculuous number to present in advertising materials. It does not represent, or even closely represent any form of real world reality. A 1200 watt RMS signal IS THE SAME THING as a 2400 watt peak signal. IMO, you will end up with good performance powering this with around 600-800 watts. Beyond this, you reach the point of diminishing returns and increased stress on the mechanical components. That said, it's an excellent speaker when powered as I suggest.

 

The Peavey 118 is a lower performance model than the SP series, but is still a reasonable contender within that context. It uses a lower powered woofer (rated at 400 watts program) and my best educated estimate is that powered between 300-400 watts is reasonable. Be sure to apply proper high pass filtering for sub-sonic protection of the driver.

[gadgetx23]

1. Depends on what your going for. If you just need a little extra bottom, they will likely suffice. If you need a good strong thump, then probably not. I had a pair of Peavey TLS 115's, which was a lower end Peavey sub. It got us by for a long time, but there was really no comparison when we upgraded to the SP118's. They were small 15's though too.

 

2. You wouldn't WANT to send 800W to these... they're only 400W program.

 

3. I haven't used the PV118's, but I'm happy with my SP118's.

 

4. Most people here will advise against it, for reasons of the box being designed/tuned for the speaker it came with.

 

What are you using for high/mids? This will play a factor in the recommendation for a sub. Personally, I would get 1 SP118 before 2 PV118's.

[Unalaska]

Looking at the lower sensitivity of the PV118 and the lower power handling (300w is about perfect for this driver), AND it's a particle board box (5/8"?) and uses cheap hardware... When you did spend the extra money on a better speaker (one not designed for the cab) the rest of the box is still crap.

 

Do you have someone who installed your sound system you can consult?

[Craig Vecchione]

 

 

Answers are in the quote, in blue

[myname1]

Thanks for all the replies....I guess we could start out with these and go up to a SP series if we ever wanted to really increase the "thump".

[myname1]

Double post...sorry.

[boomerweps]

I know church commitees LIKE brand new stuff with warranties and all BUT for the price of two NEW PV118s, you can find a decent set of used SP118s. Black Widow drivers have easy to swap out baskets if worse comes to worse.

Why buy something you know you will want to upgrade in less than a year?

 

Boomerweps

[gadgetx23]

 

Thanks for all the replies....I guess we could start out with these and go up to a SP series if we ever wanted to really increase the "thump".

 

 

This is why I would just get one SP118 first, and if you need more, add a second one. You can send more power to one SP118 than you can 2 of the PV series; they are far more efficient and will likely sound better. Just my opinion.

[agedhorse]

 

You can send more power to one SP118 than you can 2 of the PV series; they are far more efficient and will likely sound better. Just my opinion.

 

 

I disagree. It would be roughly the same. There is an efficiency difference, but in practice I'm not sure it's enough to worry about. There is a big difference in LF extension (LF bandwidth) though, so you would get more "thump" for the same power even though the "sensitivity" is similar.

[gadgetx23]

 

I disagree. It would be roughly the same. There is an efficiency difference, but in practice I'm not sure it's enough to worry about. There is a big difference in LF extension (LF bandwidth) though, so you would get more "thump" for the same power even though the "sensitivity" is similar.

 

 

Wouldn't a sensitivity of 95db vs. 100db measured from the same company, plus 50% more power handling be fairly significant?

 

Even if not, you still agree that one SP118 would be similar or slightly outperform two PV118's (even if only in the LF) which IMO would be a better investment and easier to upgrade.

[agedhorse]

Unfortunately different model lines ARE (typically) measured somewhat differently (different LF power bandwidth for sure) though Don might be able to shed some better information here. Note that my comments are for two of the PV118 vs. one of the SP118

 

One of the benefits of 2 seperate cabinets is some low frequency coupling extending the LF knee down a little bit. Maybe not as low as the SP series but probably reasonably close. Thus the lower frequency sensitivity will increase a little as would the average sensitivity calc. The power handling of two PV series is almost the same as one of the SP series so that's pretty much a moot point. Yes, there will be a difference, my estimate maybe 2 or 3dB max. That may or may not be significant in the svheme of the discussion. What would be a big turn off to me though is the heavier weight and larger pack size of the two PV-118 models... it would be a dealbreaker for me personally.

[myname1]

This is why I would just get one SP118 first, and if you need more, add a second one. You can send more power to one SP118 than you can 2 of the PV series; they are far more efficient and will likely sound better. Just my opinion.

 

 

 

We already HAVE ONE old peavey bass cabinet, but have never used it! For one, the cabinet is very old and looks terrible....the guy that set up our PA somehow convinced them to get it when when we got our 2 brand new SP cabinets that we put in a center cluster. Though I never understood WHY.

 

But it would look kind of stupid in any place other than the center of the room. And yes you CAN put it anywhere in the room because it is bass, but most people would probably complain that it looked odd if you didn't put it in the center....so we want TWO bass cabinets so that we can put one on either side of the stage.

 

And the reason I am leaning tword the PV118's, is that we can afford to buy two PV118's as opposed to only one SP118. We simply do not have the funds for two SP118's...and you have to remember that the SPL will probably not be as high as a club of the same size. So that is why I am thinking these may do the trick for our situation.

 

 

Here is our SP cabinets hung and a picture of our church auditorium (sorry for the dark picture):

 

 

[agedhorse]

How are those attached to the structure and the speaker? I don't recall them being equipped with fly hardware.

[myname1]

 

How are those attached to the structure and the speaker? I don't recall them being equipped with fly hardware.

 

 

That black pole you see them hanging on? It goes into the main support and is bolted to it on the top side. They made some 3/4 plywood mounts on the bottom of the speakers and painted them black which attach to the pole as well as the speakers which are bolted down.

 

To tell you the truth though, I am only giving my observation from what I can see from the ground....as I was not the one that installed them. I know about the pole as I was told it was put in for speakers when the building was originally built.

 

Anyway, it kind of gives you an idea of the size of our auditorium and where the main speakers are.

[dboomer]

I hate coming in late to a topic ...

 

First ... power ratings ... don't even look at peak ratings!

 

PV118 is 200W continuous/400 program

SP118 is 600W continuous/1200 program

 

We recommend using power amps whose continuous rating is up to the program rating on the speaker.

 

That's a difference of just about 5 dB between the boxes so all things considered I'd rather use a single SP118 than a pair of PV118's. The SP has a field replaceable basket which is a big plus in my book. As some have suggested here, every time we improve the speaker you can get the new improvement for the cost of a basket. You can take the old 350W Black Widow woofers and upgrade them to the new 600W models for about $100 by just switching the basket. There will be new improved models in the future too.

 

Boy I wouldn't have hung those SP1's directly side by side. You are getting a lot of comb filtering by doing that. They also look (in the picture) aimed way too high for your room.

 

Anyway if it were me ... I'd use a single SP118 and run it from a aux for Aux Fed Subs. http://www.peavey.com/support/technotes/concepts/AUX_SUBs.pdf

 

And Andy ... just a little brain fart but 600w continuous is the same as 2400W peak ... not 1200W continuous:thu:

[Al Poulin]

I hate coming in late to a topic ...

 

First ... power ratings ... don't even look at peak ratings!

 

PV118 is 200W continuous/400 program

SP118 is 600W continuous/1200 program

 

 

 

Many people do look at that Peak rating when comparing speakers without understanding what it really means, which is probably the best reason why it should not be there in the first place...although I realize it is not fair if other manufacturers list it and they get an edge because of it... It would be so much easier if there were standards every speaker manufacturer had to follow so people knew exactly what every speaker's specs were, that they were calculated the same way, and were really comparing apples with apples.

[SoundMan]

"Boy I wouldn't have hung those SP1's directly side by side. You are getting a lot of comb filtering by doing that. They also look (in the picture) aimed way too high for your room."

 

And when somebody properly installs their replacements, they will say the new speakers "blow the Peavey's away".

 

Unfortunately, this is probably the norm, not the exception in smaller churches. Some well meaning member, that knows all about electronics, is "helping" them out.

 

SoundMan

[agedhorse]

 

And Andy ... just a little brain fart but 600w continuous is the same as 2400W peak ... not 1200W continuous:thu:

 

 

I was actually referring to the conversion between the "RMS" power value of a waveform and the peak power value of the same waveform. Just a units conversion, not ment with respect to the RMS/Program/Peak power rating game.

[Craig Vecchione]

First ... power ratings ... don't even look at peak ratings!

 

 

If you print it, they will look.

 

 

[gadgetx23]

That stage look really wide. How far apart would you plan on placing 2 subs? With the distance from each other, and the distance from the main, I would expect all sorts of strange problems.

 

I would think one sub in a corner with a low crossover point would be your best best. I'll leave it to a senior member to confirm that or correct me though.