Members Telecruiser Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 I see these major touring acts with all the bells and whistles and I was wondering; what kind of dollar figure does it take to purchase a large pro sound system? What kind of money to these guys have tied up in their SR system for the big touring groups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 They all mostly rent. I don't know of any major touring acts that own their own touring system. There are others here more experienced but I'd imagine that a large format touring system probably can come close to the million dollar range for a new purchase. Just thinking of the last tour I saw had something like 24 L-Acoustic K1 subs and three line arrays. I don't know what that stuff costs but I'm guessing more the $1000 a cabinet... Actually, that is an interesting question. Does anybody know the purchase price of that type of system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members madjack Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 I've seen Yamaha PM5Ds listed in the $50K range and seen them used quite a bit with legacy bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 "Concert" covers a large range. Of the smaller ones I have seen or worked with, I would venture that PA alone is a $500K entry to get started with big boys and the sky is the limit on the high end. I expect from what I see that you are talking $.5M up to $1.5M for PA and infrastructure and then lets add the same in lighting. $2-3M would get you started with a real touring system and that may not be enough to include the trucks to move it from place to place. List price (although NO large company pays this) for an EAW array can be over $10K per cabinet for tops and $3K for subs per box. Multiply that by at least 16 tops, and equal subs. Now add $50-75K for a console, 30-40 touring amps at $3-4K a pop, cables, DSP, flying hardware, mics, real monitors at $3-4K a box (x maybe 15 boxes) and your entry is pretty significant. Thats also not a large system for the big boys, it is more of a B level in some areas. I am sure the Stones or U2 are renting $3-4M of gear for every large show they do. Thinking about buying one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted December 1, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 They all mostly rent. I don't know of any major touring acts that own their own touring system. I was talking about the actual cost of a large touring system. I realize touring acts rent but I was trying to get an idea what kind of money is involved for sound companies to invest. BTW, no, I am not thinking about buying something like this. Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 Starting at $500k for a pro level rig in the 2000 seat and up venues, or roughly $250 per seat. This will decline as the venues get bigger, maybe down to $125/seat. Some stuff increases, some stuff stays the same regardless of venue size but this is a REASONABLE start IME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NUSound Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 One of the companies I work for just acquired a new 12/side EV hang with a dozen dual 18"s. Full package w/ amps cost just short of $300k. Throw in consoles/mics/snakes/monitor rig and $500k is a VERY reasonable starting point for a touring act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 Equipment is only part of the equition. You have to store it, move it (53' trailers), set it up (stage hands), maintain it and make an ROI after all is said and done. After all that you still don't have a PA to use at the local coffee house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 Starting at $500k for a pro level rig in the 2000 seat and up venues, or roughly $250 per seat. This will decline as the venues get bigger, maybe down to $125/seat. Some stuff increases, some stuff stays the same regardless of venue size but this is a REASONABLE start IME. Those sound like seating ticket prices to a major artist concert from $125-250 a ticket. No telling what a back stage pass would cost you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 No telling what a back stage pass would cost you. a pair of kneepads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Survivor Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 LMAO Andy!! OK, so if we are looking at a range of $500,000 to $3,500,000 in cost to BUY one of those big rigs, what does it cost to RENT them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 LMAO Andy!!OK, so if we are looking at a range of $500,000 to $3,500,000 in cost to BUY one of those big rigs, what does it cost to RENT them? Ballpark, with labor, about $25k-$75k/week, with some discounts for multiple weeks, and depending on the number of show days versus travel days and routing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 I am sure the Stones or U2 are renting $3-4M of gear for every large show they do. heh heh, I'm pretty sure the U2 360 tour was well north of that: http://clairglobal.com/u2/ From that description, I'm counting at least $1.5M in power amps alone. If you assume that the i-5's would cost $10K ea (if you could buy them) and the i-5B's would be $5K each, that's another $2.7M just for the main hangs, not including any fills or ground-subs. From that and other articles, it looks like they had an almost entirely redundant set of mixing consoles, with 4 SD7's and 2 D-Show Profiles. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of $800K; maybe more, depending on configurations. That's $5M before any processing, fills, delays, cabling, monitors, wireless, microphones, etc. I'd bet, however, that the biggest expense was those custom-built superstructures (of which there were 3, IIRC). I seem to recall reading that the tour didn't even break even after the first run. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted December 1, 2011 Members Share Posted December 1, 2011 I wonder where labor costs fall in these larger shows... you can always re-sell or re-rent a box, but once the hour's passed, the money's gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 I wonder where labor costs fall in these larger shows... you can always re-sell or re-rent a box, but once the hour's passed, the money's gone. Absolutely right. Labor is a huge factor and why the pros generally try to make things efficient to set up. This is one major factor (IMO) in the success of line arrays... they rig quickly and work predictabily. Rigging labor is some of the most costly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 a pair of kneepads Now THAT'S FUNNY. And the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 Labor is a major expense. Back in the days I was an LD at Radio City Music Hall, the minimum labor call (that's minimum labor call if you wanted to use the stage empty for a photo shoot,) was $ 20,670.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Musicman717 Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 I did a outside pre concert show for the fans waiting to get inside to see the big national act, and when i got done i went to the sound guy inside and got to talking to him and he said they rented some EAW array speakers , (i think about 5 on each side) he said the rental on them and some subs was about $5000. the sub were i think Danley ( correct me if i am wrong on the name.) he just had 4 single 18's clustered in the middle . he said that they owned the board , The atist was a christian group called Big Daddy Weave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 I'd like to think I've got a pretty nice system. But at that level, I couldn't even come close to providing monitors. Always nice to dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Redbassman86 Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 heh heh, I'm pretty sure the U2 360 tour was well north of that: http://clairglobal.com/u2/From that description, I'm counting at least $1.5M in power amps alone. If you assume that the i-5's would cost $10K ea (if you could buy them) and the i-5B's would be $5K each, that's another $2.7M just for the main hangs, not including any fills or ground-subs. From that and other articles, it looks like they had an almost entirely redundant set of mixing consoles, with 4 SD7's and 2 D-Show Profiles. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of $800K; maybe more, depending on configurations.That's $5M before any processing, fills, delays, cabling, monitors, wireless, microphones, etc.I'd bet, however, that the biggest expense was those custom-built superstructures (of which there were 3, IIRC). I seem to recall reading that the tour didn't even break even after the first run.-Dan. Clair design/ builds their own cabinets w/ JBL OEM drivers. I'm sure with their economy of scales, the I-5 box costs waaaaaaaaaaaay under $10k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 Clair design/ builds their own cabinets w/ JBL OEM drivers. I'm sure with their economy of scales, the I-5 box costs waaaaaaaaaaaay under $10k Sure, but that's about what you'd pay for a box like that. And I wonder how much economy of scale they actually enjoy. Sure, they're a big SR provider, but this is still a small industry; they're only one provider, and they only build boxes for themselves. If you're trying to minimize your per-box expenses (and I'm not saying they are), that's not the way to do it. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members heatheroo Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 Interestingly Clair is located in little old Lititz PA, right smack in Amish/Mennonite Lancaster County. Tait Towers, an offshoot that builds stages is nearby. I sometimes wonder whether the residents of sleepy little Lititz have any idea of the sonic tsunamis regularly unleashed by their hometown company. The big name acts occasionally take up temporary residence in Lititz while they work the bugs out of their sound/stage systems prior to a tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 The "cost per box" is more than the price of the materials and components, and assembly labor. In a business, you need to allocate the cost of design and development, plus the capital costs of the development and production infrastructure. I have no idea of what those costs are for this company, but they are probably substantial. Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The 615 Posted December 2, 2011 Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 I worked with a company a few years back when I was in the business that sold a pro PA system to a youth evangelist for $500k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted December 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 2, 2011 http://clairglobal.com/u2/ Holy Shite!!!! That is a sound system!!! If I read it correctly they do it like the Stones did on their tour; they have three identical systems including staging, lighting etc.. One in use, one in transport and one being set up at the next gig. No wonder tickets are expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.