daisy-chain speakers

[pandamonk]

Right, I'm trying to work out how i can use my new equipment. Is it ok to use full range speakers just as subs?

Would it be ok to run the soundlabs p115cs(2x 600w peak 8ohm) with the studiomaster 900e(2x 210w 8ohm) as subs, and have my dB technologies basic 400 actives(2x 550w) as tops? And the hisys 2s(2x 350w rms 8ohm) with the toa mx601(200w in parallel 4ohm) or peavey xm6(150w in parallel 4ohm) as subs, and the peavey impulse 1012s(2x 1000w program 8ohm) with the peavey xm6, or toa mx601 as tops?

Bit of a crazy setup, i know.

 

[boingoman]

I was just thinking of getting the most out of the amp. The amp is rated for 2x 350w at 4ohm, but 210w at 8ohm.

Getting the most out of the amp isn't just about power output. But to look at just that, you have 210W@ 8ohms vs. 350W@ 4ohms. That extra power is equal to a whopping 2.2db of extra output. Hardly worth the time and expense of moving to 4ohm boxes. My own personal philosophy is that unless sound quality is going to be improved at the same time ie with better equipment, a gain of 3db or less isn't worth spending a lot of time or money on.

Efficiency is the other important thing to look at. Efficiency is how much volume a speaker will output for a given power input. It is specced in dbSPL measured 1 meter away with 1 watt of power into the speaker. So you see something like 96dbSPL@1W/1M in the speaker specs.

If you bought a 4ohm box that was just 3db less efficient than your current 8ohm box, your system would actually have less volume available than it would with your current setup, even though you were pumping more power through the speakers.

Even if you got speakers of the same efficiency, I'd still go with 8ohm boxes, they give you more options for different situations like if you need more coverage and end up wanting to daisy-chain some boxes.

Right, I'm trying to work out how i can use my new equipment. Is it ok to use full range speakers just as subs?

Sure, not optimal, but whatever. I've done it in a pinch. My question would be what are you using for a speaker processor or crossover? The key to making this work will be how you process the system.

I don't have time to look up all those model numbers. If you do, and post links, I would look through them and tell you how I would set them up in some different situations.

 

[pandamonk]

Thanks for your response. I actually posted links earlier. I don't really have much i could use for crossover, except EQ.