Bought mixer, what speakers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr. C
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So what am I looking for in the RMS rating Bob? If it's rated 165 watts at 8 ohms am I looking for an RMS of at least a 165?
 
ummmmm, I usually look at RMS ratings for speakers ..... the max thing usually means that it'll take a peak of that much ..... but I, persoanally, don't pay any attention to that at all ...... only thing I'm interested in is the RMS capacity.

A full range for sub? .... hmmmmm, if it goes low enough and you have one so it saves you from having to buy one ...... why not?
Don't have time to check out the link though 'cause I'm headed to a gig ..... I'll get back to ya' this afternoon.
The link just asks if it's ok to use full-range as a sub, and has a list of my equipment. The ones I'd use as subs have 15" drivers, and tops have 12".

Enjoy the gig. :D
 
So what am I looking for in the RMS rating Bob? If it's rated 165 watts at 8 ohms am I looking for an RMS of at least a 165?
In my understanding, the amp should be slightly more than the RMS. So maybe look for 150w. Not sure though :o
 
Thanks Lt. Bob, I think you've pretty much cleared up my confusion. In fact in the manual it does say that with 8 ohms it puts out 165 watts (if I remember correctly). And it does say NOT to daisy chain two 4 ohms as it could damage the amplifier. So I guess I will look for some 8 ohms.

Now one more question. I see the speakers are rated xxx watts RMS and then yyy watts maximum. What does that mean? What wattage should I be looking for?



RMS=0.707 x peak

This is the effective power (in this case) of a the amplifier.

When selecting speakers the effective power rating (RMS) should ideally match the RMS values of the amps they are connected to. However transients (peaks) will occur at higher levels and could potentially damage the speaker.

One other thing to consider is application. For example selecting a sub. Frequency responce of the speaker itself needs to be considered as well as power ratings. Since low frequenices will require more volume to sound at same level as say your mids, you generally need larger apms and/or run them bridged. In addition there are usually spikes (i.e. Kickdrum) that will generate considerable pressure on the speaker as well. Just some things to consider :D
 
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I pretty much want speakers to handle as much as possible. I wouldn't choose a speaker because it has less handling capacity to try to make it match better to a lower powered PA.
If the amp'll put out 165 (is that a channel?) then I'd want speakers that's handle at least a couple of hundred and if the price was right I wouldn't care if the speakers could handle 2000 watts. Just makes it less likely you'll fry anything.
There's a lot of misconceptions about this ..... that bit about an amp needing more power than the ratings of the speakers is not correct.
The idea behind it is that an amp, if driven into clipping, puts out so much energy that it can damage speaker coils (almost always tweeters and horn drivers but rarely even a woofer). That is true and does happen.
But this doesn't happen because the speakers' rating was too high ..... it happens because the PA's power was too low ..... so you turn it up and up and up in a vain attempt to get it loud enough and you don't really get it louder past a certain point .... it just gets dirtier and dirtier and finally goes into hard clipping which is bad for voice coils.
But none of this would be avoided by having speakers that were rated less than the amp puts out .... if anything the speaker's more likely to burn because it can handle even less of the high energy clipping. The only way to avoid it is to recognise that "that's all it's gonna put out" and don't turn it up anymore.
So basically (even though someone might jump in and disagree ..... I've done PA's a LOT) I'm saying that you should not choose one speaker over another in order to have a speaker with a lower power rating. If that's the only difference ..... then always go for the speaker that'll take the most.
 
I pretty much want speakers to handle as much as possible. I wouldn't choose a speaker because it has less handling capacity to try to make it match better to a lower powered PA.
If the amp'll put out 165 (is that a channel?) then I'd want speakers that's handle at least a couple of hundred and if the price was right I wouldn't care if the speakers could handle 2000 watts. Just makes it less likely you'll fry anything.
There's a lot of misconceptions about this ..... that bit about an amp needing more power than the ratings of the speakers is not correct.
The idea behind it is that an amp, if driven into clipping, puts out so much energy that it can damage speaker coils (almost always tweeters and horn drivers but rarely even a woofer). That is true and does happen.
But this doesn't happen because the speakers' rating was too high ..... it happens because the PA's power was too low ..... so you turn it up and up and up in a vain attempt to get it loud enough and you don't really get it louder past a certain point .... it just gets dirtier and dirtier and finally goes into hard clipping which is bad for voice coils.
But none of this would be avoided by having speakers that were rated less than the amp puts out .... if anything the speaker's more likely to burn because it can handle even less of the high energy clipping.
So basically (even though someone might jump in and disagree ..... I've done PA's a LOT) I'm saying that you should not choose one speaker over another in order to have a speaker with a lower power rating. If that's the only difference ..... then always go for the speaker that'll take the most.
I've always thought this, but had many people tell me what you claimed about the hard clipping, and you're right. If the speakers isn't rated for the power the amp is putting out, then it'll fry if you push it too hard. So, it's always best to get a higher rated speaker, and just don't push the amp so much that it clips.

I also think, if you want more volume(eg. more vocals) why not turn everything else down(why does it need to be so loud anyway? I sound like an old man, lol), or use a compressor/limiter to bring down the transients and increase the overall volume.

Ohh, another thing. I have a pair of actives (dB tech basic 400s) and they have a built in limiter. They have limiter LEDs on the back, and even at relatively low volumes they come on. I worry so leave them so that the LED only flickers on at the loudest transients. Is this a good idea, or should i stop worrying? They are 550w each...
 
well, if the leds are actually limiter lights and not clipping lights ..... then intheory the limiter is supposed to be keeping the amp from going into clipping and the light is just to let you know that.
My tendency would be like yours ....... I know I would tend to have the leds only light up occassionally, but this is thinking of them in terms of clipping and may not be the best way to treat them.
Theoretically, if the limiter is transparent without introducing bad sounds of it's own, then you could let the led light up frequently or even all the time and it would be fine. But having a limiter jump in and hold things down constantly seems like it would possibly affect the sound in a negative way so I would probably try to hold it back.

Realistically though, if the limiter light's in the back where I can't see it, and nothing bad ever happened, I'd probably forget about it. :D
 
well, if the leds are actually limiter lights and not clipping lights ..... then intheory the limiter is supposed to be keeping the amp from going into clipping and the light is just to let you know that.
My tendency would be like yours ....... I know I would tend to have the leds only light up occassionally, but this is thinking of them in terms of clipping and may not be the best way to treat them.
Theoretically, if the limiter is transparent without introducing bad sounds of it's own, then you could let the led light up frequently or even all the time and it would be fine. But having a limiter jump in and hold things down constantly seems like it would possibly affect the sound in a negative way so I would probably try to hold it back.

Realistically though, if the limiter light's in the back where I can't see it, and nothing bad ever happened, I'd probably forget about it. :D
Haha, I don't really remember a clipping LED. I doesn't usually affect the sound hugely, although it must(i just don't notice too much). I usually have the light flicker on at the speaks when i'm setting the volume, then when i'm behind the desk again i forget about it and just push the volume anyway, haha. I'll stop worrying about it...
 
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