Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
I agree - however if these were "crossed over" properly; you shouldn't be driving the tops hard at all..
EV ZxA5's woofer out again... HELP!!!
- Thread starter d2benz
- Start date
I agree - however if these were "crossed over" properly; you shouldn't be driving the tops hard at all..
In post #9 that is exactly what I said. Again some people think that additional processors (Not a crossover) is not necessary for a powered speaker. Anytime someone hands me a feed from a Rane, I will immediately make sure I activate my Compressor, Limiter/Gate. And yes he is greatly under powered for that size of crowd. Some DJs think that as long as one can hear the speakers that everything is ok. A system should perform effortlessly without having blaring sound.
I'll totally agree with you on the above. It never pays to drive gear to the edge. That said, it really floors me that there's no clip light on those cabs. We're talking $3,000+ on a pair and you're telling me I've gotta baby them to keep from possibly over-driving them (which I can't even tell from the equipment)? This thread just underlines, yet again, why I'm sold on passives (at least as a main rig). Actives are handy for quick setups or maybe wireless remotes but I just don't like them as mains.
thanks for inputs and suggestions...
It seems that most of you thought that I'm only using 2 ZXa5 for that many crowd...NO!. FYI, I'm not using a pair of zxa5 to do a 3-400 people event. I pair them up with 2 yorkville LS801P's ...those are 1500 x 2 = 3000 watts of sub. plus the zx giving 2000 watts of power...I think that is a good combo.
Please note that there are tables and chairs for that many people and my sound is NOT to fill the whole room, and I concentrate the sound onto the dance floor.
It seems that most of you thought that I'm only using 2 ZXa5 for that many crowd...NO!. FYI, I'm not using a pair of zxa5 to do a 3-400 people event. I pair them up with 2 yorkville LS801P's ...those are 1500 x 2 = 3000 watts of sub. plus the zx giving 2000 watts of power...I think that is a good combo.
Please note that there are tables and chairs for that many people and my sound is NOT to fill the whole room, and I concentrate the sound onto the dance floor.
thanks for the input...Yes, I popped fuses like 2 or 3 times in a 10 year period....I wouldn't say that is been hard on the system
Yes, I do monitor the signals going out of the mixer regularly.
I know you are not been hard on me and you are only trying to diagnose why this is happening. I do appreciate your input. cheers!
I was assuming you were using subs for that size crowd, and my opinion is that it is simply not a big enough rig for that size of crowd. Personally, I'd be doubling the rig as a minimum (4 tops, 4 subs). Volume isn't measured in watts, so how many watts your throwing at it doesn't really matter. It's a more a combination of efficiency and SPL capabilities of you speakers, room layout, types of surfaces in the room, number of bodies, etc. Even quality of power (voltage and stability) can have an effect on your rig.
To give you an idea, we used to run JBL SRX4733's with SR4719's, but also had an inventory of Community SLS920's. The Community's were only rated at about 500 watts, to the SRX4733's 1200 watts, yet they easily outperformed the JBL's in most venues, while requiring less power and far less truck space as they were about a third the size of the JBL's. What made them superior? Cabinet design and driver efficiency. And for the record, I would have ever done a crowd of 500 with less than 4 tops and 4 subs. That's just me.
I don't remember seeing anything in the owners manual for any of the active speakers I own stating I need to add a crossover when using active subs.
I have been using active speakers & subs for 12+ yrs. I have never used a crossover or had a problem.
Interesting.
Bill, probably depends on the active speakers (tops) you're using, at least to some degree. My ZXa1s are not going to re-produce lows that would overlap with a sub so you could (in theory) get away with no crossover and still not have cancellation going on. There are also plenty of powered subs that have their own built-in crossover (like my EV sba760) so you could feed the initial mixer signal to the sub, then send its feed up to the top and you'd also be fine. I think the point the earlier post was making that a crossover would relieve the top from trying to produce material below the crossover point (usually 100hz), thus giving it a lot more headroom.
You Do Not Need A Crossover for an active/powered speaker. There is already one in there. Thats what it means about an active speaker having its own "processing". Some actives have a bypass that can send bass signals to an additional subs cabinet.
Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
Wrong! - I run Active 10" RCF's. I need a crossover as my top do not have a low pass filter. when I pair them with my 705AS, I can use the crossover switch on the sub. With My EVSB2A's - I need the crossover; I don't want a full range signal going to my tops....
I'm not aware of any powered tops that have a "lo out" on them (i.e. a built-in crossover to send to a subwoofer). I might be wrong but I think that most all of the powered subs do have a "hi out". You get the same effective results but you have to feed the sub first.
Of course, I guess technically the tops also have a built-in crossover to send high to its horn and lows to its built-in woof.
I believe that my EV ZXA1 & EV ZXA5 and my QSC K12s have this feature, so there's no need for an addit. crossovers device.
(as far as I know)
I own the ZXa1s and there is no "low out". There is a switch to choose between full range or hi-pass (cuts off anything above 100hz to its own amp) but the signal it passes thru is full-range. It looks as though the a5 does the same thing.
The audio goes into the active subwoofer first, then to the tops.
I thought if I set the tops to "high pass". this would be the proper protocol.
Is this wrong?
You've got it correct. Sorry, the way I was reading it you were coming from the mixer to the tops, then to the sub (thinking the top was only passing 100hz and lower). On 2nd thought, I'm thinking most active subs cutoff all high-band signals anyway so it might not matter which one gets the mixer's output first. I'm there are others that will correct me if I'm wrong.
On the ZXa1s, I usually run them in hi-pass mode anyway (when paired with a sub). In full range, those dudes clip really, really quick and, when paired with a sub, the few lows they can produce aren't missed if you've got a real sub working with them.
Once again, thanks for all the knowledge been poured out in this thread.
I will point out some info ... The ZXa5 has a "High Pass" switch that cuts off the lows to the woofer.
I will Like to FOCUS on the reason for this thread....determine why I've blown 4 or 5 woofers.
I think I've learned to go back to what I use to do....send the power to the sub 1st and from the sub to the tops. Maybe the signal coming from the Rane Mixer is too HOT for the ZXa5.
I do believe that whatever is blowing the woofers has to be between the rane mixer and the ZXa5.
I will start running the signal from the mixer to the sub and sub to highs.
Once again thanks to all for sharing your "sound production knowledge" I learned few tips from all you professionals out there.
Let's keep doing what we do and keep making that dough....
Cheers!
I will point out some info ... The ZXa5 has a "High Pass" switch that cuts off the lows to the woofer.
I will Like to FOCUS on the reason for this thread....determine why I've blown 4 or 5 woofers.
I think I've learned to go back to what I use to do....send the power to the sub 1st and from the sub to the tops. Maybe the signal coming from the Rane Mixer is too HOT for the ZXa5.
I do believe that whatever is blowing the woofers has to be between the rane mixer and the ZXa5.
I will start running the signal from the mixer to the sub and sub to highs.
Once again thanks to all for sharing your "sound production knowledge" I learned few tips from all you professionals out there.
Let's keep doing what we do and keep making that dough....
Cheers!
Added to that, reduce the Master Gain on the Rane. It does give a nice powerful and clean output if the source music is up to par.
I was going to suggest you check this too. To the OP, what is your Autogain dB level set at under SETUP/PLAY BACK/AUTO GAIN? (I'm assuming you're using Serato)
If you're higher than 93 dB, you're probably in for trouble permanently. I set mine to 91dB and never have to worry about a distorted signal on any of my .mp3 tracks. 92dB is probably the best balance between a hard hitting yet non-distorted playback of a track on the TTM57 mixer.
To EV... why in the world do you continue to produce the ZXa5's w/o a limiter light? I can't be rocket science adding that feature to your ZXa5 speaker line... you've included it in the ZXa1's. Your speakers are Made in USA so no boat trip to China is necessary for this simple upgrade. I'd buy another pair of ZXa5's in a minute if EV updated their ZXa5 design or made a ZXa3. There are lots of incongruencies in your speaker lines, from the logos to the features.
PS: Thank you EV for continuing to make most of your speakers in America.
Gaffle, thanks for your input. Yes I'm running Serato. My auto gain is presently set at 92db. I just reduced it to 91db. I'm in agreement with your comment on the zxa1, zxz5, and adding a zxa3.