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Subs for Heresy-inspired dance system


Jer_Hy

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I throw a recurring dance party that’s been at a not-so-great bar with a very piecemeal system for about a year. It’s vinyl-only and focuses on extended-length Dj sets. It’s been a ton of fun and fairly successful but the sound has always been an issue (as well as pay from said bar). So it’s time to move!

 

The new space is a beautiful spot with a courtyard that is licensed to do loud music late but they too only have a couple of powered speakers for music. So I am now tempted to put together a moderate sound system, like a baby David Mancuso set up.

 

I have a pair of heresys and a pair of quartets at home and I’m planning to use them in the corners of the dance floor with an additional set when I see the right pair come up. The reason I’m using smaller speakers is precisely their smallness, in size and in price. 6 of these boxes just seems more doable than 4 lascalas and khorns as they come up used frequently and they are less precious, but still retain an extremely unique voicing compared to other pa equipment.

 

 

Its dance floor will be fairly small so I think they’ll be enough to immerse people in sound without risking blowing them... Except that this is a dance party and we will need strong bass, maybe not down to 20hz but at least to the 50s and lower is better. Tall Subs would also make it easier to place the speakers at an appropriate height, and depending on what type of amp/crossover setup makes sense would make the setup easier to link around the room.

 

I sort of envision a sub somewhere around 48-60” tall maybe like this one :

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/1329971-lilmikes-cinema-f-20-a.html#/topics/1329971?page=1

But with a plate amp/crossover section that would make this easy to setup and keep away from people accidentally putting a hand through one of the woofers in the heresys.

 

I work in a fabrication shop so in addition to commercially available subs and Craigslist, I can build, which brings me here. From what I can tell lurking on forums for the last couple months, there is no perfect sub, especially for someone like me who has a tight budget, a small amount of space or a consistent room to adjust to. So I thought it would be best to just explain my constraints and ideals and hopefully end up with a better idea of how to move forward. Any advice is appreciated.

 

This is quite long so thanks for reading!

 

 

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24 minutes ago, DizRotus said:

I used 4 Speakerlab Skhorns in a mobile DJ biz in the 70s.  If I were to do today as you describe, I’d get 4 Heresy, HIP, KP-201, etc. and build four tapped horn subs to double as speaker stands.

I second the motion. Built the THT Low Profile subs and you will move some flesh!!

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  • 1 month later...

Party went off pretty well!

Decided to borrow a powered EV sub and save the sub project for the next party, which will be in 4 months. Learned a lot about what the speakers can handle... and sadly learned my old amps are not cut out for party levels.  I was using a soundcraftsmen pm840 to run the heresys (wired in series 2  per channel) and even after home testing as soon as I got the system wired one channel began to trip when any signal was introduced (maybe from the cold or the transport?), so I had to run out to borrow an amp from a very nice studio owner friend. the quartets (used as "mains") were getting pushed a little too hard for the woofer as the party went on. In a room that size I'm thinking the lowend information in the heresys and the quartets below 60 hz is really just a needless strain. I had a thought i could use a digital crossover to deliver less sub information to the speakers in the future. 

 

anyway...lots of fun, lots of dancing, and the room sounded pretty amazing...full, clear, and detailed.

thanks again for the advice, I'll be needing more soon I'm sure.

here is a poor quality vid where you can see everything ratcheted up and ready to go!

 

Edited by Jer_Hy
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That looks like a lot of fun for you and the audience. (although you did all the work)

Keep hunting for a sub upgrade, lots of good options out there, hard part is portability. You will find with a good sub, you wont overdrive the mains as much as you tend to push them to get that thump. (or at least that's what I do)

If you need a new amp, look for pro gear. They can handle the low impedance of running two pair of speakers like yours. The Crown XLS 1002 even offers high pass DSP to remove the very low end from your mains as you stated may be a good idea. Not sure what pre amp you use or phono pre, but that amp will work great for you ($340 investment). Replacing the Quartets with another pair of Heresy would be a large upgrade as well in my opinion. (which aint worth much)

keep having fun with it.

 

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  • 3 months later...

Whatever you use as subs, you're gonna need an active crossover to remove the strain from the main amps / speakers. You will gain enormously in clarity, dynamics, and max SPL without distortion.

If you want the best sound quality for a still reasonable outlet, check Sublime Acoustic K231. It's fantastic.

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On 11/8/2019 at 6:26 PM, Jer_Hy said:

 

I throw a recurring dance party that’s been at a not-so-great bar with a very piecemeal system for about a year. It’s vinyl-only and focuses on extended-length Dj sets. It’s been a ton of fun and fairly successful but the sound has always been an issue (as well as pay from said bar). So it’s time to move!

 

The new space is a beautiful spot with a courtyard that is licensed to do loud music late but they too only have a couple of powered speakers for music. So I am now tempted to put together a moderate sound system, like a baby David Mancuso set up.

 

I have a pair of heresys and a pair of quartets at home and I’m planning to use them in the corners of the dance floor with an additional set when I see the right pair come up. The reason I’m using smaller speakers is precisely their smallness, in size and in price. 6 of these boxes just seems more doable than 4 lascalas and khorns as they come up used frequently and they are less precious, but still retain an extremely unique voicing compared to other pa equipment.

 

 

Its dance floor will be fairly small so I think they’ll be enough to immerse people in sound without risking blowing them... Except that this is a dance party and we will need strong bass, maybe not down to 20hz but at least to the 50s and lower is better. Tall Subs would also make it easier to place the speakers at an appropriate height, and depending on what type of amp/crossover setup makes sense would make the setup easier to link around the room.

 

I sort of envision a sub somewhere around 48-60” tall maybe like this one :

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/1329971-lilmikes-cinema-f-20-a.html#/topics/1329971?page=1

But with a plate amp/crossover section that would make this easy to setup and keep away from people accidentally putting a hand through one of the woofers in the heresys.

 

I work in a fabrication shop so in addition to commercially available subs and Craigslist, I can build, which brings me here. From what I can tell lurking on forums for the last couple months, there is no perfect sub, especially for someone like me who has a tight budget, a small amount of space or a consistent room to adjust to. So I thought it would be best to just explain my constraints and ideals and hopefully end up with a better idea of how to move forward. Any advice is appreciated.

 

This is quite long so thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a build on a Lil Mike F-20 Cinema Sub you mentioned. Two of these should help.   

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 3/26/2020 at 10:37 PM, Marvel said:

I think that would be whacked to run the heresy cabs in series. Woofers yes, mids yes... each system. Would the amp not handle them in parallel (4ohm load)?

 

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by whacked, but I believe they could have been run in parallel, that soundcraftsmen amp delivers 205w per channel at 8 ohms way more power then the heresys require so i viewed the series wiring as a way to limit the power (please correct me if I'm wrong here, I only have a very simple working knowledge of this)

 

thanks again to all who have left suggestions! Waiting for the day gathering in a room with a bunch of people and play music will be possible again.

J

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