whamo Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 Here's some pictures of my humble setup at a gradutation party Saturday. It consists of KP301's on stands, KP1000's, A Crown XTI 1000, Crown XLS 402, Stanton Mixer and a Stanton Dual CD player, Furman power conditioner, HP (SFF) computer with a flat screen. I also shoved one of those cheap Toshiba CD/DVD players between the power conditioner and the Dual CD player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 Here's the KP1000's. I use the Crown XTI to drive them and I use the DSP for the crossover bridged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 The front of my rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 The mixer and flatscreen for selecting music files. I have a portable harddrive with about 47,000 mp3 files and I have my entire CD collection on it in lossless format. I really don't care for mp3's but they do the job in this application.I use a Behringer USB audio interface to connect the PC to the preamp/mixer. You might also notice my 9. I keep that around for trouble and I'm not afraid to use it. I've been doing backyard BBQ's/Graduation parties this summer. It's lots of fun but it's hard work as well. I've also discovered that I don't like drunk people lol. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 You also might recognize the screensaver. It's a pair of COL Cornwalls that Greg had for sale. My Cornwalls are quite similar looking so I saved it. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 One more thing to add I clean up all the wires and such before the party started. These pictures were taken during setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 so how did it sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 4, 2008 Author Share Posted August 4, 2008 Oh, it sounds great. This particular setup wasn't the greatest with no walls or anything behind me but it was pretty good. It was heard a mile away. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Nice rig. KP301's on STANDS!?!?! Wow, thank goodness you have those great Ultimate stands. I'd be tempted to just stack them directly on the sub bins and call it a day. bring a few extra milk crates to keep them off the beer-soaked lawn and you've got it. Lots of toys there, just keep a comp/limiter handy if you're letting people karoke through your Klipsch speakers, mmmk? Fun light show too- what do you have there and how do you control it? I bet you're the fave dad in the neighborhood. Thanks for sharing your rig with us! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Mike, My light show is rudimentary. It consists of a par 36 light tree with a controller that allows you to have them full on, blackout, or flash with the beat of the music. I have a mirror ball with two spots, two strobes, two minifoggers, two motion lights, and a spotlight I fashioned from a juice can. The minifoggers come with their own controllers. To control the other lights I took a blank project box and used a dremel tool and a drill to put in 4 footswitches and two receptacles from the hardware store. I bought the square receptacles for ease of cutting out the box. I even bought the little grommet were the main power comes in for neatness and safety. I'd like to get some more neat stuff in the future. I have spare titanium diaphrams for emergencies. I even have a spare KP301 on hand. I took me about two years to gather all this stuff up and put it together. I made my amplifier rack myself to save dough. But I tried not to cheap out on the important stuff. I could've bought some cheap Gemini amps or something but that wouldn't provide the same quality sound and performance. My mic is an SM58. I don't do Karaoke per say. I do a thing i call redneck Karaoke. I just give them the mic and let em sing it. No special equipment involved. I figure if they don't know the words they don't have any business trying to sing it in the first place. Maybe I'll get into that in the future. Yes I need a compressor/limiter. I've been looking at the Alesis entry level rack unit from Musician's friend. Why do I need one though exactly? To prevent feedback? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Mike, You recommended the stands last year. Dr. Who recommended stacking and bridging the subs. Before this configuration I use to put the subs under the KP301's. I think it sounds better with the current configuration. Now for the subs I have them set to operate from 38 to 400 hz. I haven't toyed around too much with the settings. What would be the best setup for these? I would like to get better subs in the future. Probably one big sub would do it with more low end. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 That lighting sounds fine. The main improvment would be to get bigger brighter instruments and dimmer/relay packs, but that gets into some change. You've got a nice setup there for the money you have in it. I bet the foot controller is very handy. Yes, it does take a while to accumulate a complete sound sytem used and on a budget but those of us who really know what we want stick to it and get 'er done. On the speakers, stacking couples the sound together better, probably best for indoors or when you're up on a riser or stage. For outdoors, height is your friend so the stands are very handy. The compressor/limiter would be very handy for 'redneck karaoke', when people get shouting (or dropping) your SM58, the compressor reduces some of the dynamics, helping them sound a bit more even and protecting your equipment.DBX166XL is the one I and Daddy Dee use in our systems. It's a nice pro unit that can be found used for $150 or so and is very flexible. It also has lots of Auto push buttons for when you're just starting out. I would not let any amateur sing into my systems without some system compression. Do you think some drunk is going to pony up for new diaphragms and tweets after they do something stupid? Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Are you running the 301's full range and the 115's to augment them, or is there a true crossover so that the 301's take over at a specified frequency? The 115's are not really strong subs, they're too small. I'd maybe limit them to 200 Hz and use the steepest crossover slope you have if it's adjustable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Mike, Yes the 301's are running full range and I use the Kp1000's to help out. With the Crown XTI 1000 I can hook up my laptop using the system architect to adjust the crossover frequency however I choose. I'm new to this stuff so any help suggestions are appreciated. Dr Who recommended the XTI unit way before the controversy in the 2 channel forum began. There's no controversy here though. I'm not using it for home use and it is an awesome unit. I wish I had purchased two of them. And I wish I could've gotten the XTI 2000 instead. Thanks! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 So are you using the Crown with one channel for mains and the other for sub? I don't have experience, but don't think the XTi gives you line output from the processing section does it? If so you could use the Crown for stereo mains and run SW output feeds to another amp. How many watts is the 1000? Are you using the eq section of the Crown or other outboard eq to tweak your system for shows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Mike, I'm using a Crown XLS 402 for the mains. The XTI daisy chains out to the 402. The XTI serves as the subs amp. The wattage for the XTI 1000 is 275wpc @ 8 ohms, or 1000w bridged at 8 ohms, or 1400w bridged @ 4 ohms. I like the XTI because you can daisy chain it. What piece of equipment would you use for that? Oh I see what you're saying I think. I'm not sure if the output to feed the other amp can be controlled by the DSP. It's something to look into. mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Oh I didn't answer the other question. I don't use eq too much at all. Just a little bit now and then from my mixer to tame some highs or boost the lows just a tad. If I want more bass sometimes I'll turn up the levels on the XTI it works for me. I'm by no means a pro but I know what sounds good and haven't had any complaints yet. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 It is not uncommon to use the subwoofers as an effects channel, which is essentially what you're doing by letting the mains run full range and then tweaking the volume of the subs to taste. In fact, a lot of the large SR gigs are running the subs off an aux channel, but I wouldn't go that route run unless you're running VCA's. I had one quick question about your subs....do you ever clip the sub amp? If you don't, then you might consider running the amp in dual mono instead of bridged mono....so basically, drive each sub off a single channel of the amp and sum the LR signal to mono for both channels of the amp. You'll lose 3dB of max output, but you'll lower the distortion from the amplifier......but if you're running out of steam in the amp, then you should just stick to bridged mono. Btw, you cannot send a filtered signal out of the DSP section in the XTi into another amp of your choice. The DSP processing can only be applied to the amplifiers internal to the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whamo Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Dr. Who, Thanks for all of your input. I have a question. What are SR gigs and VCA's? As far as clipping the sub amp it's never clipped until Saturday after 8 hours of use. I was outdoors with nothing behind me to reinforce the sound. But I did like Mike says and bring it down a notch. People don't really need it that loud. I did like you said and bridged them in mono to gain an extra 6db but in most cases your dual mono setup would work. Thanx! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 SR = sound reinforcement VCA = voltage controlled aux (where the aux channel volume changes with the submaster volume if a channel is routed to that submaster) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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