Watt recommendation for a wedding

[DjRags]

I'm going to be dj'ing a two weddings in 2 months...one is going to have the soundsystem set up, but for the other I need to bring amps/speakers. I'm at a loss in regards to knowing how much power I need from the amp I'm going to rent. The event is going to be about 200 people, so please advise accordingly. Thanks for any help.

[Rabid Wombat]

i do believe that the amount of power that you will need is not just a factor of how many people are going to be present, but more so of the size of the hall you will be playing in.

[Dj Jag]

yeah, coz you can do away with just mere power when the hall is just so small.. might as well scout the place ahead of time and thats the time you can consider how much power you need. let me put it this way, its useless( and irritating) to bring monster amps and huge speakers when the hall is just a few meters in size.. and people will be deaf by the time your show is over. also the reverse is applied when you bring along just a stereo speaker on a huge hall... just scout ahead and you do find :)

[DjRags]

Thanks to both...could I get atleast a minimum that I shouldn't go below?

[DJ MR.G.]

Thanks to both...could I get atleast a minimum that I shouldn't go below?
I'll say this is a minimum set up.2 15 2-way full range speakers rated at 250 watts each.and 1000 power amplifier.

As Jag-Levis said, just scout ahead and see what you need.

[DJ Coalescence]

Well, you figure the higher the count of people, the more power you will need. The noise generated by those people might over power a lower wattage set up. Base power: 500w for 20 or so people up to 50-60. The minimum wattage for 200 people should be 2000w. Wattage doesnt just determine just the volume, but the quality of sound @ all volumes.

During dinner or a reception you will not use 2000k, but once you get people moving on the dance floor you will need some wattage to back up the mood.

[DJ Coalescence]

Ooops... forgot one more thing. If you run a higher wattage amp @ a lower volume, you will reduce the risk of over heating the amp.

[btu2001]

I'm doing a wedding too next month for the same amount of people in a 4000 sq ft space. I called a few audio rental places and they recommended 2 15in. spekers on stands as DJ Mr. G recommended.

they brought up a good point saying there's a difference between hearing the music and "feeling " the music. While you definitely want to have enough sound, I don't think you'll want to worry about making it too crazy. But what do I know I'm still a n00b to the mobile game.

[dj_viper]

4 x 15" RCF's cant go wrong!

[DJNaviss]

I'm doing a wedding too next month for the same amount of people in a 4000 sq ft space.

Ouch, That's a big building then.... I done sound with my rig for a building 4,600 or 800 foot, Can't remember off hand. For a rave.... Which went over well...
At least get some 18's in there... Two would work out good.... Four if you really want to rock the place.

As for high's, Two dual full range cab's would work out nicely.

http://www.djnaviss.com/naviss.gif

[jfunke]

My higher reason for existance: Dispelling urban ledgends and wacko audio theory.

FIRST:
WATTAGE has NOTHING (repeat: NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING) to do with the equasion of sizing a PA. In fact WATTAGE, in the sense of amplifier output and speaker threshhold has really NOTHING to do with ANYTHING!.

SECOND:
2k watts (from the other post) info what? Into a JBL EON (there is a popular DJ box)? Into a L-ACOUSTICS dV-DOSC element? What will the mains be?


So what do we do? We know the above ways of attacking the problem are incorrect, so what should we know to start sizing the PA? What are our considerations? Lets start thinking like FOH engineers and not DJ's:


FIRST:
# of People. How many people need to hear (this will only be 1/2 of the initial information beacuse......)

SECOND:
Room plot. Where is everyone? Do I want it the same db in the dance-floor that it is at the back table where grandma is talking to the Bride that wrote our check? Do I want the folks the farthest away from the head-table to NOT hear the toast?

THIRD:
Speaker flavor. What are we using. AND: is is amplified per manufacture's (sp?) recomendations? Are the boxes being processed the way recomended as well (Hence BSS omnidrive, driverack, APPROPRIATE EQ and COMPRESSION?)
how do we choose?---->

FOURTH: We threw wattage out the window and replaced with....
SENSITIVITY
What does our PA do w/ that precious watt? Dispell it? Give us 98 db at 1watt 1 meter (ugh) or give us 133db 1 watt 1 meter? Higher our sensitivity the better we USUALLY are....

FIFTH:
Box height
Elevation is a VERY critical factor. Are your boxes on the deck (floor), on sticks (read stands: most appropriate for weddings) , or being flown (suspended, not practical for the new user, BUT generally produces the best results).

So knowing these factors will assist us is making the right decisions and choices.

I should have been a teacher but I could'nt pass the drug screen. :spin:

[DJ Coalescence]

Box height
Elevation is a VERY critical factor. Are your boxes on the deck (floor), on sticks (read stands: most appropriate for weddings) , or being flown (suspended, not practical for the new user, BUT generally produces the best results).

This is the only part of your post I agree with.


I should have been a teacher but I could'nt pass the drug screen. :spin:

Dont get ahead of yourself, cause wattage does mean alot in terms of sound quality, or did you forget that? My 9 years of experiance DJing and 7 years of setting up pro sound has taught me a thing or 2 about this.

BTW, the JBL comment made me laugh. Bag End is where it is at. :P

[jfunke]

This is the only part of your post I agree with.



Dont get ahead of yourself, cause wattage does mean alot in terms of sound quality, or did you forget that? My 9 years of experiance DJing and 7 years of setting up pro sound has taught me a thing or 2 about this.

BTW, the JBL comment made me laugh. Bag End is where it is at. :P

Hmmmm: We're spoiled.

Wattage stopped playing a role when we went w/ an
l-acoustics dV-DOSC rig w/ XTA audio-core loudspeaker management.

We can agree to disagree.

The underlying issue is what does the box do with the watt. And if that is ignored, then saying x # of watts (quantified in hundreds or thousands) will be the deciding factor in sizing a PA for a wedding will only lead us to sound we are not happy with as users and a show that could have been elevated from good to fantastic.

Please do not think that I am questioning anyones education of philosophy. What I am saying is a complete paradyme shift in terms of thought process for a lot of people but consider this:

If, with a good driver, we could get 133 db @ 1 watt, 1 meter (1khz) with distortian levels close to being unmeasurable, why would we need so many thousands of watts for the venue? We could then start adding additional speaker-box elements into the system, with higher quality of amplification and start working on that elusive goal of the perfect sound.

The good news is we have not even opened up the door of conventional PA's Vs. Line Arrays.

BTW: If I have to throw 1k watts at a driver to get > 120 db then the box belongs in the river, not in my inventory.

BBTW: The Bag-end, with their processing, is capable of hitting some incredibly LOW (to the windows to the walls) frequencies. I know a couple installers who swear by them, with good reason. They hit right and they'll make you sterile.

[jfunke]

Additionaly, what WE SHOULD ALL DO is continue our respective educations and knowledge that will help us elevate our craft to that next level.

Good DJ's should never be considered as second rate citizens in the production community.

[DJNaviss]

Nice to have you a member on the board Funke. :)

I'll be looking forward to reading more of your insightful post's...

http://www.djnaviss.com/naviss.gif

[btu2001]

FIFTH:
Box height
Elevation is a VERY critical factor. Are your boxes on the deck (floor), on sticks (read stands: most appropriate for weddings) , or being flown (suspended, not practical for the new user, BUT generally produces the best results).


So at what height do you recommend to have the speakers that are on stands/sticks?

[Dj Stranger]

As high up as the stands will go, you can never have your speakers too high :)

[jdiddy]

As high up as the stands will go, you can never have your speakers too high :)
I dissagree. A good height would be about 7ft tall. I've seen some about 9ft which was way to high. That would be ok in a huge place like a school gymnasium but not for a typical wedding reception. Remember, people in the back don't want their ears blasted. I agree with Naviss, you'll definately want some 18" subs, atleast two. This is where you'll need most of your power. The tops won't need a whole lot, maybe 400-500 watts each. I run 3200 watts into my Peavey SP218 sub and 1500 watts to my two JBL MP412's. This is overkill but I know I have plenty of headroom so I won't overheat my amps.

[teetotalnot]

I use Ohm 300w (per channel) and they seem to do the job for every venue I've ever done - big or small.

with regards to height; I agree - 7ft is generally what I put them up at . having said that i've done bigger venues on a stage and I've put them up on the stage with me (on stands) and that's been fine (about 10-12ft off the dancing level).

[Monomer]

My higher reason for existance: Dispelling urban ledgends and wacko audio theory.

FIRST:
WATTAGE has NOTHING (repeat: NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING) to do with the equasion of sizing a PA. In fact WATTAGE, in the sense of amplifier output and speaker threshhold has really NOTHING to do with ANYTHING!.

SECOND:
2k watts (from the other post) info what? Into a JBL EON (there is a popular DJ box)? Into a L-ACOUSTICS dV-DOSC element? What will the mains be?


So what do we do? We know the above ways of attacking the problem are incorrect, so what should we know to start sizing the PA? What are our considerations? Lets start thinking like FOH engineers and not DJ's:


FIRST:
# of People. How many people need to hear (this will only be 1/2 of the initial information beacuse......)

SECOND:
Room plot. Where is everyone? Do I want it the same db in the dance-floor that it is at the back table where grandma is talking to the Bride that wrote our check? Do I want the folks the farthest away from the head-table to NOT hear the toast?

THIRD:
Speaker flavor. What are we using. AND: is is amplified per manufacture's (sp?) recomendations? Are the boxes being processed the way recomended as well (Hence BSS omnidrive, driverack, APPROPRIATE EQ and COMPRESSION?)
how do we choose?---->

FOURTH: We threw wattage out the window and replaced with....
SENSITIVITY
What does our PA do w/ that precious watt? Dispell it? Give us 98 db at 1watt 1 meter (ugh) or give us 133db 1 watt 1 meter? Higher our sensitivity the better we USUALLY are....

FIFTH:
Box height
Elevation is a VERY critical factor. Are your boxes on the deck (floor), on sticks (read stands: most appropriate for weddings) , or being flown (suspended, not practical for the new user, BUT generally produces the best results).

So knowing these factors will assist us is making the right decisions and choices.

I should have been a teacher but I could'nt pass the drug screen. :spin:

Listen to this guy, He knows whats up.

a "Watt" is the measure of converting one form of energy to another. In a perfect world one watt of power (electrical) would equal one watt (acoustical) power. This isnt possible, Speakers of today are hardley 10% efficiant.

SPL (sound pressure level) is used to measure acoustical energy, usually taken at 1 watt/1 meter.






jfunke, It'd be in your best intrest to look into the amp/speaker forums. Theres very few Dj's know about sound.

[TheLostProphet]

^^ That passage makes no sense...

[Monomer]

^^ That passage makes no sense...



Makes perfect sense, and its even REALLY basic.

[djscrizzle]

Monomer: AGREED! Brilliant!

[bAd]

7 ft is pretty accurate. You figure the average person is between 5' 9" and 6'2" so that would go over them and hit everyon in the back as well. I usually put mine up between 6 and 7 depending on the venue. As teetotalnot said, in a gym, but them up on the stage (if available) and raise the stands to about 7 ft. This will help you fill the gym.