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Thread: Upgrading PA

  1. #1
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    Upgrading PA

    Advice appreciated please.

    I do occasional Karaoke gig and some time party gig, maybe 5 or 6 times a year so the money side of gear is important to be realistic.

    I am currently running a Stagepass 600, which has been great, but I have been asked to do larger social club for Karaoke.

    I am thinking of getting a more powerful rig so would like to hear your comments on my thinking.

    CURRENT RIG

    Yamaha Stagepass 600 with matching speaker system. 680 watts / 340 watts per channel. SPL 129 dB

    PROPOSED RIG.

    Pair FBT 10 LITE active speakers c/w Alto Live 802 mixer, 1000 watts per speaker, SPL 126 dB.

    Would the FBT set up be a lot more powerful (as the figures would suggest), than the Stage pass. even thought the SPL is actually lower. Or is the SPL of the Stagepass both channels combined, while the FBT is each speaker.

    Any info on this watts V SPL appreciated, I am in UK if that maters.

    Regards.

    Mr Raffles

  2. #2
    Member Daniel S's Avatar
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    I'd say it wouldn't be so much of an upgrade, rather a sidestep. Both the Yamaha Stagepass and the FBT use 10" woofers and 1.4" voicecoil hf drivers. Rated power for the Yamaha is 340w per channel dynamic, whatever that means. The FBT is 800+200w peak, which is probably around half RMS, so it's not that much more powerful. A doubling of power is only 3dB in acoustic output. Both set ups would be in the same price range, so I wouldn't expect much of a difference in level. The FBT will probably be a little cleaner sounding having an Active crossover while the Yahama is passive.

    To get something significantly more powerful with a 10" you would have to either spend a little more money, for example going with Yamaha DZR or EV ETX. Otherwise you need to go with something bigger like a 12". Depending on what you think is missing whith the setup you have now, another option is to get sub to go with what you already have. Using a sub makes the sound fuller and will take som stress and power off your existing tops.

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    Daniel, thank you for your advice, and not getting too technical. If I understand right a 12 inch compared with a 10 inch of the FBT with same specs would in theory sound a bit louder ?.
    The reason I am considering the FBT lite range is it is in my price only doing 5 or 6 gigs a year, + I am retired and do not want to lug heavy bits of kits around.
    Last week I was in my local and a band was using the FBT 12 lite and I was very impressed.
    As for the sub unit, its another but of kit + one of my gigs I do is in a park home club house made of wood, and the residents complain If i use too much bass as it is.
    To be fair my Stagepass is loud enough, but I am driving it at just under clip all the time especially with karaoke singers. So if i could get just a bit more volume but driving at at more sensible level with a little bit of head room.
    Thank you once again.
    Mr R.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by MrRaffles View Post
    If I understand right a 12 inch compared with a 10 inch of the FBT with same specs would in theory sound a bit louder ?
    There's also frequency response to take into account.. normally a 12" would have a peak at around 50-60Hz max whereas with a 10" driver it's a bit higher in the spectrum, say 60-70Hz.

    There's also a noticeable difference in effective cone area, for example one could quickly think a 8" is twice larger than a 4" driver when in reality it's almost 3-4 times larger which in lay terms moves more air.

  5. #5
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    Daniel,
    I have done some research and been to a DJ shop, problem I have is the weight of suitable active speakers, I cant physically lift them on to the stands. You mention that a suitable sub could just give me that edge I need, I would not too much extra bass, but could it be used to increase the volume overall. My Stagepass 600 has a sub out jack as well as monitor out jack. What spec sub could I use, but again weight and size is a consideration.

    Cheers
    Mr R

  6. #6
    Member Daniel S's Avatar
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    Usually when using a sub you put a high pass filter on your tops, so they don't have to deal with the lower bass. This means the power that was previously used for bass can now be used for other frequencies plus the driver excursion is a little less, this means you can go a little louder on the tops. From the manual you can see that there's a 120Hz high pass filter applied when using the sub output:
    | SUBWOOFER OUT jack This is for connection to a powered subwoofer, and outputs a mono signal. If this jack is in use, the low frequencies below 120Hz to the SPEAKERS L/R jacks will be cut. The output level is linked to that of the MASTER LEVEL control

    As for a sub matching your speakers I would probably go for a 15" sub, since you want something fairly compact and not too heavy.

  7. #7
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    Guys thank you for your advice, especially Danial S.
    I decided to first try using a sub with my Yamaha Stagepass 600.
    When you use the dedicated sub output on the Yamaha it automatically uses a 120Hz high pass filter to the passive tops.
    Now I have only tried in my living room, but I now can drive the tops so much louder, but also the limiter LEDS, there are 3 green, 3 yellows 1 red, do not even go into yellow at a volume with no distortion, but is painful to the ear.
    The sub is supplying a reasonable bass without pounding on the chest, which I did not want.
    Do you think that as the mixer/amp is part of a kit matched with the speakers that I can within reason drive the tops at this level, OK below the pain threshold.
    Cheers guys.
    Mr R

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