Pondering a system set up.

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T

Thomas

DJ Extraordinaire
Apr 14, 2009
900
76
55
Hamilton, IL
www.pulse-audio.com
I have been reading and talking to people about system setups. Mine is continually changing as I try to improve it.

I recently added some subs and a dbx 223 crossover to my system. Now I am looking at a compressor/limiter and an Aphex 204 Aural exciter. Keeping my Behringer mixer and eq.

My questions are:

Will this relieve some stress from the system speakers , amps, and enhance overall sound quality?


What would be the most appropriate way to hook it all together?
 
badblood70 said:
I have been reading and talking to people about system setups. Mine is continually changing as I try to improve it.

I recently added some subs and a dbx 223 crossover to my system. Now I am looking at a compressor/limiter and an Aphex 204 Aural exciter. Keeping my Behringer mixer and eq.

My questions are:

Will this relieve some stress from the system speakers , amps, and enhance overall sound quality?


What would be the most appropriate way to hook it all together?
Click to expand...

I would have gone with the DBX 3 way stereo Crossover instead.
be careful with your settings on the crossover, Aphex and EQ as collectively set in the wrong positions can wipe out your drivers.
 
ahoustondj said:
I would have gone with the DBX 3 way stereo Crossover instead.
be careful with your settings on the crossover, Aphex and EQ as collectively set in the wrong positions can wipe out your drivers.
Click to expand...

I can set it to 3 way mono if I want and just add another one if needed later. No need to scrap this one if I upgrade. Right now I have absolutely no need for a 3 way, but maybe in the future.
 
badblood70 said:
I can set it to 3 way mono if I want and just add another one if needed later. No need to scrap this one if I upgrade. Right now I have absolutely no need for a 3 way, but maybe in the future.
Click to expand...

Keep it as a stereo Two way and then later on add a 3 way stereo.
I have both, a stereo 3 way and a stereo two way (With option for summed sub) in separate units
I like that Aural Exciter/Big Bottom Combo you got! Nice unit! Use that on a high powered 15" or 18" low frequency transducer and you'll shake the dance floor. Use the gain very gently!
 
ahoustondj said:
Keep it as a stereo Two way and then later on add a 3 way stereo.
I have both, a stereo 3 way and a stereo two way (With option for summed sub) in separate units
I like that Aural Exciter/Big Bottom Combo you got! Nice unit! Use that on a high powered 15" or 18" low frequency transducer and you'll shake the dance floor. Use the gain very gently!
Click to expand...

I haven't gotten it yet. I am still working out the details. Forgive my naivity, but what would be the best way to hook it up.

What feeds into what?

I have seen 3 or 4 different ways to hook it all together so far and I am not really sure which would work best for what I want. And I don't want to experiment a whole lot after I purchase the stuff for fear of frying something.
 
badblood70 said:
I haven't gotten it yet. I am still working out the details. Forgive my naivity, but what would be the best way to hook it up.

What feeds into what?

I have seen 3 or 4 different ways to hook it all together so far and I am not really sure which would work best for what I want. And I don't want to experiment a whole lot after I purchase the stuff for fear of frying something.
Click to expand...

What speakers do you have?
How Many Amps do you have and what are their specs?
 
badblood70 said:
I have two dual 18" Carvin subs so I should be able to rattle a whole lot of things if I can get this set up right.
Click to expand...

What are you using for tops? I have seen Aural Exciter Big Bottoms and Sub Harmonic synthesizers such as DBX and BBE destroy woofers when incorrectly set! It is meant to enhance the DB sound not give it the DB sound!
 
The problem with aural exciters and maximizers you can get greedy and even if your amps don't show any clipping you'll burn the drivers real fast.
 
Right now I have 2 Behringer EP4000 amps.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/EP4000.aspx

I am upgrading to a couple Peavy IPR amps when they become more readily available. I tried to order one last week, but my supplier was out of stock on the one I wanted.

The mains I am running are Behringer B2520's

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/B2520-PRO.aspx

Those will be replaced with some JBL SRX722's as soon as the funds allow.

The subs are Carvin cabs with 2 18" drivers each. The cabs are a little worse for the wear so no tags. I am going to pull the drivers in a week or so when I refinish the cabs. I will get the specs then.
 
DJ SVO said:
The problem with aural exciters and maximizers you can get greedy and even if your amps don't show any clipping you'll burn the drivers real fast.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Watch how the cones act when you start turning up those things. By the way, I have only used my DBX Sub Harmonic Synthesizer on the low signal coming from the crossover to the low freq. amp. It is easier to control that way.
 
badblood70 said:
I have been reading and talking to people about system setups. Mine is continually changing as I try to improve it.

I recently added some subs and a dbx 223 crossover to my system. Now I am looking at a compressor/limiter and an Aphex 204 Aural exciter. Keeping my Behringer mixer and eq.

My questions are:

Will this relieve some stress from the system speakers , amps, and enhance overall sound quality?


What would be the most appropriate way to hook it all together?
Click to expand...

My advice for what it's worth...

Get rid of the Anal Exciter. It's a money pit waiting to happen. With good pro sound gear you won't need it anyhow.

Yup, bi- or tri-amping with sub boxes will certainly take stress off a pair of mains. You'll get a much better tone as well.

Patch your compressor/limiter before the crossover and make sure it's set up properly.

The crossover is the last component in the chain and is pretty simply to patch. Set it for 2-way operation and feed the mid-top output to your mains amp. Send the summed lows output to your subs amp. Set the crossover to roll off the subs at 110 Hz and the mains to pick up at around the same.

Adjust to taste. :)
 
Fred Wright said:
My advice for what it's worth...

Get rid of the Anal Exciter. It's a money pit waiting to happen. With good pro sound gear you won't need it anyhow.

Yup, bi- or tri-amping with sub boxes will certainly take stress off a pair of mains. You'll get a much better tone as well.

Patch your compressor/limiter before the crossover and make sure it's set up properly.

The crossover is the last component in the chain and is pretty simply to patch. Set it for 2-way operation and feed the mid-top output to your mains amp. Send the summed lows output to your subs amp. Set the crossover to roll off the subs at 110 Hz and the mains to pick up at around the same.

Adjust to taste. :)
Click to expand...

When you say bi-amping. Your meaning one amp for the subs and one amp for the mains. Correct.

That's the way I have it now.

I had my crossover at around 100hz. I will move it up to the 110hz level and try it out.

On a side note, is it better to put the subs together in the middle etc, and the mains on the sides. My first try was with the mains on top of the subs about 60ft apart. I have heard it's a either or type thing. Either right next to each other or spread way apart.
 
I have a limiter built into my eq now, but as with most do-it-all type set ups it is limited in function. I mainly noticed it stopped the bass and left the highs and mids alone. Not at all what I want. I am worried even a higher end compressor/limiter will do the same. That why I was considering the aphex.
 
You should have got a speaker management system (dsp) and all of your processing would be done in one unit.
 
Hook Up

Here is how I hook it up:
Source Signal (CD/MP3 Players, Laptop Output/Controller Etc)
To
Compressor/Limiter
To
EQ
To
Crossover
to
Mid/High Output From Crossover to Amp to Mains
And
Low/Sub Output From Crossover to Aphex to Amp to Lows/Subs
 
Here is how I hook up my big system.

Mono into the mixer , come out 2 channels like stereo but sound is mono

Into Crossover, crossover run in stereo mode, but mono processed through each side.

Out of Crossover, bass to Apex (both sides) then to amp both channels. Mids and Highs go straight from crossover to amp both channels. Everything is balanced and run like it is stereo but it is really mono sound because I feed it into the mixer in mono. Mixer is a Mackie

I don't bi amp for ease of hooking up and most of the time lack of enough electric circuits to power another amp, even though Bi amping would give me a total of 360 watts RMS more.

Might sound like a weird hookup but 14 years and the same speakers, amps, apex, crossover, and mixer with no problems.

Other systems are hooked up different but they all start out being fed mono sound.
 
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