Do I need more 2226s?

[GCT]

HI

Our PA consists of:
2 x 2241 18" Subs
2 x 2226 15" Mids
1 x 2445 4" Horn

PER SIDE

I'm finding it is too small for outdoor gigs so I'm thinking of adding 2 more 2226 per side. (Can get a good deal on 2226s)

Does this sound like the best move? To my ears we are lacking mids at full volume but I haven't measured the SPL levels to confirm. I know the horns are well below max volume.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated
Cheers

GCT

[Lee in Montreal]

I'd get more subs.

Lee

[Eaulive]

Hard to say... what kind of horn is on your 2445s? what crossover points? What power are you feeding them? What kind of enclosures? Full range? Bi-amp? Tri-amp?

[GCT]

I'd get more subs.

Lee

What's your reasoning?

[GCT]

The subs get 400w + 600w from 2 stereo amps
Mids get 950w 4 ohm
Horns 150w 8 ohms (but set at No 4)
Per Side
Subs and Mids are normally limiting i.e. max power but horns are running at lower power
The flares are beymas that can work down to 500Hz

Crossover at 80-120 and 1200-2000

Hope this helps.

[Lee in Montreal]

What's your reasoning?

You usually needs tons more lower bass (2241) than upper bass/mid (2226) You could easily run two 2241 per 2226. And then beg for two more 2241...

[Allanvh5150]

Most systems with a 2445 on top would run 2 x 15"s and what ever subs you want to put under them, from an SR point of view.

Allan.

[Lee in Montreal]

GCT any picture of our system?

[Eaulive]

The subs get 400w + 600w from 2 stereo amps
Mids get 950w 4 ohm
Horns 150w 8 ohms (but set at No 4)
Per Side
Subs and Mids are normally limiting i.e. max power but horns are running at lower power
The flares are beymas that can work down to 500Hz

Crossover at 80-120 and 1200-2000

Hope this helps.

I'd say your system is under powered, try connecting your 2241 and 2226 to an amplifier that can supply 1.2kW per driver, or 2.4kW at 4ohms.

2226 and 2241 are rated 600W, which means to have proper dynamics and punch, I would feed 1.2kW

I feed 450W to my 2225 which are rated 200W and they are very happy.

[GCT]

Hope this helps
GCT

[Lee in Montreal]

That was a massive chunk of missing info. So. You are doing sound reinforcement for bands? I was under the impression for the past couple of months that you were into a sound system to play music and dance to it...

[GCT]

So it looks like the general consensus is more 2241's.
I realize the amps are small but the big Crowns are very expensive. Any advice on 1200w amps value for money?

[GCT]

That was a massive chunk of missing info. So. You are doing sound reinforcement for bands? I was under the impression for the past couple of months that you were into a sound system to play music and dance to it...

I have asked advice in the past for studio monitoring, but this project is SR. When I started on this project after other speaker building projects, I was surprised that they crossover so low. I had expected 300Hz half power point. The 2241's are well capable of 800Hz in terms of frequency response but SR seems to be a bit different as people want thump with their SPL.

Anyone tried SR with 300Hz crossover on a 2241 in a flat box?

GCT

[Lee in Montreal]

So it looks like the general consensus is more 2241's.
I realize the amps are small but the big Crowns are very expensive. Any advice on 1200w amps value for money?

The consensus is NOT for more 2241 woofers. You say you miss mid frequencies. But which ones? Which range? How did you set the system? Have you tried changing the crossover points? Are you sure you can get 500Hz out of your horns? They look more like 1Khz. Maybe it is where you are missing your mids... Also, with guitars, perhaps you should look for 15" drivers with aluminum domes.

BTW For SR, I would indeed croosover the 2241 much higher. Perhaps 250/300Hz, which would help unstress the 2226 and allow them to be pushed harder. Nonetheless, I think you may be missing something between the 2226 and the 2245. What works for a discotheque might not work for a band...

[GCT]

We're just getting a 31 band eq and know that the mids are lagging by 5ms so a speaker management system is required.

I'm not sure eqactly what frequencies. Hope to measure it with Smaartlive soon. It's the engineer who says he's lacking Mids. Maybe next weekend I can set it up.

The question would still be - for the future, It's not big enough for big events, even optimized, (we have to hire a bigger system) so where can we go next? We have 5K of speakers. Next step?

GCT