Getting some upgrades; what should I expect?

[avkid]

Originally Posted by TimmyP1955

Allen & Heath - great choice.

OAP - given the many poor comments I've seen about their snakes, I'd steer completely clear.

OAP does not make snakes.
Product Families

However OSP does make snakes and road cases.
OSP Audio - Commercial Division - Independent Contractors and Production Companies

[FMEng]

Allen and Heath make fine consoles. The OAP speakers are obscure enough that we can rule out some school district person choosing them at the local music store. Chances are someone has done some engineering and selected them for the space. It'll probably turn out great.

[TimmyP1955]

Originally Posted by avkid

OAP does not make snakes.
Product Families

However OSP does make snakes and road cases.
OSP Audio - Commercial Division - Independent Contractors and Production Companies

You are right. My bad! Apologies to OAP.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by FMEng

The OAP speakers are obscure enough that we can rule out some school district person choosing them at the local music store. Chances are someone has done some engineering and selected them for the space. It'll probably turn out great.

Someone has done some engineering, I'm certain of that. I just hope they were good with math!
The money was part of a bond package and somehow it became my responsibility to find a vendor. Not to take this off topic, but has anyone else had problems getting vendors out to their site to create a quote? Out of about 10 that I called, 3 actually came out and 2 actually submitted a quote. It's like pulling teeth. I was just glad to get a quote that's within our budget. It sounds like I'm getting some decent equipment as a bonus! Whatever it is, it couldn't sound worse than what I have currently. Now I just need to get it installed before the musical...

[museav]

Originally Posted by Tex

Not to take this off topic, but has anyone else had problems getting vendors out to their site to create a quote? Out of about 10 that I called, 3 actually came out and 2 actually submitted a quote. It's like pulling teeth.

It probably depends on the situation, especially for public schools. If there are no formal Bid Documents bidders may assume that the bids will be all over the place with some wild card getting the project or that one firm already has an "in" and the rest of the bids are just getting numbers so it can be claimed to be a "competitive" bid. And with public or state schools they may assume that the bid will be awarded to the bidder with the lowest price, which with no formal Bid Documents could mean the bidder willing to make the most compromises and cut the most corners. It often comes down to how much effort can they justify investing in a bid that may be a) loosely or poorly defined, b) open to many bidders and c) awarded based on cost.

The flip side is that a very tightly defined bid package with numerous qualifiers may provide more basis for technically competitive bids and a value based decision but will likely also eliminate or discourage many potential bidders.

A good example, I have a project currently out to bid for a State University and the University came up with a list of "approved" Vendors to whom a notification of the bid would be delivered that included 139 firms, basically anyone the State has listed as a registered Vendor for audio or production communications equipment. Probably less than 10% of those could properly handle the project but nothing stops any of them from bidding. Without the Drawings and Specifications to define numerous project requirements, the Bidders who are best qualified might have difficulty justifying investing the time and effort required to submit a bid. Better to spend that on projects they have a better chance of getting in the first place, a better chance of having a result they are proud of and a better chance of being more profitable.

[jonnyfive1985]

I have used several of the Allen & Heath Consoles and love them. Great product from the UK. Bad part was one time i had to send one of the boards back to the UK for Warranty Repairs(not so fun). But other than that one fluke i have had no problems and love the board actually almost bought one last year for our FOH at work but decided to go with the Mackie Onyx 4880 instead. I have the board you are getting though in a theatre that i do consulting work/volunteer at its wonderful used it for several big shows and did the job great. Only thing i wish was different on the console was the headphone jack placement.

[IA183]

I have used A @ H boards on a few smaller gigs clubs @ small theaters and had no problums not sure I would choose one for a install

[museav]

Originally Posted by IA183

I have used A @ H boards on a few smaller gigs clubs @ small theaters and had no problums not sure I would choose one for a install

Just curious but why the hesitancy for an install?

[mstaylor]

I would be interested in the answer too, I'm getting the same board for an install to replace a Mackie.

[Les]

Curious here, too! My high school (how many years ago was that???) had an Allen & Heath and it was (still is, probably) an excellent console. Someone a few posts back said they are fragile... Aren't all sound consoles fragile? Anyway I didn't see anything lacking in the build quality at all. In fact it was built like a tank. Maybe they were referring to the faders - they have a very light touch, but not hard to get used to.