sound equipment

[hamlett22]

Hello,
We are going to replace our sound system next year and I need to source out new equipment.
- Amps, console, speakers.

Our current analogue setup is 14 years old: 400 seat house. 48 channel board, 3 speakers over stage, 16 in house, lobby, dressing rooms, greenroom, control booth (all powered by 10 amps- underpowered from the start). Our current console is a 48 channel board. looking to go to 60. We use a live orchestra for musicals, some instruments reinforced for shows, depending. I kept our Clearcoms setup up to date. Different system anyway. We use the audio system fore everyday events, music concerts, and musicals which is where we push it to its limits. Our microphones are the Shure UHR series with country-man. We'll keep those.

I need a starting point for new amps, a console and speakers. Our space is intimate so I want to keep stage and house speakers low profile: 30' vertical dimension or less. I am not privy the new tech., but if memory serves most equipment has moved on to digital.

Any advice on where I should start would be appreciated. I want to purchase equipment that will last 15 to 20 years and require very little servicing.

Thanks for your input.
Chad

 

[Aaron Becker]

My general advice whenever you're looking at doing a FOH speaker/amp rebuild is to consult a professional/get a consultant or two in there. They may be brand biased, but they can give you the best sounding system and tune it properly. One thing I don't see mentioned in your post that is an absolute must is a DSP - unless you plan on doing this within a digital console - but I generally advise against this in all situations.

You mention 16 "in house speakers" - are these in ceiling speakers, and what is their purpose?

Things like console choice are vastly different for everyone depending on what you value and want - and based on your needs. Someone else will probably be along to mention the "go-tos" for different applications based on need/use/budget.

 

[DrewE]

One good place to start might be enumerating exactly what you're hoping to accomplish with the upgrade in terms of end results, rather than starting with a list of things to replace. At least one thing was very clear: you need more mixing channels than you currently have. Having a more configurable mixer (going on the assumption that your current mixer is analog, from your comments) would seem to be a big plus as well.

You mentioned the system is underpowered. Is that assessment based upon looking at wattage numbers, or out of not having sufficient headroom in practice--that is, not getting enough clean volume? You mentioned wanting reliability--is your existing system being unreliable? It may well be that some parts don't really need upgrading or replacement; good amplifiers can last for a very long time, much like good light dimmers, and new ones don't offer a whole lot of intrinsic superiority. Good passive speakers likewise can last for a very long time without being at all unreliable.

But what are the specific shortcomings you are hoping to address? The more precisely that can be defined, I suspect the easier it will be to figure out what gear you ought to invest in. It might also be worth considering if there are any acoustic treatments/updates that would be worth doing as part of the project; fixing problems with a room is at least as important as fixing problems with the system.

Aaron's advice to consult a professional is excellent. (I'm certainly not a professional in the field; I wouldn't count towards that in the least!)

 

[Jay Ashworth]

And you need to decide, in advance possibly, whether you want a $2500 board, a $4000 board, a $10k board, or a $25k board.

Roughly, that's: SQ/x32/SI Impact, m32/Wing/the-next-A&H-up, Avantis/etc, or D-Live/SD-7(?), etc.

A lot of this will be driven by digital snakes, scene memory, crossfade, and stuff like that.

The amount of elasticity from the least expensive quote to the most expensive one can be an order of magnitude. Maybe more. Be ready for some sticker shock. Remember: in the long run, people are more expensive than gear and cabling; design for convenience.