New Wedges

[Mark]

Hi, I'm looking round for some new monitors i was wondering if you had recomendations of good monitors to use for all stage purposes, im looking at the Adlib Audio wedges and some one said that the nexo ps 15's or 12 but they seem pretty expensive and you have to buy amps aswell plus a Td controller. i also need a new drumfill as the lastones where just f.o.h jbls and a sub. im looking for somthing a bit more compact maybe with a double 15 or somthing.

[Simon Ryder]

Hi Mark,
Looking at your other kit listed on your website I would suggest you go for Nightfire wedges. You will find that their boxes are superbly made and sound great. More to the point they are very reasonably priced.
As a bang per buck bargain, you will find that their equivalent boxes outperform your Cerwin Vega main speakers and are cheaper as well (stronger too). So in the case of your drum fills, I would replace your main FOH speakers and use the Cerwin Vegas as your drum fills. You could then use your existing JBL& subs combination as side fills on larger stages.
You can reach Nightfire at www.pa-direct.co.uk. Contact them and have a listen.

[ian hasell]

As posted elsewhere on the board we have just bought a few of these, Turbosound TXD12m,
We got them through AC Lighting and had very good service.



www.turbosound.com/showroom/txd12m/index.html

And they sound terrific.

Ian

[Mark]

Thanks simon (some equipment upgrades since the list was made) but im looking into these now, im also considering in replacing my foh subs. i have 4 front loaded each with 2 double 15" drivers, iv'e noticed in larger venues the sub is there its just not carrying and not giving out much punch. i have now decided that maybe geting somthing with an 18" driver in may be alot better, im looking at the cerwin vega "earthquake" subs as ive researched an been told that a folded sub can produce quite a thud i sepecially need this sound for live bands. on a tester note i got 2 Kam z-Subs on the back of a wagon deal after some testing im completely not convinced of what kam have tried to get. the design of the box is just wrong. All the bass you want to hear is either at the side of the box or at the back, all you get from the front is a great band and the sound of the grill shacking is louder than the sub, a completely no buy for anyone. so there is 2 Kam z Subs up for sale if anyone would wish to throw them off a cliff? does anyone think the same of these so called subs? On the first note if anyone has a good pair of subs to recomened please do as i wish to get some a.s.a.p
Cheers
mark

[Simon Ryder]

Ian is right, the Turbo boxes are good, particularly if rider acceptability is important. I would say that the Nightfire boxes have the edge on them in terms of both build and price, however very few people have heard of them.
In terms of sound I have never been too impressed with the Cerwin Vega offerings, no real sub extension to speak of and just a little to rough sounding for my tastes, again check out the Nightfire range they have some rather interesting 20" subs.

What sort of venues are you playing? The choice of horn or direct loading is an imortant one. Direct loaded subs have better near to mid field coverage whilst horn loaded subs are better for longer throw applications. The disadvantage of horn loaded subs is that you need more of them to gain the same horizontal coverage that you would with direct loaded cabinets. Of course if you stack direct loaded subs on top of each other creating a tall, thin stack you will get longer throw.

Other things you could consider are upgrading the drivers in your existing subs, my recomendation would be Beyma, particularly the 15G450-N which is one of the fastest and cleanest 15" drivers out there. It will handle 750 watts AES and has a truly monstrous output. They are expensive though. A cheaper option would be the Fane Colossus 15".

The other question is are you powering your existing subs adequately? Are you just hanging your second pair of subs off your amplifier when you do larger shows? If so a second amplifier might be the answer.

It is i,mportant that you build yourself a system that is easily scalable. When you move from a small venue to a larger one you need to be able to use the same system, just more or less of it depending on the circumstance.

Another manufacturer I would highly recommend that is a bit higher up the scale than Nightfire is Void Acoustics. I regularly install their products in venues and have superb results from them. In my opinion there is not a better value system out there.

I would strongly suggest that you stay away from KAM, Cerwin Vega, Celestion and Wharefdale as these are all MI manufacturers. Their products are readilly available on the high street but are built for maximum profit rather than maximum performance. You will also find that their products are unacceptable on riders to larrger bands.

My personal preference is for products hand made by small firms who survive only on the quality of their products rather than the efficiency of their marketing department. You can usually get bands to accept them in lieu of manufacturrers that they have heard of because of the undeniable quality of the product.
Nightfire, Void Acoustics and Opus Audio Developments are my prefered specialist small manufacturers. Other manufacturers to consider as they have some of the best R&D departments out there are D&B, EAW, Martin Audio and L'Acoustics. Some of their products may be affordable second hand.

You can find Void at www.voidaudio.com

If you are interested in their products PM me and I can assist you.

Hope this helps,
Simon