Line Array - Anyone have experience?

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CeaSaR
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Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by CeaSaR »

Must be vacation time. :)

Anyone ever build a line array speaker where the main sets of drivers are singly (individually) amp'd?

I'm thinking of something similar, yet a bit more stylish and powerful than this: https://youtu.be/zPgm08xaDuA

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(Who remembers THAT one?)
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by Externet »

Nice project.
Do you prefer individual amplification for each driver or a series-parallel array fed by a single amplifier ?
I would go with the single amplification; done it a few times that way. And no dedicated power supply to the speaker, less parts to give trouble.

The old Bose have a 3x3 array; how many transducers are in the plan ?
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by CeaSaR »

Here's a little more of what semi-inspired me.

https://youtu.be/hy-ga4VolLA - a tiny little amp.
https://youtu.be/QTMqMbkL6bE - the eq circuit.
and the speaker in the OP.

While interesting, it seemed a bit ridiculous to use those little 1 watt amps, even though it gets 1 watt at 5 volts. So, I let it sit in my mind for a while.

Come forward about a year from those videos, and I see this one from a guy I have watched for a number of years, even on his old, long gone channel. What he is talking about, I had seen, but was a bit wary of. Here ya go: https://youtu.be/L08pd5l1aT0

These things actually work quite well. Okay, the amp does, but the supplied driver is crap. I have a pair wired up and slightly modified as a bench amp. With a 5 V supply and decent speakers, they're rather surprising. And the best thing is, you can get just about all you need in the same place. See? https://postimg.cc/image/5lr7vvccz/

So, with the low cost of these bits and how easy it is to modify them, the OP speaker came back to mind. I already have a 5 V preamp in mind and need to see what kind of EQ I'd need once I choose the drivers. We'll see.

Later Gators!
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by haklesup »

Interesting but I don't get why. Does it have a special sound quality? I can see if you drove each one separately with some kind of DSP you could probably do some interesting stuff but if all driven from the same source, in phase I wonder how it's sound differs from a typical enclosure with similar specs. Couldn't you do the same thing with an array of Bluetooth speakers (connected via the patch cable).
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by CeaSaR »

You guys hit the nail straight on the head with your openings, "Nice project" and "Interesting."

It is... different. And I think that is what attracted me to it in the first place. I have always wanted to build a Line-Array speaker system, but at this point, there's not much room left for new projects, so a small version that would be self powered seems enticing, especially if they can be used on the bench. With the base components being basically plug and play, it's almost a no brainer.

As to why go the route of "more parts is more parts", well, where's the fun in just building a static box? Isn't the Electronics hobby supposed to be fun? And what's more fun than thinking "outside the box", especially when you can do so on a pittance of a budget? Currently, I have a prospective main driver and a prospective tweeter with associated 1st order crossover capacitor under consideration. I'm thinking of 5 of each per channel, so it would be about $23.50 for them plus shipping. Then I'd need 10 little amps and at least 6 of those power plugs, so $16 at the Dollar Tree. I have the parts for the preamps. I'd need wood, some miscellaneous wires and cords plus "time."

Once they would be built, I could then experiment with different input controls, either globally or individually. It opens up the door to further learning.

Ultimately I get something unique that I made. And THAT is extremely satisfying.

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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by CeaSaR »

Ha! After posting the above, this comes up on my YT feed: https://youtu.be/7RWkUoXOkR8
This guy is a mix between really knowing a lot about stuff and pushing the hype of audio-phoolery (almost the wire with gain crowd - yeah, I've busted on him when he gets his digital and analog mixed up), but here he is basically describing some of the thoughts I had in my mind with future experiments.
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by Lenp »

Anyone remember the 'Sweet 16" system from Popular Electronics?
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by CeaSaR »

Lenp wrote: Fri Aug 17, 2018 6:47 pm Anyone remember the 'Sweet 16" system from Popular Electronics?
Any idea what year? I might have that copy. LOL
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by CeaSaR »

Just looked it up. The answer is "nope."
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.B ... -the-past/
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

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Hey, what do I know?
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by Lenp »

Since my post started some chatter...what about the Drain Pipe Eight, also from PE I believe?
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Re: Line Array - Anyone have experience?

Post by CeaSaR »

Can't find that one, but it is briefly described here: http://www.eagle-wing.net/ClickPicks/Te ... nics.shtml
Sounds like the HSU subwoofer, also known as the Boom Tube (which came MUCH later than the article). And the Sweet Sixteen sort of reminds me of the Bose 901 setup of lots of drivers in a box, albeit with a few rear firing drivers.
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