Adding a powered subwoofer

D

Doug Christensen

Freshman
Feb 18, 2014
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We are a 4 piece oldies band, and we are planning to add a subwoofer to our PA. Our current main speakers are EV ZLX15P's. Because of cost and space, we are looking to add a single EV ELX18P. My question is about set up and placement.

We haven't purchased the ELX18P yet, but I did look up the manual. According the the manual, I would run a line from my mixer to the sub, then on to the main. So one side of the stage would have a main only, while the other side would have a main-sub. My understanding would be that the main (ZLX15P) would be set to accept a subwoofer while the other main would not. If I put the subwoofer in a stacked configuration with the main, would it create a situation where there would be an "overload" of bass to that side of the stage? And if I placed the subwoofer in the middle, would it cause a "underload" (my new word) to the main it's hooked up with, as the bass signal would be deleted by the DSP?

I hope this makes sense. I just don't want to get in a situation of having bad sound. The manuals didn't address using a single sub.
 
Re: Adding a powered subwoofer

Doug Christensen said:
We are a 4 piece oldies band, and we are planning to add a subwoofer to our PA. Our current main speakers are EV ZLX15P's. Because of cost and space, we are looking to add a single EV ELX18P. My question is about set up and placement.

We haven't purchased the ELX18P yet, but I did look up the manual. According the the manual, I would run a line from my mixer to the sub, then on to the main. So one side of the stage would have a main only, while the other side would have a main-sub. My understanding would be that the main (ZLX15P) would be set to accept a subwoofer while the other main would not. If I put the subwoofer in a stacked configuration with the main, would it create a situation where there would be an "overload" of bass to that side of the stage? And if I placed the subwoofer in the middle, would it cause a "underload" (my new word) to the main it's hooked up with, as the bass signal would be deleted by the DSP?

I hope this makes sense. I just don't want to get in a situation of having bad sound. The manuals didn't address using a single sub.
Click to expand...

IMHO. It might, I think there would actually be more bass on that side than the other. It all depends on the room size and stage size. I would try it on one side and if it did sound the way you are describing I would put it in the middle, and then later get another one and start putting them on each side.
 
Re: Adding a powered subwoofer

Doug Christensen said:
We are a 4 piece oldies band, and we are planning to add a subwoofer to our PA. Our current main speakers are EV ZLX15P's. Because of cost and space, we are looking to add a single EV ELX18P. My question is about set up and placement.

We haven't purchased the ELX18P yet, but I did look up the manual. According the the manual, I would run a line from my mixer to the sub, then on to the main. So one side of the stage would have a main only, while the other side would have a main-sub. My understanding would be that the main (ZLX15P) would be set to accept a subwoofer while the other main would not. If I put the subwoofer in a stacked configuration with the main, would it create a situation where there would be an "overload" of bass to that side of the stage? And if I placed the subwoofer in the middle, would it cause a "underload" (my new word) to the main it's hooked up with, as the bass signal would be deleted by the DSP?

I hope this makes sense. I just don't want to get in a situation of having bad sound. The manuals didn't address using a single sub.
Click to expand...

The DSP will not detect or change anything due to the sub. You should experiment with placement and settings. Ideally, the sub should be centered between the two tops. If placed to one side, there will be more bass on that side. I would set it up as follows:

Set ZLX mode to "Live"
Set Location to "Pole"
Set ZLX Sub to "ELX118P" - on both tops.

Now wire your outputs to the sub, then through to one ZLX, then through to the other ZLX.
Or, you can go Left out to one sub & ZLX, and Right out to the other ZLX.

Get it up & running per above, then go to the ZLX that does not have a sub below it, and change the sub setting to "None", and see how it sounds.
 
Re: Adding a powered subwoofer

Not sure the type and size places you play or what your expecting from the sub but in general a single 18 is not going to keep up with a pair of top cabinets when you really want to get the party started. Actually there are some single 18 subs that would kill those top cabinets but those in a completely different league!
 
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