Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

[RYAN LOUDMUSIC JENKINS]

I have been reading Bennetts sub array articles over and over and experimenting with them and also using the GPA software to compare what I hear to what is shows. I am always trying to figure out the best solutions for my events. Obviously, we all know that the best solution can not always be implemented. I have also been following Dave Rat's Youtube videos regarding sub arrays and trying to learn as much as I can there too.

What I am really curious about and I have absolutely no first hand experience with is large, vertical sub arrays. I is hard to picture in a two demensional view how the coverage would end up working.

I picture in my mind that the typical dead zones would be in the the veritcal plane as in up in the air above people heads and down on the ground under peoples feet while the horizontal coverage would remain more consistant with less dead spots.

Does anyone have some polars of vetical sub array predictions they can share so we can all learn a little. Or better yet, I would love to see Bennett work on a vertical sub array article since he really doesn't have too much on his hands with the website any everything else right now.

I will be doing some experiments in March if I get a little time but I am so booked I don't know if I can get to it until at least then.

Thanks a bunch, Ryan

 

[Bennett Prescott]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

Ryan,

The great advantage of flown subwoofer arrays is that you can keep the same pattern as you transition from your (line array) mains into your subs (of the same or nearly the same array length, and avoid pattern flip. You can predict vertical sub arrays by imagining a horizontal sub array... in the air. If you ignore boundaries they operate the same. Of course, with left and right flown sub arrays you have the same power alley issues, so I would recommend using a ground stacked sub array anyway.

Of course, in a perfect world everything under 400Hz would be folded down to a center cluster anyway.

 

[Justice C. Bigler]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

Bennett, have you ever worked with a single flown center array of subs? I'm considering doing this with with the M1D subs in my smaller theatre. What's the black magic that you have to apply to steer that pattern down into the audience? Is it just a matter of finding the right delay timing to get the angle down where you want it in the audience area?

 

[Jay Barracato]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

Bennett, have you ever worked with a single flown center array of subs? I'm considering doing this with with the M1D subs in my smaller theatre. What's the black magic that you have to apply to steer that pattern down into the audience? Is it just a matter of finding the right delay timing to get the angle down where you want it in the audience area?

Last night I was in a very nice PAC with the sub flown as part of the center cluster. I really liked how it blended with the rest of the system. It still was strongly omni. I would be interested in hearing a cardiod box flown in the same manner.

 

[Justice C. Bigler]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

I would be interested in hearing a cardiod box flown in the same manner.

That's exactly what I want to do, use three, with the middle one hung backwards (if that's even possible with the Meyer supplied rigging hardware), and reversed phase and delayed to get the pattern down into the audience, rather than just forward (and out above the heads of the audience).

I haven't sat down to plot it all out yet as I'm still trying to learn enough about the process to understand what's going on. Needless to say, that the center flown cardioid array will solve a couple of problems in that space, and will hopefully sound better than the way it's set up now.

 

[Lionel Miller]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

You may want to try a three deep end fire sub array? I have had great success with Meyer 700's and end fire arrays.

Steering the sub frequencies down is outside of my knowledge though. Looking forward to finding out how!

 

[Bennett Prescott]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

I have never been able to work with a center flown sub array, since I can't get points there or the height to fly the number of subs I want to. Cardioid works very well and can help a lot to keep the sub level more even from the front of your audience to the back. Steering is a matter of calculating the phase shift you want and inserting it as EQ or delay.

Flying an end fire array would be pretty time intensive.

 

[Justice C. Bigler]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

You may want to try a three deep end fire sub array? I have had great success with Meyer 700's and end fire arrays.

Steering the sub frequencies down is outside of my knowledge though. Looking forward to finding out how!

This is a small proscenium theatre, there's no space for end fire set ups, and even if there were, there's too much shit that gets moved around on stage in those areas to make it a usable permanent install area. In this theatre, I have a pair of 6 cabinet M1D arrays, left and right, with a giant fucking I-beam that goes right down the center line of the theatre through the house and right into the plaster line. I've got the vertical space, even without impeding any kind of lighting sight lines (well, ok there may be a few minor ones), but it's a much better location overall than half way up the walls in the lighting box boom areas where they are now.

I just wish I could find a similar locale for the subs in my big hall.

 

[Justice C. Bigler]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

...Steering is a matter of calculating the phase shift you want and inserting it as EQ or delay.

We did some steering experiments when we had our Smaart training here last year. With a three sub cardioid set up (but in the horizontal plane rather than vertical). When I was looking at it, it just made sense to be able to rotate the sub array by 90 degrees, and use the steering techniques to steer them down into the audience, rather than around the circle in the horizontal plane.

I still need to map it all out, do the math and calculate the phase shift before I start trying to hang stuff. I'm just trying to make sure that I understand the overall concept before I start the real work.

 

[Tim McCulloch]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

This is a small proscenium theatre, there's no space for end fire set ups, and even if there were, there's too much shit that gets moved around on stage in those areas to make it a usable permanent install area. In this theatre, I have a pair of 6 cabinet M1D arrays, left and right, with a giant fucking I-beam that goes right down the center line of the theatre through the house and right into the plaster line. I've got the vertical space, even without impeding any kind of lighting sight lines (well, ok there may be a few minor ones), but it's a much better location overall than half way up the walls in the lighting box boom areas where they are now.

I just wish I could find a similar locale for the subs in my big hall.

The Williams Theater?

 

[Justice C. Bigler]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

The Williams Theater?

The Williams Theatre is the one where I want to fly the subs in cardioid over the stage, ~430 seats. Chapman Music Hall, is the big room, ~2,400 seats.

But yes, Williams is the theatre where we did our third day of the Smaart training.

 

[Lionel Miller]

Re: Bennett Subwoofer Array Articles and others....

Yeh I agree it is difficult to fly an end fire array. And it is very much dependant on clearance height above... However it is possible see attached pic courtesy of Meyer Training Program photos.

I don't know if the you can fly the M1D subs in a two facing forward one facing rear arrangement. You can with 700 and 600's so I imagine you could with the M1D. A quick skim of the info on the Meyer site didn't give an answer.