ESS S-Line

[Evan Kirkendall]

I had the pleasure of mixing on Tom Manchester's "S-Line" this past weekend. The "S-Line" is a medium format line array designed and built by Tom. I'll let him get into the details of the box, I'm just here to share my experiences with the boxes.

The set up was 3 boxes stacked per side, with my 6 single 18's center blocked.

The S-Line was powered with Crown MA3600's and a Lake for processing. 3 boxes per channel in this case.

The venue is the infamous St. Johns Hamilton in Baltimore. It's basically a 600 cap multipurpose gym. I've brought everything from Carvin TRx to EV QRx into this room. I've probably done over 100 shows in the room, so I know what to expect.

First impressions:

It's probably the loudest PA I've ever brought into this room. I had no issues hitting 108dBA+ at FOH(roughly 45' back). The boxes only need a little EQ in the mid range to smooth out, and just a little boost in the HF to add some sizzle. They reminded me of a Clair i3 in terms of SQ.

I'm not a fan of ground stacked line arrays, but since the array was so short, it really wasn't a big issue. Coverage was very smooth and consistent. I believe the boxes are 140 degrees horizontal, and it actually came in handy. I didn't need to use front fills. They covered all the way down front without a problem.

Come show time, we had just over 250 in attendance. Not quite a packed house, but it was enough to deaden the room and really see what the S-Line could do. The MF/HF section of these boxes is very impressive! There's plenty of output, and it stays clean up to limit. The low section runs out of gas first, and I feel like an extra Mid-bass box would be a big help, especially in shorter lines. I was mainly digging into the limiters with the snare and toms. Other than that, the boxes had plenty of output for a rock show, and I'd have no issues with SPL even with a packed house.

The boxes sound very good all around. Playback had a nice hi-fi sound. Again, I compare them to the Clair i3, as it's the LA box I have the most experience with, and I absolutely love it. I feel like a line of 6-8 of these would be good for a few thousand people. I'd have no issues if I came across these boxes in a venue. They're solid performers. Oh, and they're light too. Stacking them was quick and easy. The hardware is simple to work with, and goes together quickly.

Tom's got a solid box. He just needs to build more so I can really beat on them! :lol:

Evan

 

[Silas Pradetto]

Re: ESS S-Line

I really, really hope I don't see truss rigged with ratchet straps....:twisted:

Interesting array design. Ports on the sides. Not sure of the implications? Grille foam is hiding the drivers, I'm very curious to see what's in there. Who developed the processing settings? Where did they do it? Who built the rigging? It looks like the rigging is only half-developed?

Wanted: ground stack bumper.:lol:

Re: pic 2, someone needs to learn how to run cables in a neat and professional fashion. Just sayin.:roll:

Overall, I think I like it.

 

[Evan Kirkendall]

Re: ESS S-Line

I really, really hope I don't see truss rigged with ratchet straps....:twisted:

Nope! There's spansets up there. The straps were just used to hold the truss up while I put the span sets up. There's no weight on the straps. Just ran out of time and forgot to take them down! :lol:

Interesting array design. Ports on the sides. Not sure of the implications? Grille foam is hiding the drivers, I'm very curious to see what's in there. Who developed the processing settings? Where did they do it? Who built the rigging? It looks like the rigging is only half-developed?

Wanted: ground stack bumper.:lol:

Re: pic 2, someone needs to learn how to run cables in a neat and professional fashion. Just sayin.:roll:

Overall, I think I like it.

Tom will have to answer those questions. He did all the design. I just did a little tuning and alignment day of show. And yes, I know the cabling is a mess. You can thank the interns! :lol:



Evan

 

[Rob Timmerman]

Re: ESS S-Line

Nope! There's spansets up there. The straps were just used to hold the truss up while I put the span sets up. There's no weight on the straps. Just ran out of time and forgot to take them down! :lol:


Evan

Nevermind that the truss appears to be hung 90 degrees from the correct way, and that the spansets are only attached to the top chords...

 

[Bennett Prescott]

Re: ESS S-Line

Nice to see a ground stacked line array not set at 0 degrees! You have any shots without grilles?

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line

Thanks for the review Evan. It's important to hear reports from engineers to better develop the box, and the fact that it passed the Evan Kirkendall Durability test means I think we have a winner!

So a little background on the S-Line design. In my shop we have about a half dozen trap systems ranging from plastic speakers on sticks all the way up to "big boy" stuff like D&B C4. With our line of work, it's not always particularly about having one large rig, but several high quality / power systems that can go out at the same time. I saw the need for a line array system that would be a good alternative to our large C4 trap system when the application called for it. As such it was a tall order to fill because the C4 rig sounds fantastic and is ridiculously loud, so anything that would be an alternative would have to live up to those expectations. The D&B Q was an attractive alternative, but very cost prohibitive. That's not to say it's not on our radar as a future purchase, but for now we just needed something to fill that void and would be affordable from our bank account.

But while we're discussing price, let me dispel a preconceived notion that I think a lot of people have about "DIY" projects. While this was more cost effective OVERALL compared to a Q rig or similar, it was not a budget project by any means. The total cost of drivers and waveguides in each cabinet is around $1500. They are all premium quality components from upper tier manufacturers. You will not find any stamped frame eminence or vintage ceramic compression drivers in this box. The (cash outlay) cost savings were realized by contributing a lot of labor to the research and construction in-house during the relatively slow winter months, and by the fact that we built a large number of cabinets in one shot, with basic tools we had on hand for good economy of scale.

As for the actual component loading and configuration, I am afraid that will have to stay a company secret. I will say it's nothing you can't buy off the shelf if that tells you anything Part of the beauty of the design is that it is a very simple box with really nice drivers and processing, so it's a relative cakewalk to get it sounding good. Why try and season the hell out of a McDonald's hamburger to get it to taste good when you can just buy a choice cut of steak?

To answer Silas' questions:

"Interesting array design. Ports on the sides. Not sure of the implications?"

That's an easy one. One of the criteria of the box is that it needed to truck pack in a 22.5x30 format on a wheel board. If we had placed the ports on the front baffle that would cause several problems. If you look at the placement of the handle, we would have to leave a 2" gap between the side of cabinet and the port tubes. All said and done that would burn up about 6" of baffle space which has several implications. The box would have an uneven weight balance and also be very wide and not fit the overall size criteria. If you could see the internal structure of the box with all the bracing, etc. you would see that the side is literally the only place to stick the ports. As for why the round ports? It's really easy to drill a hole with a hole saw and glue some pipe in there! A square port would add a lot of carpentry work.


"Grille foam is hiding the drivers, I'm very curious to see what's in there."

Aluminum, Copper, Neodymium, cone pulp ;-)

"Who developed the processing settings? Where did they do it?"

I developed the settings based on manufacturer recommendations, box design, physical alignment of the drivers, and a little bit of RTA work. The initial work was done at my shop and then fine tuned them based on the performance at a few shows we've had the boxes on. It took a few simple revisions, but what's in there now is pretty solid sounding. We'll continue to refine them if necessary.


"Who built the rigging? It looks like the rigging is only half-developed?"

The concept of the rigging and the initial designs are my own based on what I liked on other line array systems. The concept was something very simple and rugged, very strong but reasonably affordable to produce. The final material selection, testing, and fabrication was done by a local machine shop based on strength requirements. It's aircraft grade aluminum, stainless steel, high strength steel, and grade 8 hardware. You give up some features like quarter degree increment adjustments, but it's never really been a problem to get good coverage. It's fully developed and we've flown it several times.


"Wanted: ground stack bumper.:lol:"

Yeahhhhh haven't had time for that one. If you look at picture number 3, I knocked together a couple of flat pieces of plywood that have a 3/4" tall ridge along the front to keep the boxes from sliding forward, and a 2x4 with a beveled edge along the back to give the bottom box a few degrees of down tilt.

 

[Silas Pradetto]

Re: ESS S-Line

Tom, I saw on your site that you do have a regular flying bumper that looked nice. Congrats on the design.

What, would you say, would be the total value you put into each box once you were done? Include a good estimate of your labor time, if you could.

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line

Tom, I saw on your site that you do have a regular flying bumper that looked nice. Congrats on the design.

What, would you say, would be the total value you put into each box once you were done? Include a good estimate of your labor time, if you could.

I didn't keep real close track of my time involved, because a lot of it was sketching designs and ordering parts while waiting for dentists appointments, watching TV in the evening, etc. If I had to guess about 60 hours of pure design and parts ordering time, and about 15 hours per box of construction time. I have 8 boxes completed, with the ultimate goal of 12 total. Factoring my time and parts, I would estimate an equivalent retail value of $3500 / box.

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line

It's a Youtube Video so take it with a grain of salt, but at least you get a little taste of the sound quality before the Harford Sound Subs drown it out, lol.

Paradise Fears Cover "Payphone" - YouTube

 

[Matt Vivlamore]

Re: ESS S-Line

How much does each box weight?

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line

How much does each box weight?

Right around 70 pounds per cabinet. A nice rig we have done is 32' of downstage truss with a few Lekos and pars and 3 S-Line/ side off of a pair of L-16 lifts. We've done loud rock shows for about 2000 people in a ballroom reasonably comfortably with that rig.

Also works well in hotel ballrooms with 500 pound points, you can get 6 boxes and a small motor on a single point.

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line

What good would a system be without accessories? The S-Line system travels with the S-Line rigging and accessory kit. In addition to the flying grids, the kit contains:

-A bag of Pins
-A bag of Shackles
-A bag of selected spare parts for field repair if needed
-2' NL8 jumpers for all cabinets plus a spare
-NL8 Barrel connectors
-Digital Inclinometer for accurate grid angle setting
-3' & 6' Spansets
-3' Wire rope slings & large shackles
- Deck chain
-A custom meter system with attached NL8 connector that allows the resistance of all drivers in each box to be tested very rapidly


I've had the rig out on a number of local festivals the past few weeks and the guest engineer and audience reactions to the system have been so positive that I am starting construction of 2 more boxes!

 

[Helge A. Bentsen]

Re: ESS S-Line

Now all you need is a factory/assembly line and some marketing

I really like successful DIY-projects and this looks like one.

 

[Evan Kirkendall]

Re: ESS S-Line

Tom's S-Fill thread in the DIY section reminded me that I needed to update this thread! We took Tom's S-Line out for the ultimate test on NYE. We provided audio for 7 stages at this event, with Tom's S-Line heading up the main stage. If you're familiar with the Potomac Ballroom at the Gaylord Resort in DC, then you know just how big it is. Its roughly 300' deep and 100' wide. The main PA consisted of 6 S-line per side, and 8 d&b B2 subs. We also had 4 JBL VRX cabinets as delays. If this was a full on rock show, we'd be waaay short on PA, but since it was an event with the primary focus as getting drunk and hanging out, we were fine. :lol:

Mix position was less than ideal- far off to the side, but down on the dance floor, the system killed it. The coverage was flawless, and the system tech(me :lol) did a pretty damn good job aiming, aligning and EQ'ing the PA. It was roughly 102dBA on the dance floor and faded off to the mid 90's in the back where the bar was- which is pretty much what we wanted. I would have liked 2 more boxes per side to really get it done, but budget and weight restrictions left it what it was.

The rig sounded great. I ended up with a +3dB boost around 8k on the top cabinets to help get the HF to the back of the room, a few MF cuts down front to take some of the edge off, and some low mid roomy-ness, but other than that, it was pretty simple EQ work. Coverage was smooth between cabinets front to back, and side to side. Again, 8 cabinets would have helped get me a little more coverage in the back, but I was satisfied. The rig was giving it all she had toward the end of the night when the BE's were really laying into it, but everyone was happy, and there was no audible strain on anything. She stayed clean well into the limiters(which you can thank the Lake processing for).

I know Tom has plans to keep building more of these cabinets, and I have high hopes for them. We are a few revisions deep in the processor settings now, but with the involvement I have had on the DSP side, and Tom's carpentry abilities, these boxes are really starting to shine, and I think they'll be doing some larger rock shows this summer.




Evan

 

[Steve Milner]

Re: ESS S-Line

I had the chance to mix on this system this past summer w/ Tom providing for a Beer Festival here in DC. Although I was mostly covering monitor duty, (Brian Bolly was out front handling FOH mostly) I did mix a number of the opening acts out front, doing mons from FOH on Tom's M7.

First, putting the system together & striking it was really easy... we were ground stacking the boxes on-top of Tom's B2 subs (2x side) using Tom's previously mentioned stacking shim -plate. The cabinets are light enough, and narrow enough, that I could pickup, lift and handle single boxes easily enough. The rigging hardware is simply, intuitive and very easy to work with.

Once up and running, the system sounded really good, and got plenty loud outdoors for an audience that swelled to over 8k people each day. Due to the lack of budget to properly fly the rig, we were only really able to cover a few thousand people up close effectively without ripping their faces off... but this really was ok, as it was a beer festival, and we weren't trying to hit all 8k people with stupid rock levels all weekend. Properly flown, I'm sure we would have had the firepower to reach a good bit farther into the venue, without hurting those up close.

I'd really like to have a chance to work on these boxes again, properly flown, as the only limitations I ran into were all based on the promoter forcing us to ground-stack in such a deep venue. Otherwise, they were a pleasure to work with, listen to and mix on... I can't imagine anyone turning them down after giving them a listen. It will be really exciting to hear what Tom can get out of a longer line too when he gets more of these built. Pretty awesome stuff for a DIY project!

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line Big News!

Well the new custom grills have just arrived back from the fabricator and I just got done installing them on the line array cabinets. Since everything is now "complete" I thought I'd show off some product shots of the completed S-Line series. The concept of the S-Line series is a range of cabinets to meet the needs of my regional company for the festival / corporate / club market. They all feature "oversized" components for the class of speaker they fall into, so there is plenty of power and headroom in a small package. The boxes also all have very similar cosmetic design for a clean stage look.

The smallest in the series is the SL-1 box. It is a biamped 8"+1" box, 90x60 coverage pattern with all Italian neodymium drivers. The SL-1 is designed to be a dedicated front fill cabinet and I feel is a great compromise between low profile and high output. It nestles perfectly between wedges on stage and looks very tidy.

The next cabinet is the SL-2. It is a biamped 12" + 2" box using ceramic drivers and a fiberglass DDS horn. I finalized the DSP tunings last night and voiced it very similarly to the D&B C4, with which it shares the same model of high driver. This is a very hi-fi sounding box and packs a ton of power in a compact tripod mountable package.

And finally the original S-Line cabinet, the SL-3 of which we now have 16 cabinets. We've been using this box for a lot of high profile events around the area and have received many positive comments. We're very pleased with the performance.

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line Big News!

Here's a recent show we did with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. It was a very large park about a city block long and 2 city blocks deep. We did 5 cabinets / side and a single stack of 3 for delays about half way back. Coverage was excellent throughout the park even with a steady 25mph cross wind. Mixing the orchestra was a dream on this rig. Basically push the fader up and apply high pass if necessary, almost no EQ needed on any of the 16 inputs!

No pressure either, the guy in the khakis on the right is our state's governor with his wife

 

[Tim McCulloch]

Re: ESS S-Line Big News!

Tom, who did your grilles?

 

[Tom Manchester]

Re: ESS S-Line Big News!

Tom, who did your grilles?

I did the SL-1 and SL-2 grills using a stock perforated material. The SL-3 grills were done by a local machine shop, I think they subbed it out to a water jet facility.