High output main speakers.

H

Helge A. Bentsen

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Jan 19, 2011
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Oslo, Norway, Norway
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I have four Danley SH-50s that has served me well for some time now. They sound amazing but I'm getting into the type of gigs where I'm running out of headroom. I have enoungh in the low end(lab subs) but I'm considering some louder main speakers.

What else is there in the world of high fidelity, stackable point source mains that I should have a look at?
There's a lot of options in the world of line arrays or I can rent bigger systems when I need them, but I haven't tried anything that sounds remotely as good as the SH-50s. I just wish it had a bit more output :)

Btw. The RMS-limiter in a PLM14000 is really handy when you run out of headroom. I have it at 38 dBU and the amount of limiting you can have without any audible distortion is impressive.
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Like Silas said: SH46. Actually, in my personal opinion, I like their sound even better than the SH50! I have a pair in Copenhagen, and you're welcome to stop by anytime and listen.

*** Disclaimer: I'm a Danley dealer ***
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Helge Dr. Bentsen said:
I have four Danley SH-50s that has served me well for some time now. They sound amazing but I'm getting into the type of gigs where I'm running out of headroom. I have enoungh in the low end(lab subs) but I'm considering some louder main speakers.

What else is there in the world of high fidelity, stackable point source mains that I should have a look at?
There's a lot of options in the world of line arrays or I can rent bigger systems when I need them, but I haven't tried anything that sounds remotely as good as the SH-50s. I just wish it had a bit more output :)

Btw. The RMS-limiter in a PLM14000 is really handy when you run out of headroom. I have it at 38 dBU and the amount of limiting you can have without any audible distortion is impressive.
Click to expand...
Like others have said-the SH46 is way louder than the SH50.

The SH50 has a more HI-fi type sound-but some people prefer the more "in your face" sound of the SH46. Which can still be arrayed like the SH50.

The one thing you have to consider is how large can you "tolerate". There are much louder boxes available-but they are a good bit harder to move around.
 
Re: High output main speakers.

I'm definitely a Danley end user, fan, and dealer, but Turbosound Aspect may also be worth a look.

I should say +1 for the SH46's as well. I think that I had them sounding as good as ever at an outdoor festival over the weekend.

Jeff
 
Re: High output main speakers.

A quick look at spec sheets tell me that I can expect around 10 dB more from an SH-46 from roughly the same footprint. That is an advantage. Is the SH-46 also a passive box? Then I can reuse my amp racks and cabling :)

I like the KF850z, but it's bigger, 3-way active and doesn't sound as good as the SH-50. It definetly among the top contenders in the point-source world, but the sound of the Qx speakers is a bit better IMHO, so that is my EAW option for now. It's not as easy to use in a stacking application though.

Has anybody tried using SH-46 and SH-50s in the same array? I've done that with flown 850s and used 650 flown below for mid/near throw applications. Would a setup like this work with the Danleys?
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Yes, the SH46's are also passive. They're also smaller, lighter, and handle more power.

Two SH46's is easily as loud as four SH50's blocked together. The SH50's would have the edge in terms of low-frequency extension.

Jeff
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Ivan Beaver said:
The SH50 has a more HI-fi type sound-but some people prefer the more "in your face" sound of the SH46.
Click to expand...

I think it is somewhat inappropriate/unfortunate to mention the SH46 as being "in contrast to a speaker that is hifi-sounding", if that makes sense.
I could personally have some not too great associations to the phrase "in your face sounding", even though I agree it is fitting for the SH46.

And having said that, being a Danley dealer, I guess I can't go any further than to urge anyone to listen to the SH46s for themselves.
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Frederik Rosenkjær said:
I think it is somewhat inappropriate/unfortunate to mention the SH46 as being "in contrast to a speaker that is hifi-sounding", if that makes sense.
I could personally have some not too great associations to the phrase "in your face sounding", even though I agree it is fitting for the SH46.

And having said that, being a Danley dealer, I guess I can't go any further than to urge anyone to listen to the SH46s for themselves.
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Yes-terms can be very misleading. I did not mean "in your face" in a bad way-but rather that it is "forward".
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Helge Dr. Bentsen said:
A quick look at spec sheets tell me that I can expect around 10 dB more from an SH-46 from roughly the same footprint. That is an advantage. Is the SH-46 also a passive box? Then I can reuse my amp racks and cabling :)

I like the KF850z, but it's bigger, 3-way active and doesn't sound as good as the SH-50. It definetly among the top contenders in the point-source world, but the sound of the Qx speakers is a bit better IMHO, so that is my EAW option for now. It's not as easy to use in a stacking application though.

Has anybody tried using SH-46 and SH-50s in the same array? I've done that with flown 850s and used 650 flown below for mid/near throw applications. Would a setup like this work with the Danleys?
Click to expand...
A quick comparison between the 46 and the 50 (besides the basic spec sheet numbers).

They both use the same pair of 12" woofers.

THe 46 has 4 4" mids while the 50 has 4 5" mids. The mids are probably the strongest thing in both cabinets. To my knowledge-we have have never had to replace a mid in either cabinet number.

THe Sh50 has a 1" driver and the SH46 has a 1.4" driver.

The Sh46 has a narrower pattern-so even with the stronger HF-there is more level-due to less radiation angle to spread the sound out.

The Sh50 was designed to have a flat response in a single cabinet-while the SH46 was designed to have a flat response with a pair of boxes-so the mids and highs are not "pulled down" as much as in the SH50.

It was also assumed that the Sh46 would be used with subs-so the response was not "tuned" as low.

The end result is a much louder box.
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Helge Dr. Bentsen said:
Has anybody tried using SH-46 and SH-50s in the same array? I've done that with flown 850s and used 650 flown below for mid/near throw applications. Would a setup like this work with the Danleys?
Click to expand...
I would be very careful using different speakers in the same array-ESPECIALLY if they are trying to cover the same area.

The reason is the phase response. Just because they are both "behaved" does not mean that they are similar.

I was going to do a gig a couple of years ago and I knew it was going to be LOUD!. So I was going to use a Sh96 on the bottom and a pair of SH46's on top. Basically covering the same area-but the 96 would provide wider coverage up close-while the 46's would provide a loduer sound to back of the room (and be little further away from the people up close to provide a bit more even SPL).

While playing around in the warehouse-no matter what I tried-I could not get a decent alignment. Either I could get below 400Hz to sum well or above 400Hz. But not both at the same time. This was due to the phase response being different.

I ended up just using 4 46's per side-2 over 2-and it worked well-the cabinets were just loafing along. The subs were "out of gas" long before the 46's. This was doing 126-128dB SPL C-fast at FOH.
I used Sh50's as front fills-and that worked out well-as they were covering a totally different area than the 46's. I knocked the low freq out of the SH50s (there was plenty of that coming from the mains) to where the pattern control on the SH50 was keeping the sound where I wanted it.
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Thanks for your input :)

I might have to take Frederiks offer and have a few days off in Denmark later in the summer to listen on his speakers.
Right now I`m at the opera house in Oslo with my Sh-50s, they are seriously outperforming the Renkus Heinz pa installed here ;)
 
Re: High output main speakers.

For a totally different suggestion: D&B C4? Sounds good. Easily fly-able and stackable and there is a quite a lot out there second hand which makes for very good value buying...
 
Re: High output main speakers.

Me neither. But if you array them in the same way as you would with a pair of Sh-50s, there is a more troublesome transition zone between them, even if you do it according to the manufacturers recommendations. IMHO they are not as well behaved as the danleys in that regard as well as in terms of SQ.

I find that I like a lot of different D&B speakers in single or small array applications if you have the time to set them up properly and the space to use all their dispersion. I find them quite wide and uneven dispersion vise. I do however like the J-series, in my experience they array better and maintain a solid sonic character in big (20+ a side) arrays.

And all this is of course IMHO :)
 
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