Peavey Versarray?

Re: Peavey Versarray?

Brandon Blakeney said:
LMAO.....It sounds like somebody didn't have the crossovers set correctly. We ran 6 a side with 6 subs center clustered for a year before we got more boxes and we could hit 112-115 C weighted at FOH at unity...in fact I was told to turn it down on several occasions.

BTW there are two versions of the VR112....there is a MKII version that has a duracoat finish and a much beefier ribbon that is supposed to have 50% more power handling and a few dB more output.

It is curious that that the 12" is crossed over at 5K on the presets that we use, however, it still sounds much cleaner than any compression driver boxes that I have heard.
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Doesn't surprise me you can hit 112dBC with 6 subs! The system I used was not set up incorrectly. I could hear the boxes breaking up, and giving it their all. 101dBA at FOH(about 40' back) was all she had. Any more and they'd be swapping some ribbons out...



Evan
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

I haven't heard the Mark 1 versions but I do have 8 of the Mark 2 boxes. There is only one preset. No safe or rock and roll modes and all that. Mid crossed at 2K. Apparently at the time no ribbon failures had been reported worldwide according to Peavey. May still be so.

Not saying there is anything wrong with the MK 1's but there is probably good reason they did a MK 2 version.
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

Hi Eric

Just a suggestion – In its day the Versarray was good box especially for the price, but have a look at some of the new stuff that’s available first. The bar has jumped up quite a bit in the last few years. You may find you need far less boxes to achieve the same SPL and the net cost isn’t that bad.

The Versarray is only rated 129dB peak for the lows, & 124 dB peak for the highs (version 2 may make about 4 db more for the HF but it’s not clear from the website) - that’s not much in 2012! http://peavey.com/assets/literature/specs/00584090_15.pdf

For example, the baby new JBL 4886 is rated to 136db peak. http://www.jblpro.com/catalog/support/getfile.aspx?doctype=3&docid=1453

We have just purchased some db Technologies T12s to do our non-rider stuff. From what Evan said (which is supported by the numbers above) its sounds like you would need about 3 a side to equal about 8 of the Versarray …FWIW the T12’s are powered and list at about $4K each (Google search for price).

There is also a fundamental problem with the Versarray – you cannot really use a reflex loaded 12 in driver past about 500Hz if you want serious line array performance, certainly not at the frequency we are talking about, it will work but you will pay a price (L-acoustics have a paper about this that I can’t find at the moment). As good as he is, not even Phil will be able to correct for this.
 
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Re: Peavey Versarray?

Eric Cagle said:
The other option I have considered in the same price range for this application that will work for me, as I had mentioned to Evan, is 4 KF650z's. I might actually use them during the off season for some of the smaller rooms and corporate type work I do during those months but most likely they will just be extras at that time also.

-Eric
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Eric... FWIW, I hear Phil Graham already has some pretty good DSP settings for a KF650 rig (with QSC PL amps and a DR260)....
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

A 20 box line array system is not JV gear, I don't care if its Nady.....We've done several national artists with our rig. JV gear is speakers on a stick, small trap systems, 1604vlz's, etc......Not VCA consoles and Flown Line Array rigs....
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

Brandon Blakeney said:
A 20 box line array system is not JV gear, I don't care if its Nady.....We've done several national artists with our rig. JV gear is speakers on a stick, small trap systems, 1604vlz's, etc......Not VCA consoles and Flown Line Array rigs....
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JV gear consists of things that would not be acceptable to national touring artists. Peavey is one of those. Doesn't matter how much JV boxes you have, it's still a JV speaker. ;)

(Nothing against you or your gear, just sayin'...)



Evan
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

Evan Kirkendall said:
JV gear consists of things that would not be acceptable to national touring artists. Peavey is one of those. Doesn't matter how much JV boxes you have, it's still a JV speaker. ;)

(Nothing against you or your gear, just sayin'...)



Evan
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And I'd actually argue that high-end trap boxes count as Varsity gear. Meyer UPAs, EAW KF, Fulcrum DX and FA, etc.
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

Evan, is there anything that Peavey could do to make their products acceptable to you? Put a $10,000 price tag on a box that has $1,000 worth of parts in it like a famous Three Letter Brand or will Peavey always rub you and the big shot FOH guys the wrong way?

The fact is that Peavey is not given the chance it deserves on the touring gear (QW being way underrated). I recently had a national artist's FOH engineer who works for Sound Image in Nashville tell me that he had never heard a Versarray rig before but that he really liked mine. Another national artist's FOH engineer who is also a studio engineer said "Man! this thing sounds great! and its Peavey??? Are you serious? WOW!"

You want to talk about Sh***Y? One of my competitors down in this region has a bunch of POS PM consoles and a pile of KF that probably half of the drivers need replacing but meets every rider that comes along...my rig sounds 100X better than that pile...
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

Brandon Blakeney said:
And again a thread concerning my gear gets moved to JV....Me and my stuff are just a joke.....yea ok....
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Saying that JV topics are a joke is a grave insult to the interesting and helpful discussion that goes on here.

I moved this topic to the JV forum because Peavey Versarray is not a Varsity product. There is nothing wrong with it, it obviously works very well for many people. However, it was not designed for the pro market, that is not how Peavey designs things. They build excellent products at competitive pricing for the MI and semi-pro market. The QW series (which was the second PA I owned), like the Versarray, are designed to be the Lexus to Peavey's otherwise Toyota lineup.

There's no point in being angry about it, I assure you I have no ill feelings towards you or Versarray. If you wanted to have a discussion about the LF impedance behavior of the Versarray ribbons, or perhaps even the polar response compromises inherent in the crossover settings, that would certainly belong in the Varsity forum. This topic, however, does not.
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

I've never seen, heard or looked at a Versarray cabinet, but this tread made me check it out on their website. I think that a lot of valid points against the 112 are obvious just reading their spec sheet, but the 212 looks a lot better on paper.

So why not buy that box? It actually looks like something that can be used with success.
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

Helge Dr. Bentsen said:
I've never seen, heard or looked at a Versarray cabinet, but this tread made me check it out on their website. I think that a lot of valid points against the 112 are obvious just reading their spec sheet, but the 212 looks a lot better on paper.

So why not buy that box? It actually looks like something that can be used with success.
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I would love to have the 212s :) they use them on the Jagermeister stage for some pretty big metal bands
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

I think we've had this discussion before, but for old time's sake...

Peavey has made gear with specific feature sets and price points for decades, in fact Hartley's biggest sin might be that he made versatile gear affordable.

The low cost of entry meant that a lot of folks that didn't have the experience, training or chops to be a local or regional sound company became such firms anyway. It was the misapplication of products and lack of support (or even a clue in some cases) from these firms that put "NO PEAVEY" on riders. You experience a kind of a reverse guilt by association, or paying for the sins of the fathers. But as you know, there are some firms that have 3-initial systems that are partly clueless and/or have poorly maintained rigs. It is presumed that the higher cost of entry is less of a psychological barrier to those who "do things right." Some folks quit spending after the rig is delivered, and that's *not* right.

In marketing professional products, brand placement is every bit as much a factor as consumer branding. EAW, JBL, TurboSound, EV, etc all have loyal followings that transcend the acoustic performance of their products. Those followers are the BEs, system engineers, system owners, facility owners/managers with installs, etc who depend on high level support and demos from the Mothership. That level of service comes with the brand and its price tag, and it's a level of service that Hartley is unwilling to add to the cost of his products.

So that's why there is not much recognition or acceptance of Versarray or Peavey above the local provider level.

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc
 
Re: Peavey Versarray?

Brandon Blakeney said:
And again a thread concerning my gear gets moved to JV....Me and my stuff are just a joke.....yea ok....
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I honestly don't care if this thread (that I started) gets moved to the basement under "Janitorial Supplies" as long as I am able to get the information that everyone here has given. That is one of the reasons I come here and also donate to this forum every year. I wanted some recent opinions of the VRay so I would know what to listen for and what to expect. I did not hear anyone say their VRay stays in the repair shop most of the time. If it will work for me I will buy it. If not I will put a few more dollars up and get the KF650's. Either way I will make money this year on this rig.

Your stuff is very cool and your websight has some great pics. Don't take anything personally. It is really not about ego. Your opinion on the VRay counts for me because you use it for similar types of events and larger ones than I need it for. Everything is application specific in this field and either it will work or it won't for any given deployment. It is not a Vertec. The folks selling it moved up to a Vertec. I would like to have a Vertec and was ready to buy some boxes but it did not make financial sense to do it this year. If it were about ego I would be looking at a Milo or something but it would not make me one penny more in my market this year and I would have to sign my life away for several years to get it.

Just for the record Evan does the JV thing too. He owns and makes money with Mackie gear. If you really want to pick at him remind him that he once bought Carvin new :)
 
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