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Your First System

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Young Croc
Young Croc


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bams Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 June 2018 at 8:24pm
my first OWN speakers were Stage accompany c29s, but the first rig was at our youthcentre.. a velleman mixer, jb systems turntables, four 3 wayspeakers from the fane book and a folded Horn from the same book, 18” fane collosus loaded. No sub near the monster but two classrooms away everything came off the wall. The tops kept blowing their bullets everything usura- open your mind was played so that 12” got banned until the same started to happen with get-a-away from maxx..
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Old Croc
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GAZ. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 June 2018 at 7:04pm
If I remember rightly very first sound was about 8 big old hifi speakers powered by a Ferguson amplifier I think it was, and part of a broken midi system. Music came from a Ferguson turntable, and later a portable CD player. Lighting consisted of a pluto ropelight, and 4 par 38 downlighters that were made into a wooden box, plus 4 R80 spotlights that were fixed to a piece of scaffold board. There was a device made from a motor unit which I think was from some sort of kitchen food mixer. It had 4 microswitches that were wired up to the lights fixed around the rotating disc that was on this motor with a bit cut off it so it pressed the microswitches as it went round to “chase” the lights! There was also a couple of orange flashing lights that were “borrowed” from local roadworks too! This lot was only for friends party’s we did, never played out back in those days.
100% Earth Moving Bass
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote IainB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 June 2018 at 9:47pm
First system would have been built around a realistic ssm-2200 a couple of tandy turntables (and probably an amp) and a set of Dunstable Sound and Lighting 15" full range speakers, probably late 80s / very early 90s Smile those were the days! 
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Old Croc
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mini-mad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 June 2018 at 10:43pm
Pair of jamo 3way jobbies. 8.. maybe 10" bass driver... some no name brand mosfet amp that we had to drive down to the coast to buy in the late ish 90s. A soundlab shitty 4 channel mixer with a couple of home hifi CD players and a dodgy Mic...

Lights were borderline bugger all and we carried around about 150 cds with all sorts on. Within a few weeks one of the tweeters blew and it sounded lop sided. No tripods or anything. We stuck the speakers on tables... on chairs on tables.. on beer crates on tables... it's was fun
If it sounds like a gorilla is trying to escape, turn it down.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote partya Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 June 2018 at 2:48am
My first non-domestic set of speakers were Pyle PADH212s, which seemingly you can still buy!

'7 way, 800 watts RMS heavy duty speaker'. 

Putting 800 watts into them blew all of the 12" drivers and all of the piezos on one box. A relatively expensive lesson on cheap speakers and false advertising.....
Turn it up! Turn what up?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote knet94 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 June 2018 at 3:35am
My first system circa 1977, was very hi-fi consisting of 2 x Pioneer PL12D turntables, an Audiotronic's amp pre-amp section into a Hitachi 2 x 400 watts power amp feeding 4  Wharefedale Airedale speakers. Fantastic sound but totally lacked the spl required for the disco work I was getting, so was constantly blowing drivers. Moving towards more PA type equipment I always tried to keep the system sounding as hi-fi as possible over all the years of change.
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Young Croc
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote APW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 June 2018 at 10:46am
My first system (mid to late 70s) had a homemade rotary mixer that used mullard PL1184/2 and PL1183/2 modules (http://www.electrojumble.org/data/mullard_lp1180-1402.pdf); it was only rotary as I didn’t have a clue how to make neat slots for faders!! The turntables were a pair of modified BSR P128’s.

At first we only used a hi-fi amp and speakers but quickly moved to the Maplin 150watt mosfets modules.  Next we purchased a 2nd pair of the Maplin mosfet modules and a couple of bridging modules. The bridging modules caused nothing but problems so we ditched them and designed our own. Then we changed all the driver transistors on amp boards for higher voltage versions,  changed the outputs for 2 pairs of 2SJ50 & 2SK135 per module and upped the rails to about 65Volts, the amps would then do over 500watts/channel  and were able to drive 4ohm loads despite being bridged.  I had no problems getting large Toroid transformers as my best mate was doing his apprenticeship with ILP, although their amp modules were utter junk and usually failed spectacularly their transformers were extremely good.  We later started bi-amping and used BK electronics amps for the mid-HF cabs.

This homemade amp was in service until the late 90’s when I purchased my first Crest amps.

Speakers were mcKenzie studio C15-400 on bass, Studio C10-200 mids and two Motorola  KSN1025 rectangular piezos  per side.

First lighting control was a Tuac chaser and a Pulsar 3 channel light organ, I cannot find any info on the Pulser however it was just a black box with a bulging on the top and power going in… I believe the same unit was also sold under the Fal brand. Later we had a Pulsar 4000 and also a 4 x 4 matrix lighting controller, I cannot remember who made it. Finally (late 80s) and before going DMX we had a Light Processor commander and dimmer/switch packs, again I cannot find any info on this piece of kit, It was primarily a nightclub lighting controller and I suspect they were all wrecked many years ago..



Edited by APW - 05 June 2018 at 2:54pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jbl_man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 June 2018 at 11:32am
Makes fascinating reading this thread..if only we had all taken photos back then..but of course that would have involved going to the chemist to buy a film, taking the pics, going back to the chemist with said film,waiting for the fat miserable assistant to fill the form in, hand you a receipt, and then wait three days for your fuzzy grainy prints to arrive back....usually a disapointment when you saw them too.
Be seeing you.
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Old Croc
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hemisphere Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 June 2018 at 12:16pm
Originally posted by jbl_man jbl_man wrote:

usually a disapointment when you saw them 
Depends what the grainy prints were of, know what I mean? Nudge nudge wink wink.
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Old Croc
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote James Tengo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 June 2018 at 12:16pm
Originally posted by APW APW wrote:

First lighting control was a Tuac chaser and a Pulsar 3 channel light organ, I cannot find any info on the Pulser however it was just a black box with a bulging on the top and power going in… I believe the same unit was also sold under the Fal brand.
The mighty pulsar zero 2250? http://www.karillon.com/Articles/pulsar/2250lf.jpg
.
Originally posted by APW APW wrote:

 before going DMX we had a Light Processor commander and dimmer/switch packs, again I cannot find any info on this piece of kit, It was primarily a nightclub lighting controller and I suspect they were all wrecked many years ago..
I remember the Light processor Q Commander, but that was dmx, and was using them in the late 90’s. 


Edited by James Tengo - 05 June 2018 at 12:19pm
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Young Croc
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote APW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 June 2018 at 12:20pm

Hi James, I've just found that and yes, it was the Zero 2250.

 

The commander I had was much earlier and NOT DMX, it was a 4U 19" thing that was basically 4 x 4 channel chasers and a 8 channel switch bank, the whole thing was programmable.



Edited by APW - 05 June 2018 at 12:41pm
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Old Croc
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SamV Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 June 2018 at 2:09pm
When I were 13 I built my first cab, it was a coaxial design of sorts, a 15" Goodmans Axiom with a 12" McKenzie built into a box which was made from the cupboard my mum was chucking away and some paper mache, none of it joined together perfectly and it was gappy as hell and after the 6th rebuild it sound fantastic. It was powered off a Hitachi HA150 amp IIRC. The box was a bit of an odd ball which to this day I have no idea how to describe it. It was a box within a box, the inner box was a rudimentary horn I suppose which the McKenzie fired into, then that sit inside a bigger box, with the Axiom on the outside firing into it but then folded back into the first horn. It went loud and everyone loved it, apart from the old lady who lived downstairs. But when summer came round we carried it downstairs to the big shared courtyard and run a very long chain of power extensions back home and everyone would come round and chill and dance. Ah good days. I'll do a sketch and post it up. The internet wasn't really around and I knew nothing about speakers but it was fun.
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