Reggae Sound set up NEW help

Looking to set up a basic sound system with a view to expand later Consisting of: 

2 / 3 Scoops / Subs 

Upper bass

Mids 

Tops 

Questions as follows: 

1/ What connections are needed for the speakers / How are the speakers linked for Sub / Mids / Tops from the amps 

2/ What Crossover do I need - where can they be purchased 

3/ How is the Pre-amp connected to the amp or speakers 

Many thanks 

Probably best to answer these in reverse order, partly cos it matches the signal flow & that makes my brain happier and partly because one may influence the other, as you'll see shortly ;-)

 

2: See above, depending on the model of preamp you choose, you may already have this built in. If not, crossovers come in a range of types but for a 4 way system you'll probably be looking at a DSP based system. Anywhere selling mainstream PA gear will have some options. Behringer DCX2496 is king of the entry level models, though for a 4 way rig you'd have to get creative as it only has 6 outputs - typically that means you'd have to run your subs and kicks/upper bass in mono rather than stereo. The dBMark DP28 sold at Blue Aran is probably the cheapest 8 output option, which would let you do all 4 bands in stereo. The outpus from the crossover/DSP would again connect to the amp inputs via standard XLR cables.

1: Connecting amps to speakers is typically done with cables using SpeakOn connectors. These come in a variety of sizes from 2 core, which an only carry one signal, up to 8 core which can carry all 4 ways in one cable from your amp rack to your stack. 

If you go 2 core, the connecting is dead simple: output of sub amp to input of sub; output of kick amp to input of kickbin etc etc. This does mean running 4 cables out to the stack every time you set up though. It also runs the risk of bad things happening like if you accidentally connect the output of your sub amp to the input of your tops - bye bye tops in very short order!

Using the 8 core cable allows you to only run one cable out to the stack but you have to set it up with a bit of thought in the first place. You'll need to set up a patch panel on the amp rack that connects the outputs of each amp to an NL8 socket, and you'll need to install appropriate connectors into your speaker cabs to let you link from one cab to the next using shorter cables to hook them all up. That normally takes the form of having 2 connectors on each cab, wired in parallel so the second connector allows the signal to pass through in addition to powering the cab itself.

Note that all of the above assumes using an active crossover that operates using the low voltage that exists in the signal chain before the amps - this option allows far more precise control of the integration of the sound from the various boxes in the rig. Passive crossovers do exist that allow you to use fewer amp channels by splitting the signal after the amps, but these are not well suited to operating at low frequencies (ie not good for subs/kicks really) and don't offer anywhere near as much control of the sound, so I would not recommend going that route for your rig.

HTH,

David.

Esc4pe wrote: Running subs and kick in stereo? I was always told that bass was panned to the centre so it was only necessary to stereo tops. Is this not true??

Anyone can produce a tune with panned bass and kick (e.g bass only in the right channel, kick only in the left channel)

So yes, most music is mixed with the bass frequencies panned center but that's far from a hard rule.

For simplicity sake (less processing, less amplification, less cabling, etc) many sound system operators sum the LR channels for the  bass cabs to play mono. Their is no universally accepted way of doing things, opinions on the matter may vary.

Also most "traditional" reggae systems play the full stacks  in mono, for various reason, I'd say mostly because

- when playing in "unconventional" venues, where the number of stacks can be odd, or they are not symmetrically placed so most people won't be in the center of the stacks. In this case playing mono makes more sense.

- most (all?) reggae preamps are mono and most sounds play with preamp

- it's simpler overall