Trouble with PA system!?

[BradLyons]

Originally Posted by UncleMark

Ok so I have these PA speakers:

Pair Powered Speaker | Powered 12" Speaker | Powered 12" PA Speaker | Powered 12" DJ Speaker | Powered Pro Audio Speaker | Active Speaker

Don't bash 'em till you try 'em! They're good speakers, nice quality, and a local company.

My problem and question is this: I have these two powered speakers and they have a peak or limit LED on them. I have cranked up the volume relatively high, until the LED starts flashing.

Now at a close distance they are pretty loud and sound great, but not as loud as you would expect 2 mains should be.

I am considering adding a sub-woofer into my setup. I have been told you will give your mains more headroom and that will allow them to reach a higher level before peaking. So will a sub give me more room to boost the speakers and not hit the limit light?

And to top of the discussion. I don't have any experience in setting up a PA system with a sub-woofer. These are all powered speakers, including the sub. How does this setup work? Do I connect the subwoofer to the mains by the output on the mains? DO i need a crossover to get the effect I am looking for?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. You sound guys and PA extraordinaires...

Not knowing these models or anything I'm going to use the Mackie SRM450 as an example..... Like all bi-amped active speakers there are two amps built in, one for the HIGHS and one for the LOWS. In the case of the SRM450 the highs have 100-watts while the lows are 350-watts (it might be 150/300, I forget) but the point is that the low frequency is generally where the limit is so to speak. Pairing those mains up with a powered subwoofer technically turns your system into a 3-way system, but also gives you that thumping low-end and much louder as well, which is what you want. When it comes to high frequency it doesn't take nearly as much as you might think---however low frequency is what drives the music and therefore you can easily go through 1,000 watts of bass :-) So the answer is yes----get a sub(s) and you'll have more perceived headroom. Try it out at least, let your own ears e the judge.

[UncleMark]

Thank You. That was extremely helpful and to the point.

Now for a basic question of how all of this works, is setup and put together. From my mixer I have balanced lines into both of the speakers. There are male and female XLR ports on said speakers. To hook up an Active Sub, do I take the XLR from the speaker into the sub-woofer? I'm sorry if this seems basic or I am confusing you.

[BradLyons]

Originally Posted by UncleMark

Thank You. That was extremely helpful and to the point.

Now for a basic question of how all of this works, is setup and put together. From my mixer I have balanced lines into both of the speakers. There are male and female XLR ports on said speakers. To hook up an Active Sub, do I take the XLR from the speaker into the sub-woofer? I'm sorry if this seems basic or I am confusing you.

I'm glad it made sense because I just woke up and didn't know if I was still awake or back in bed! LOL With an active sub they will have crossovers built-in. Simply patch from the mixer to the sub and out of the sub into the mains. However I do suggest something like a DBX DRIVERACK series product either way---it just does soooooo much and is such a useful product.