need soundsystem advice

[middleWave]

i've tinkered around throwing events for the past few years. my system is decent but i am moving from china to taiwan soon, so it's time to upgrade the system when i start anew.

currently i have the following (all bought cheaply 2nd-hand here in china):
2x double 18" subs, roughtly 1000w a piece.
2x 15" mids, 400w a piece
2x 12" mids, 300w a piece.

i like the balance of sound that this gives me, but i am ready for something more, with more bass. i have a friend here in china who can help me build whatever i want, pretty much (quality and durability is a concern). i'll either do that and ship it over from china, or invest in higher quality gear after my move. alternatively, i'm looking at the cerwin vega folded horns, either the 18s or 21s. not sure about the tops.

so basically the question is a) custom build whatever i want in china or b) buy reliable gear for a price.

i will be running weekly as well as monthly event series. big bass crunch is a must. budget is a concern.

any suggestions?

 

[ShaqR]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but i've been wanting to build a sound system for a good while. do you have any decent information on building one, and what goes into building one? Speakers, amps, mixers ect?

 

[Rezin]

Have a look on speakerplans forum, plenty of information to go through on there.

otherwise

I'd recommend building your own system or buying second hand if you're on a tight budget, your money will stretch alot further than if you buy brand new from established audio companies.

As for what goes into building a system, you're going to need speakers ie. subs and midtops, possibly kick bins if you want to go 4 way. reflex cabs are simpler and versatile, horns will give you more volume and deeper bass but you need bigger stacks to sound good. There are lots of different speaker designs and what you want will depend on what kinda events/parties you'll be doing and what venues.

You will need amplifiers to power the speakers, how many you need will depend on how big your system is going to be. It's common to have an amp for your high frequencies, another for the mids, and one for the subs and that's just for a basic 3 way system. Larger systems can have several amps in each frequency range.

You're also going to need a crossover or loudspeaker management system to split the signal so that the correct frequencies are going to the right speakers ie low frequency to the subs, mid frequencies to the mids, highs to the highs.

That's the basics of what you need, you can get by with that and turntables/cdjs and a dj mixer. If you want to get more advanced you can get desk mixers, limiters, compressors, power distros, all sorts of expensive stuff.