Cheap Line Array Project

[Phil82]

Hey,

Now that I'm enjoying my mini-statements it's time for a new project. This time I'm cooking my own recipe

I just bought 40 Aurasound NS3-194-16A from Madisound and intend to use them in a line array.

The driver is a 3", 16 ohms, 82 dB.
I intend to use 17 (yeah, odd number) of them in a tapered configuration.

Now, i calculated a few different wiring configurations and this one seems the best tradeoff for lower distortion and power handling. However, having never built a line array before and this combination being the only one that is odd numbered (all other are 16 drivers) I'd like to get some thoughts on this before i go through the pain of making 17 driver cutouts to finally end up using 16

My wiring configuration is 5-5-4-3: The two 5 series network are on the outside, the 3 series network is in the middle (at ear height) and the 4 series network has 2 drivers above the middle and 2 below.

Now, does any1 believe this could be too much power at the middle and give the array a near point source sound ? Or should i be more conservative and go with less power in the middle ?

Thanks

[Rick Craig]

Hey,

Now that I'm enjoying my mini-statements it's time for a new project. This time I'm cooking my own recipe

I just bought 40 Aurasound NS3-194-16A from Madisound and intend to use them in a line array.

The driver is a 3", 16 ohms, 82 dB.
I intend to use 17 (yeah, odd number) of them in a tapered configuration.

Now, i calculated a few different wiring configurations and this one seems the best tradeoff for lower distortion and power handling. However, having never built a line array before and this combination being the only one that is odd numbered (all other are 16 drivers) I'd like to get some thoughts on this before i go through the pain of making 17 driver cutouts to finally end up using 16

My wiring configuration is 5-5-4-3: The two 5 series network are on the outside, the 3 series network is in the middle (at ear height) and the 4 series network has 2 drivers above the middle and 2 below.

Now, does any1 believe this could be too much power at the middle and give the array a near point source sound ? Or should i be more conservative and go with less power in the middle ?

Thanks

Are you running them full-range?

[Phil82]

Are you running them full-range?

Almost

There will be a woofer in the mix, to relieve the small 3" in the lower bass region.
Haven't found the right candidate yet though

[captainobvious]

Hmmm, interesting. Sounds like you're in the same boat with me. I ordered 32 of the NS3-193-8A1 (the ones with mega xmax) for a line array project that I'll be working on once I'm finished my current build. After listening to a single driver I realized I was going to need a tweeter array as well because they just didnt have enough high end response. So I snagged a few BG NEO8's.
Good luck with your build!

[Rick Craig]

Almost

There will be a woofer in the mix, to relieve the small 3" in the lower bass region.
Haven't found the right candidate yet though

I would add tweeters and make it a 2-way and then add some subs.

[Phil82]

I'm hoping i can EQ the falling top end (at the cost of overall sensitivity) and not use tweeters.

I'll have to take some measurement before i can settle on that design choice though.

Adding tweeters would drive the price much higher than the current design goal, it's not out of the question, but i'll experiment a (near) fullrange setup 1st.

[Rick Craig]

I'm hoping i can EQ the falling top end (at the cost of overall sensitivity) and not use tweeters.

I'll have to take some measurement before i can settle on that design choice though.

Adding tweeters would drive the price much higher than the current design goal, it's not out of the question, but i'll experiment a (near) fullrange setup 1st.

If you curve them and taper the output like a CBT that will give you the best performance.

[Phil82]

If you curve them and taper the output like a CBT that will give you the best performance.

A very interesting concept, but pretty hard to build.
I wonder if a polygon faced CBT array would give a close enough result.