Chienmortbb

I have bought many K&M stands in the past, in fact, I have a small K&M boom arm on my Studiospares stand. I was going to buy a Konig and Meyer stand, but they are out of stock everywhere. I finally settled for a Gravity stand. https://www.gravitystands.com/en/products/microphone-stands/12182/ms-231-hb?c=611 First impressions, good. The clutch mechanism is great, smooth action but firm when released. Attaching the base was not easy, but once attached, it was solid. So far I am happy and it cost about half the cost of the best K&M stand. It is designed and engineered in Germany, but there is no indication where it is made. I will report back once I have used it a few times.

A’re you trying to annoy me?

When I started playing, there were Tuning Pegs on many stringed instruments, but on electric guitars there were machine heads. There were no "Tuners" we used pitch pipes and our ears. You can tell this on some recordings from the 60s and even 70s. Now we have electronic Tuners, people insist on calling machine heads tuners. You can call a dog a cat, but do not expect it to catch mice.

I love the story of why Strowger developed the automatic telephone exchange.

I have a reasonable Studiospares one hand mic stand. However, we are often restricted in stage space and four tripod bases is a headache. I want to buy a round based stand, but it must have a good, easy height adjustment. Obviously, a one hand from K&M is the gold standard, but what is everyone else using?

The power amp does but the Valve preamp is most certainly not Class D, it is probably Class A.

Agreed. A little on a plug inserted and rotated. I remember that you could buy dummy plugs that were slightly abrasive, but I have never used them myself.

An amplifier will be able to provide a certain voltage and a certain current. As a general rule, the power at 4 ohms (or lower) will be limited by the available current and at 8 ohms, the power is limited by the voltage available. For example, 500W into 4R (R is the correct abbreviations for ohms) is, 500/4=125. That is the current squared, so the current is just over 11 amps. At 8R, 250/8=so the current is 5.6 to get the voltage, 8Rx5.6Amps=45V approx. So the power supply is capable of a voltage of approx 45V and 11 amps. That is basically a 495watt power supply. All good. If am amp is 500 watts into 4R and say 300 watts in to 8R, then the power supply can only supply 11 amps. If the power supply has a voltage supply of say 49V, then we achieve the 300 watts into 8R. The amplifier is current limited at 4R, in that the power supply cannot supply any more current. Now, the actual voltages will change depending on the topology of the amps, so please do not criticise the maths. A good old class A/B amp will usually run on symmetrical rails, so will be powered by approx +49V and -49V. Some class D amps using BTL or PBTL topology will work on a single voltage rail, but the same principle applies. The power supply will be a determining factor in the overall power output of the amplifier at different impedances.

I have been looking too, I have a Soundcraft Ui16 but having seen the lack of support from Behringer and Soundcraft/Harmon/Samsung, I have been impressed with what I can see of Allen and Heath. I am looking at the CQ20R, but if you want physical faders then you may need to go up the range to the Qu or Sq ranges. There are nice offerings from Zoom amongst others with faders.

Those were my thoughts exactly, but as I have no real idea of the quality or otherwise of power in the US or whether it varies State to State. I did have one amplifier where the overvoltage protection was set for 240V, but our mains voltage, at my house, is usually 245V. Luckily it was a prototype I was checking, and the production units were fine up to and beyond 253V AC.

I had a few hours to kill while herself was going around the Range, Matalan, Pavers and Dunhelm. So popped into Absolute Music. I was moseying around the speaker display when a keen salesperson asked if I would like a demo. So off we trotted to the biggest rehearsal room with a pair of HH TRE 1201s and a pair of RCF ART 912s. I tried some of my favourite tracks on both, at medium then loud volume. At medium volume there was very little to choose, as the volume was increased the RCFs kept the high-end clearer and more defined. I could feel, and I believe hear, cabinet resonances in both speakers, although more so in the HHs. The RCFs are bigger and heavier, so I suppose that would be expected. Were the RCFs worth almost twice the price of the HH? Clearly, it does take a lot of money to get small improvements, but whether the extra cost is worth it probably depends on how big your bank balance is. The HH are £299 and the RCFS £550. Either would be more than adequate for vocals only and work fine with a sub.

I doubt whether the mains at a venue could damage your amp. Can you explain? UK mains power is rarely "dodgy". As I understand thugs, in the USA, this was not always the case, hence the creation of power conditioners. I am sure that @agedhorse or @Passinwind could correct me on that.

Most of the brands I was thinking of, Yamaha, RCF, QSC for example have what I call mid-priced speakers at the lower end of their ranges. I would define that as £400-600 region. I would define budget as sub £300. So for QSC K12.2 is £949 while the CP12 is £611. Yamaha DZR12 £1100 while DBR12 is £439.

The Barefaced 10 range are deliberately coloured, sound wise. The LFSys cabs tend to have a substantially flat response, what you put in, you get out. I have gigged Silverstone and Monaco. The Silverstone has more bass but in most venues, I was cutting the bass on the amp or in a pedal to tame the boom. The Monaco, on first hearing and coming from the Silverstone seems a tad bass light but it has plenty where you need it. The difference is subtle but I rarely touch the EQ when using my Monaco, leaving the amp set flat. I believe that the Monaco (and 10”Monza) actually go lower than the Silverstone I would happily gig either but is the transition from Barefaced 10s to might be a little easier with the Silverstone, sound wise. I am seriousley thinking of the newer 10” Monza ( should it be Monzter?). Similar to the Monaco but in a lighter 10” version. You lose a little in sensitivity but as I use it with amps that can push 350+ watts into 8 ohms, that would not be a problem.

OK two questions. Brands like Yamaha, RCF and more recently QSC have speakers i their ranges that cater for different price points. Has anyone compared the mid-priced speakers with the higher end offerings from these brands? Taking about some of the other brands, do their top end speakers compete with the lower priced offerings from the market leaders? I would love to hear an HH TRE against a Yamaha DBR. A Wharfedale Typhon against an RCF ART 7 series. Of course, not all brands have the same sizes, IN some the smallest is a 10 whereas in another it is an 8.

Have a look at @stevie's LFSys Monza. You will save a bit too.

Alas, most of these Fare East IEM systems are based on US available frequencies and are not legal here.

I used to play bass for an Open Mic night, and it was suggested that I got an acoustic bass. I looked at several, including Washburn, Martin and others, None really worked without amplification even against two acoustic guitars. So I got a semi acoustic. As I remember it, Washburn originally produced the acoustic bass for the MTV Unplugged series. Of course, they were always plugged in to both FOH and Broadcast sound mixer.

You REALLY need to get out more, preferably to see a therapist. 🙂