Anybody on here using BFM designed PA?

[JPJ]

The band I play in is a five-piece rock covers band, playing a variety of gigs from small pubs to large social clubs, bike rallies etc. I am thinking of building two DR280's to couple with two Tuba 24's (at 24" wide) to provide a small but powerful three way system. I'd want to run the full band through the PA including drums, 2x guitars, bass & a couple of vocals (1 main, 1 backing).

Anybody else running a BFM speaker array for PA duties?

[Moo]

[quote name='JPJ' post='616426' date='Oct 4 2009, 12:36 PM']The band I play in is a five-piece rock covers band, playing a variety of gigs from small pubs to large social clubs, bike rallies etc. I am thinking of building two DR280's to couple with two Tuba 24's (at 24" wide) to provide a small but powerful three way system. I'd want to run the full band through the PA including drums, 2x guitars, bass & a couple of vocals (1 main, 1 backing).

Anybody else running a BFM speaker array for PA duties?[/quote]

I have a full BFM PA which I use for P.A. hire. I also have built a pair of 'normal' 12 + Horn cabs for band gigs which I am playing in.

If you are doing large gigs where you need a full subs and tops rig, then you also need a sound engineer, because they can be complicated to set up, and have a very clear and accurate sound - which will show up all of you and your bandmates mistakes or shoddy technique or mixing (Which I hate doing whilst playing).

My BFM Rig is 2x DR200, and 2XTitan39. I would advise against using Tubas for band work. They are designed for DJs who need extension down to 30hz. Most bands do not need that. The subs are mainlly for kick drum, which is the 50-100hz range. The titans are louder than Tubas in this range.
If you do outside gigs, then you need to double the number of subs, because the frequency that horn subs can reach down to depends on the mouth area. Indoors the mouth can be extended by putting them in a corner, outside, you just have to have more cabs to reach the required mouth area. (this is another reason why the titans are louder than the tubas)

A DSP (Digital signal processor) Is a must have for a BFM Sub / top system. These cabs are designed for maximum efficiency, this means that there frequency respose is not flat, and needs 32 band eq, and crossover with delays to work. The chaepest way to do this is the DBX Driverack which are arround £350. Belive it or not (I Don't ) The behringer crossover and Digital EQ combo, which are linked digitally, apparently sound better than the Driverack, and have moe flexibility. The behringer combo is more expensive than the driverack, and you have to return a few before you find one which works.Your engineer will also need to know how to use it, to set up the P.A. in each venue, and will also need 1/2 hour in the venue with no noise, and no people in before the gig to set it up. This is why this type of set up is not suitable for pubs, and why I do not use it when playing in my band.

Hope this helps.
Moo.

[Hamster]

I'm pretty sure David L Perry used a BFM rig for some time? - try a PM to him