Subs for 4 piece pub bands

roundthebend

Our band has just changed drummer from electronic kit to acoustic. The rest of us play modelling kit straight into the PA. We use a pair of Alto TS412 tops. 

We've always hired a 12" sub from our rehearsal place to give the electronic kit some oomph. We're told that an acoustic kit might also be helped by mic'ing up the kick drum and going through the PA.

Now feels like the time to buy our own sub(s).

I'd like to match up the Alto kit. Should we go for 12", 15" or 18" sub? And would a pair be worthwhile, or just a single unit? Generally we play pubs with 50-150 people.

Roland

Bass frequencies aren’t as directional as higher frequencies, so you only need one sub. Which must come as a relief to budget and boot space.

Snags

We put the kick through our tops, although TBF they are 15" tops. I EQ it a bit on the desk to give it some more thump, and it's enough.

Chris_J

For kick reinforcement for pub gigs a single 15" would be my choice. Will add some thud and punch but be easier to cart about than an 18". Trust me, I have 18" subs and they're awkward.

Speaker pole with one of the tops above it, the other top on a regular speaker stand.

If you feel like you need more add another but chances are you'll be fine.

thomasw88

Chris_J said:

For kick reinforcement for pub gigs a single 15" would be my choice. Will add some thud and punch but be easier to cart about than an 18". Trust me, I have 18" subs and they're awkward.

Speaker pole with one of the tops above it, the other top on a regular speaker stand.

If you feel like you need more add another but chances are you'll be fine.

How do you do  cross over especially to the top not connected to the sub? 

thomasw88

thomasw88 said:

Chris_J said:

For kick reinforcement for pub gigs a single 15" would be my choice. Will add some thud and punch but be easier to cart about than an 18". Trust me, I have 18" subs and they're awkward.

Speaker pole with one of the tops above it, the other top on a regular speaker stand.

If you feel like you need more add another but chances are you'll be fine.

How do you do  cross over especially to the top not connected to the sub?   I have an eq unit that use to connect to a sub but if you’re using the sub for crossover  would mean you need a cable running to the other top?

Stratavarious

thomasw88 said:

thomasw88 said:

Chris_J said:

For kick reinforcement for pub gigs a single 15" would be my choice. Will add some thud and punch but be easier to cart about than an 18". Trust me, I have 18" subs and they're awkward.

Speaker pole with one of the tops above it, the other top on a regular speaker stand.

If you feel like you need more add another but chances are you'll be fine.

How do you do  cross over especially to the top not connected to the sub?   I have an eq unit that use to connect to a sub but if you’re using the sub for crossover  would mean you need a cable running to the other top?

The sub will very likely have stereo crossover.. so you can link both tops through it.  Then crank it and you can keep the vocals and mids clear.   So just need an extra long cable.  I’d aim for 15” and plenty of RMS power.. it should have a volume control to dial in some gut punch.

We use a single sub like that for some mid size venues in one outfit I play in.

Chris_J

I've no idea what the Alto subs are like performance wise but suspect they'll be fine for the size rooms you're talking about. The Alto 412 speakers you have look to have some dsp to work with the different Alto subs, so setup should be straightforward. The manual will guide you on how to set the dsp. Digital signal processing incase you were wondering. 

It should be as easy as going from your mixer left and right to your sub in left and right, then left sub out to the left top speaker and right sub out to the right top speaker.

1 sub plus 2 xlr cables and you're good to go. 

Rkphilpot

15" will be more than good enough, especially if you have capability to split the frequencies so only bass freq goes through the sub

Danny1969

Every active sub I've ever seen has its own low pass filter built in. So you can just use a pass thru from the tops or connect to the sub and use the pass thru to the tops. The actual low pass filter DSP is built into the amp module internally 

shufflebeat

The Alto has settings for use with subs. The “all buttons out for full range” suggests this is a straightforward high pass filter, possibly with frills.

I have a couple of 12” EV elx200-sp subs which I use under either Yamaha dxr8s or dzr10s, depending on the gig.

The band I worked with for the past few years had a Dynacord A series system, 12” on tops and 15” subs. When I swapped it out for the dzr10/EV12 rig there was no lack of volume/coverage, bass was much tighter, not quite so low but punchy.

Easy enough to carry one in each hand, but not for too long.