killtone66 Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Hello - My band has been hired to play an event in a large park this summer. No pro sound provided so I'm bringing our Line 6 system (2 L3Ss, 2 L3Ts, 4 L2s and the board). I don't think the system is quite big enough to cover the park. The city we're playing for owns a bunch of powered Mackie subs and mains. Could I simply connect the Mackie subs to the line out on my subs and the Mackie mains to the line out on my mains to expand the system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewolf48 Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Yes.... but it is worth doing some tests first. The biggest potential issue with using speakers from different manufacturers is phase - if L3 and Mackie are out of phase with each other then they will cancel each other out (to some extent) and give you lower overall volume. You might be surprised as to how much power you have and how far it goes outdoors - we did a gig (and ran the PA for a couple of other bands) with a total of 2K of power amp driving the Bass players Subs (1K), Mids and Tops (other 1k), and apparently during our sound tests it was nice and clear half a mile away. Also consider is that Events in Parks are normally lots of things going on rather than being a music festival - so you don't actually need to cover the park; in our case we didn't get to run at any serious volume because we couldn't drown out the other stuff; so we set the volume to be heard at speaking volume 200yds away and that was plenty. Final consideration - you are outdoors, so perhaps stage has a cover but you should consider the weather, and the main PA speakers are generally the most exposed items. If there is a remote chance of rain do you really want your StageSource speakers getting wet? (I am in the UK so this is always a question!) Perhaps using the City owned speakers for the exposed locations covered by their insurance would be a more prudent option even if the sound is compromised a bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killtone66 Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 Thanks for your response! That phase issue is interesting - thanks for pointing that out. I think the city has had that problem before because they bought a ton of Mackie speakers with no real guidance so they are a random assortment of pairs. I've been to events where something sounded wrong and I'm now guessing phase was the problem. This is kind of a sprawling event and the park is dedicated to music so coverage will be important. I've done a lot of outside shows with the system but only needed to cover a relatively small area. I don't want to show up with too little and battle that all day while trying to perform. I am in Northern CA and its normally close to 100 degrees here (Fahrenheit) in mid July so rain should not be an issue. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rewolf48 Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Sound great. Our big July gig will be in a field, but we are fortunately playing to a marquee.... the beer marquee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killtone66 Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 Nice! Ours is a Rib Cook-off so plenty of great food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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