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I have a pair of Tannoy Mallorcans and a Crown CE1000 amp. Would these speakers work well if I used them for an Acoustic concert (Two mic setup, guitar and vocals)?

If you don't know these speakers look at them like large residential speakers (12" Woofer). Also does anyone have any idea what the wattage might be?

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zemlin Tue, 07/03/2007 - 20:07

200 folks outdoors? I'd say don't try it. Rent PA speakers. I'd be skeptical about your amp being big enough for an outdoor event. It will be close.

I did an outdoor show about a month ago and used powered JBL Eons which are bi-amped 400 watts each. I did fine, but I needed to be careful. Outdoor setups take a lot of power.

JoeH Wed, 07/04/2007 - 10:49

Good rule of thumb for outdoor sound: You ALWAYS need more than you think. It's really amazing how much sound simply dissipates out into the air and never comes back. It's totally unlike working indoors.

Small, semi-pro-sumer systems fail horribly, speakers sound wimpy, and amps burn out as folks drive them into clipping and overload. Get a pro system with lots of power (more than you think you'll need) and you'll be glad you did.

BobRogers Wed, 07/04/2007 - 12:47

It really depends on the expectations here. If you have 100 people intent on hearing every word, Joe is right. But if this is a neighborhood picnic situation where half of the crowd want to hang back a little way, use the music as background, and talk about how their tomatoes are growing a semi-pro-sumer system is just fine. People 10 ft away can hear fine. People 40 ft away like the fact that the music isn't interfering with their conversation. I've done several little outdoor picnics with a pair of JBL Eon G2-15s. Volume about 2/3 up. Board at -10db or lower.

DavidSpearritt Wed, 07/04/2007 - 13:47

JoeH wrote: Good rule of thumb for outdoor sound: You ALWAYS need more than you think. It's really amazing how much sound simply dissipates out into the air and never comes back. It's totally unlike working indoors.

Yes, working indoors provides the radiation of sound with so much reflection and reflective support, reflection off walls, roof, floor, objects, accounts for most of what one hears.

Outdoors, in the half free field, there is basically only a direct sound path. I was astonished how low the sound intensity was when speaking to a colleague inside an anechoic chamber many years ago.

When I go to restaurants I always look for an open window to sit next to, or a table outside. An open window has an absorption coefficient of 1 (100%), sound goes "into" it and doesn't come back, so if you are having an intimate conversation, and want to hear what your significant other is saying, without all the clatter, this is the place to sit.