I wanted to put up some pictures of various stages of our Disco over the years, (these will follow on the next part of the blog) some of these pictures date back many years so you can see how the setup has changed over time, the thing is with a Disco you have to keep moving forward when new things come out, the technology is always changing and so is the show, the lights seem to get lighter and more compact each year, but one thing you can not reduce in size effectively is speakers, yes I have seen the Bose systems of late and im not really impressed, these systems look like a couple of bean poles, maybe hard to describe here, so let me find you a picture...
Here are two typical setups using the Bose L1 speaker system, these are not my pictures, but just an example of two scenarios the systems may be used in, on the left is a small and very basic DJ setup (well not to my taste anyway) and above to the right is the Bose L1 being used in a live group application. My opinion on this system is its horrendously overpriced, and amazingly underpowered, whats somewhat obvious is simple dynamics to get a good solid bass response as used In Disco and club applications you need to move air, sound waves move through air, so by logik the larger the air surface you can push back and forth the more thump and volume units your be putting out, this is why nightclubs usually run a system of sub bass and top end, a duel system both delivering different audio frequency's, so whats all this supposed to mean to you, the man in the street, by simple mathematics the bigger the speaker enclosure (up to a sensible point) the better the bass response. As you can see the Bose L1 systems as often pushed by some wedding DJ's are sectional and quite compact, in fact they have a version called the Bose L1 compact in the range. To rectify the issue of the thin sound or midrange as its known coming from the broomstick speakers Bose have said we all need to use the Bose L1 Sub box, again considerably expensive (£2100 with system 2) so what we have now is a two part system, consisting of midrange and top (Tweeter) in the broomsticks and sub (bass frequency in the bins) Fantastic!!......Except any old school DJ will tell you two part systems have been standard in night clubs for years, a lot of good mobile DJ's also used a two part system consisting of say a 12" (Inch) top cabinet and a maybe 15" (Inch) Bass cabinet, to get the sound right the bass is giving you the thud thud thud (Belly Booms) while the top is giving you the vocals and midrange spectrum, its a system that works fairly well, unfortunately Bose decided to capatalise on simple mathematics and sell this very expensive system to rather naive DJ operators and groups.
These are pretty much a standard set of top speakers, the type most mobile Discos would use week in week out, they are wired to full range, which means they have a wide range of frequency response over the entire sound spectrum, top mid and bass, in standard configuration and for smaller venues and events these would be all that is needed for fairly decent sound.
To greatly improve the sound many DJ's will add the second part of the system as talked about above and that's of course the sub bass cabinet, (remember the Bose will need one to sound anywhere near half decent) In my opinion apart from being expensive as heck, the Bose system is quite inefficient without its sub bass unit, it is of course a lot lighter then a large sub and top speaker system, maybe that's the advantage..?
We use a two part system ourselves, consisting of a large 18" or 15" inch sub bass unit, and a top unit maybe a 8" or 12" inch unit, sometimes we also use an all in one full range cabinet, this of course is a lot simpler setup and suitable for village halls and small venues, amplification is important and we will usually use at least two amplifiers and carry a third for a spare, breakdowns are not common but well worth avoiding, getting the sound right and balanced for your event is very important, we at Atlantic Sound always make sure the sound is balanced and correct for your room, there is no way to just walk in throw some speakers up and think thats it, because it isnt, getting the sound colour right is very important if you want to have a fun filled night and get down on the dancefloor, I beleive the sound aspect of the show is without a doubt one of the most important aspects, I will talk about lighting in a later update, but for me sound is a must, and we will always make sure its the right sound for your room and event, there is nothing worse then walking into a room to the distorted sound of some cheap speaker system being pushed way beyond its rated power, what you and your guests want is a well balanced tone with good bass response at the right time, now lets dance..........
Atlantic Sound Disco's are providers of top quality entertainment in the West Sussex area, are you looking for a proper Mobile DJ who knows whats right for you, don't book a cowboy to save a few pounds, call Atlantic Sound Disco's and find out how our service is different to the rest, from start to finish we will provide and surpass your requirements for your special day.
Call: 01243 268781 or Mobile: 07979 846933 to have a friendly chat about any aspect of your event, we are not pushy, and are happy to give you free advise over anything you may want to know, I look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Kevin.
www.atlanticsound.co.uk
