I sold my Z5500 system to a friend who bought them for his son's Play Station game console. I just couldn't get into them sound wise. The lack of Mid-range & Boomy Bass was the deal breaker for me. I am now looking at FBT & Yorkville powered speakers

[This message has been edited by John DiLeo (edited 04-23-2008).]

I suppose that swapping the middle speaker and changing the cables would make the Z-5500 much more gig-worthy.

In the senior circuit that I am doing, sound quality matters much more than appearance. I am sure that the appearance of the Z-5500 would not be an obstacle to a musical career.

For myself, I prefer the ruggedness, simplicity, and yes, looks of two powered speakers.

Beakybird

John ... What kind of gigs/jobs do you play?
thnx,
t.

Tony do you still have & gig/job with the Kn6500?



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 04-23-2008).]

Thanks for the welcome back guys, but I've not actually been away. Though I've been kept busy both wood shedding and gigging, I still do find time to peak in here a couple times a week. Tyros2 continues to satisfy my needs and keeps my audience (and me) happy. Though I still bring along the MusicPad Pro, I rarely ever fire it up on the gig these days as I've now nearly all my songs 'in my head' or have lyrics/chords automatically pop up on the T2's LCD screen allowing me to quickly call any song (100's) stored in my registration bank file collection. I've also expanded my repetoire and target audiences to not only include seniors but the 35-45 age group too, featuring more 80's and 90's and 2K songs as well. Still utilizing my EV SxA100 PA system for medium large venues and the Bose 161's with Yamaha sub for small rooms, but still plan eventually to upgrade (but perhaps too lazy, or simply tight, to write the check) to get the most impressive natural & smooth sounding sounding(at least to my ears) PA speakers: EV360's

In addition to my regular gig schedule, I've got a special corporate sponsored fund raising event coming up in May which I'm really looking forward to: Best Of Walnut Creek at Boundry Oaks

Scott

The older we get, the lower the average volume level, the cheaper or weirder the sound system can be.

Try to put out a club level sound pressure with any of these toy systems, and you are going to get a whole new appreciation of THD (if you even know what that is)...

Clean is clean. Flat is flat. Most speakers can achieve this. But ONLY up to a certain sound pressure level. Then componentry, cabinet design, amp design, crossover design and a host of other factors can screw up what starts out as a great sound.

Most of the 'PA wars" that go on here go on between people that can have VASTLY different volume requirements and expectations, and lead to a lot of bitter nonsense. Be aware that, even if a toy system (or, to be more kind, a 'home theater' system) sounds good to you, crank it to the point where YOU think it will blow out the windows, and it's overall tone balance and distortion characteristics will have changed dramatically. To you, maybe it's just noise, but to someone who NEEDS that pressure level, it HAS to be MUSIC....

I have a friend that once played in a four piece country band. At the beginning of his performances he would come up to the mic and at the top of his lungs would yell "Lets git this party goin'. We ain't good--but danmed we're loud!" Most of the poor or marginal players I've come across over the years were in the same category. Those that could not read an audience if their lives were at stake would slowly but surely crank up the volume to rediculously high levels in hopes of garnering some type of crowd response. Same was true with DJ's that couldn't put anyone on the dancefloor because they were playing Hip Hop to an audience of 50 to 70 year olds--crank up the volume until it drove everyone out of the venue.

Diki, have you ever tried the Logitech Z-5500 system? You'll find that even at Boost 11, which is the highest volume setting, the system does not distort. But, it will blow out the windows. I wouldn't classify the Logitech systems as toys, either. But, this is getting silly. I'm not going to convince you that small speakers are here to stay and that sound systems are changing--you'll have to discover this on your own.

Good Luck,

Gary

Hi Tony,

I dont play out as of yet. But I am diligently working on my chops, reading all the tips here, auditioning sound gear & hopefully I can start slowly to start fulfilling my dream of playing for people in due time. Tony do you play out at this time also?

Gar, other than simply the diameter (5 inch) and ohm rating, I would expect its "cross over frequency" would affect the resulting sound quality too, so please:

suggest a specific 'make-model' mid range speaker alternative to the discontinued Radio Shack one you're using?

Does your mid speaker cab simply sit atop the sub, or is it secured in some way (via removeable industrial strength velcro?) to it? Also curious what the strap(?) hanging down over the subwoofer speaker for?

At $200, your Z5500 setup surely seems like one terrific 'bang for the buck' solution especially for casual house party settings & short perf time situations where quick setup/breakdown is essential. I admit it isn't a pro looking setup, but if it really delivers decent sound, that's what matters most for these kind of venues. Gar, thanks again for sharing your innovative ideas with us and keep us posted when you got the 9 pin connector setup. - Scott

Scott....

I use this company many times for speaker replacements, etc, etc, ...
http://www.partsexpress.com/speakers.cfm

They have a very knowledgeable support team also for advice also. Check it out.