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"Well, our other guitarist is going to borrow some "hotspot-ish" monitors to try at our next gig. That'll be a good test because this particular room is VERY live acoustically - high ceilingings, hard surfaces - and we're not exactly shy about volume. If those little buggers cut it there, and save us setup headaches, then we may go that route. Or maybe we can consider a combination of 2 hotspots and 2 floor types. "


I use the hotspot type monitors all the time. Some are self-powered while others are passive. You might want to alter your EQ setting for these speakers and remove some low end because of the smaller drivers. If you want them to cut thru better then focus your available power into useable frequency range.

Most of the time I am using the hotspots mounted on mic stands. The Galaxy Audio passive type I have been using lately have a volume control built in. I set it for max volume during sound check and see how far I can push them before feedback. I use Shure DFR 11EQ feedback exterminators on the monitor runs and push em into feedback so a couple of filters are set.

I then turn down the volume on the speakers itself and back off the monitor channel some at the board. Since I have pushed them into feedback, I know in the back of my head where that feedback begins and it gives me a really good idea of how far I can push them during performance if needed, and generally it is not needed as more often than not the musicians are saying turn it down and don't even realize they have a volume control already set at a mid level so they can go up or down from the stage without bothering me about it.

If you EQ them right and only use them as needed mix-wise, then they should be able to cut through in a lot of situations if placed correctly as well. Just make sure to taper off the low freqs so you can boost up the volume in the useable freqs without overdriving the little speakers. And generally I won't run certain instruments through them like kick drum and bass guitar because of the small sized speakers. If I did run bass through them the low-end has got to be brought under control so the higher frequencies of the bass cut through while eliminating the unheard lower freqs which will overdrive the small speakers.

Sometimes for larger monitors such as mentioned above- the preferred type with large 12" and 15" drivers and horn, etc... In the past I have used JBL E120 guitar speakers in the floor wedges because of the frequency response of the driver itself. A low frequency woofer may not cut through as well as a guitar speaker might with more mids and highs. It has worked well.

Just really watch out for allowing frequencies to the monitors that can cause problems...

Let me put it this way... in hifi you care about 20 to 20kHz, but on stage all I really care about is from say about 50Hz to 10 or 11kHz. I taper off anything above that and below because it simply is not needed on stage period. If you don't have feedback exterminators, then push the monitors into feedback slowly and carefully to generate only one feedback oscillation and determine what frequency it starts feeding back at first and bring that down on the EQ a couple of decibels until it begins to go away. Sometimes I might take a few more DB off just so I can push it again and see if I can generate another feedback oscillation at a different frequency and do the same thing. Then I bring back up the first one to a few decibels down and now I have a pretty good idea of how much I can push them and where the trouble might begin at if I had any trouble.

Something else to consider is physical placement in relation to the mics.

Good luck! I love my hotspots! They work great on vocals, and keyboards and even guitars and horns.

KG

"I once heard that you could get a better sound by wiring you monitors out of phase with the mains.
because then the cones of the mains and monitors would theoretically operate in parallel avoiding phase cancellation.
Has anyone tried this one ?"

I must disagree with this for several reasons...

1)I don't think phase reversals imrpove the sound. It stays the same or could get you into trouble with cancellations.

2)Technically the drivers are not parallel.

In my EV manifold subs the drivers are mounted sideways. That blows this phase reversal theory right out of the water right there.

3)The monitor speakers are wedges rear facing at about a 40 degree angle? 180 degree phase reversal does not neccessarily bring anything into alignment, if anything it might actually make things worse depending on the circumstances.

Also, if this theory is to work, wouldn't all the drivers in mains and monitors require some sort of time alignment such as being in line with each other? If the mains are farther forward and the monitors are behind them on a stage, then once again the phase reversal theory could not do much to improve upon anything.

Once there is significant distance between mains and monitors the phase reversal would be just as insignificant and might not even be noticeable to anyone. You would be amazed at how many sound systems are built and wired with phasing problems!

How many manufacturers of equipment all worry about lining up their phasing with everyone else? NO ONE does this and no one seems to care either!

In order to truly phase a sound system correctly, every single connection must be examined with test equipment.

My mixer could put out one signal and then as soon as it goes thru an EQ it might come out 180 degrees out and then into a compressor which might change the phasing again and then into a amp could be another opportunity for yet another phase reversal.

So even if you follow each step very carefully, it is often missed when a phase reversal actually happens! And when you have huge systems is when this really becomes a problem!

Another way to cause a phase problem with sound systems is speakers. I can not tell you how many manufacturers wind their voice coils in different directions! Use two different brands of speakers and you are just about guaranteeing yourself some phase reversal problems.

So does phase reversals make things sound "Better"???

I can't agree to that one!

Heck, while I am at it, let's look at mics... do you think for one second each and every manufacturer of mics phases each and everyone the same! NO WAY!

So you want to use 5 different brands of mics? Then you are running head on into phase reversals you may not even know about!

I would suggest a properly phased sound system from one end to the other is going to sound "better" than playing around with reversing things.

Again, the only real way to accurately phase a system is through testing of each piece of equipment and tracking the phasing of each signal as it passes through the system.

Been there. Done that. The photo below is a sound system I personally built and wired and installed for NASA at Kennedy Space Center in early 1990's at OPF 3 next the VAB building.

Do you think for one second NASA engineers would let me get away with any phase reversals? This system was phased correctly...

Dam I miss working for the feds! That was fun! Security clearance to go places the public can not go. It was cool! I toured the old launch pads and was able to get out and walk around them and look inside the old buildings. All the equipment is just like it was the day the launches or tragedies happened! NASA just locked the doors and left them intact and walked away and built another new one a short distance away one right after another. I saw huge piles of discarded space gear- tens of millions of dollars of unused gear rusting in huge piles never to be used! What a huge waste! No wonder NASA is always in trouble! They surely know how to blow some money out there!