Hopefully I can give enough information here to be able to get some help. I am very new at setting up sound systems. I have run sound systems for quite a while, with very little understanding. A church local to me recently asked if I could help them with an install on some speakers. I installed them, but I'm having an issue getting sound out of them. I am not sure if this is an amplifier issue or not, but I believe it might be. I currently have two JBL CBT 50LA-1 speakers installed and they are being powered by a PV-900 amplifier. The amplifier hasn't been used in 5+ years but was previously used to power two speakers. They still had everything basically set-up for the PV-900 to the stage, so I just used what was already there.
I currently can only get sound by playing music from a computer or iPhone and it has to be turned up almost all the way to get any sound. If I try to use a microphone or any instruments on stage, even turned all the way up, I can't get any sound. When I play music through them it sounds very muffled and quiet. I can hook the old speakers up and they have full volume that's plenty for a 300 person church. The JBLs you basically have to be on the stage to hear the music being played through a computer or other similar source. I am not sure if the Peavey is an appropriate amplifier for the JBLs. The sound board/mixer is about 80 ft back from the stage and the amplifier is with the sound board. The amplifier plugs into a 1/4 TRS box that runs up to the stage and then there is another 1/4 TRS box on stage. The 1/4 box by the amplifier has two 3 ft cables going from the amp to the box and then on the stage the box has the speakers wired to it.
The Peavey specs are here for reference:
I am sure this is not all that is needed, nor am I sure I am asking the right questions here, but I am trying to learn and understand. I am not sure if this is an issue with the amplifier itself, if the amplifier and speakers aren't "compatible" per se or if the amplifier doesn't have enough power. Just trying to understand where I need to go from here. If I need a new amplifier, I am open to suggestions but trying to spend as little as possible. Preferably an amplifier under $400 that is rack mountable would be great. Also the speaker has numerous different selections on the side but hooked up to the PV-900 it will only work when set to 8 ohms. If I try to move it to any of the other 4 selections it will not work at all.
Sorry for the long message, really just trying to understand where I need to go from here and what I need to do. Thank you!
I currently can only get sound by playing music from a computer or iPhone and it has to be turned up almost all the way to get any sound. If I try to use a microphone or any instruments on stage, even turned all the way up, I can't get any sound. When I play music through them it sounds very muffled and quiet. I can hook the old speakers up and they have full volume that's plenty for a 300 person church. The JBLs you basically have to be on the stage to hear the music being played through a computer or other similar source. I am not sure if the Peavey is an appropriate amplifier for the JBLs. The sound board/mixer is about 80 ft back from the stage and the amplifier is with the sound board. The amplifier plugs into a 1/4 TRS box that runs up to the stage and then there is another 1/4 TRS box on stage. The 1/4 box by the amplifier has two 3 ft cables going from the amp to the box and then on the stage the box has the speakers wired to it.
The Peavey specs are here for reference:
- 2x450 watts at 2 ohms
- 2x300 watts at 4 ohms
- 2x180 watts at 8 ohms
- Massive toroidal transformer and storage capacitors
| Sensitivity | 93 dB (speech mode, 2 kHz - 14 kHz)89 dB (music mode, 300 Hz - 18 kHz) |
| Impedance | 8 ohms |
| Power Rating | 150W (600W peak), 2 hrs 100 W (400W peak), 100 hrs |
I am sure this is not all that is needed, nor am I sure I am asking the right questions here, but I am trying to learn and understand. I am not sure if this is an issue with the amplifier itself, if the amplifier and speakers aren't "compatible" per se or if the amplifier doesn't have enough power. Just trying to understand where I need to go from here. If I need a new amplifier, I am open to suggestions but trying to spend as little as possible. Preferably an amplifier under $400 that is rack mountable would be great. Also the speaker has numerous different selections on the side but hooked up to the PV-900 it will only work when set to 8 ohms. If I try to move it to any of the other 4 selections it will not work at all.
Sorry for the long message, really just trying to understand where I need to go from here and what I need to do. Thank you!
