Love this show.......there's not a better voice for this ..I dig how you are absolutely just spot on with your reasons and explanations.....true pro making things happen....much love Grumpster!

I keep looking at that WAWA cup. Reminds me it’s Gobbler Hoagie season!!!

'Plastic Box Tupperware'.....hahahahaha ! RR

25:25 I looked inside of some high end touring stuff they are 99% Biamping it blows my mind at first but after designing and some homework I did understand

Bring back horn loaded systems and save electricity 😊

I have 16 JBL SRX 728 and I use 6 JBL SRX 725 for my tops. I can easily do an audience of 5000.  
Everything's paid for and I love it.

Gramps is back to react to Grumpy.  You're talking the gear that became popular after I started building PAs by picking horns, drivers, cone transducers and making lots of sawdust.  Part of the reason old gear was bigger and heavier - it's from an era when engineers and designers didn't ignore the Laws of Physics (Officer Einstein will be along with a citation book soon).  Enclosure rigidity was a big deal and 50mm of Baltic Birch plywood  (Meyer, EAW, any of the touring shop-built PA) was common.  Size mattered for pattern control and "array-ability".  These days we achieve part of that through physical size (length of line arrays) and extensive DSP.  The whole point of 30# boxes is having a product that "works" in a form/weight factor that previously locked out vendors with larger, heavier systems.  One of my least-favorite PAs in the shop I managed for over 20 years was the DBTech T4/8.  I really didn't like mixing on them but the size & weight meant I could hang them from hotel ballroom fly points without installing other equipment.  They paid for themselves quickly and made money consistently, and that's what my boss hired me to take care of - income and expenses.  Also the Plastic PA made more money per day because of the nature of the gig - if corporate presentation, charity fund raising, civic awareness, etc there is more profit per day than a festival, rodeo, or arts in the park day.  This is why a 'big dog' rig sounds good from an emotional standpoint but doesn't perform so well on the P&L statement.  Our plastic PA made more profit per pound, per s.f. in the warehouse, and for the money spent, than our JBL VerTec rig.  Solving the "JBL icepick" was a matter of updating the processing firmware, and ultimately that meant buying the I-Tech HD amps for V5 presets.  Anyone still running 25 year old JBL with external processing is living in 2004.

The low-mid you miss from the smaller line arrays is due to the weight sacrifice and the resonating plastic creates acoustic cancellation in that freq range.  Oh, wait, you just said that... and the narrow width of the box (too small for pattern control).

As for your personal search for a line array... the EAW RSX.  I've worked several corporate events (with entertainment) with this rig and have taken to really liking it for what it is.  I have no idea how it would handle a full on rock show for 2000 people, but the stuff that matters with a line array (the aiming and box angles) are mostly built into the speakers.  RSX shares a lot of tech stuff with the ANYA/ANNA/OTTO.  Real wood, too.  Getting a demo rig would be ideal.

The reasons PAs blow up is mis use.  End of story.  Any brand, any model.  Amps on the ground or in the box makes zero difference.  There has also been a trend back to louder and louder shows, a trend that was reversing before Covid.  These days almost every gig I hear seems inappropriately loud.  Everything is screaming loud these days because most music/audio is consumed via ear buds, where the program material has been mastered for very little dynamic range and the HF/LF are hyped to make up for the poor seal the bud makes to the ear canal.  THAT has become the audible expectation for the vast majority of our audience under the age of 50.  There are also some SoundPersons and performers who think the system isn't working unless all the red lights are on.  SMH.

Age of gear - doesn't matter if the client is happy, it's in good shape and the crew knows what they are doing.  I've had some clients that DO know the difference and the good part is they know what is important and what is not.  Many potential clients are copy and pasting stuff they know nothing about.  Mostly it's about managing expectations, so as long as the client/promoter isn't hiring presenters or performers who have the clout to insist on certain brands and models as a condition of performance, what you own doesn't matter so long as audio was the lowest friction point of the day and expectations were met or exceeded.  The flip side is working with rider-sensitive acts.  My Old Shop lost a long term rental client (who got the most killer deal from the Boss) because we'd not updated the rig in 12 years.  They weren't paying a rental rate that justified more than staffing and general maintenance but the Boss didn't see the writing on the wall.  When I'm advancing a gig and the band PM or FOH person asks, "what else you got, that VerTec is getting kinda old..." the writing is on the wall.  "Mene, mene tekel Upharsin."  Today I'm Director of Audio in that venue with a l'Acoustic K3/KS28 rig w/Kiva II front fills.  The venue spent a metric poo-tonne of money replicating what the VerTec rig did (and it sounds more 'contemporary' but I miss the brute force of the 4889s) and all the "what else ya got" questions went away, but the venue wasn't paying a rate that would allow replacement of the rig every 10 years.  The venue owners will discover that the soon to be 5 year old K rig will be on the "what else you got list" before it's fully amortized with their current average utilization.

Peavey?  There's a huge amount of value designed into their gear with a great deal of thought into idiot-proofing stuff.  Much respect for what Hartley brought to working musicians and audio folks on a budget.  The main reason "value" gear sounds bad is the operator or source material, first and foremost.  As for models... the current version of the 2x18 that came out with the VersArray is really good for the money.  Skip the VersArray (if it's still being made).  Peavey never figured out how to not blow ribbon tweeters when the rig was pushed.  The SP-2 and its variations over the decades were reliable money makers.  The biggest deficit to them are they look like Peavey.  The Yamaha club series is also in the big bang for the buck category.  What they lack in aesthetics they compensate for in output and durability.  The SRX-712M was a model JBL kept "finding" more of for 3 years after being discontinued, it was so popular.  About every 5 or 6 months a thousand units or so were discovered in a warehouse in Escondido or some corner in the factory in Mexico.  We had 16 of them in My Old Shop and they were consistent money makers.  We used them for monitors, too, but mostly either stick PA or front fills.

The era of EAW you speak of was when founders Kenton Forsythe (the KF line named for him), and "Crazy Uncle Kenny" Berger still ran everything.  Key engineering staff included Dave Gunness (later a founder of Fulcrum Acoustics and the guy who patented "EAW Focus" while working at EAW) and Rich Frembes.  Berger went on to be a founder of Vue Audiotecnik after he sold his interest in EAW.  The sub you allude @49:50 is what led Tom Danley to design the LABsub for the ProSound Web Live Audio Board forum back in 2007 and Tom did it entirely on prediction software, with a custom driver from Eminence.  A competent woodworker could have the sonic equivalent of the EAW for about 1/5 the price.  The LABhorn was a conventional horn, not a tapped horn (though IIRC the Danley TH-115 came out about the same time).  It was a DIY gift to the community.  As far as other subs (you'll talk about them in a minute) go, the JBL 4880 are selling for less than used SRX-728 and outperform the 728 esp using ITech or ITech HD power/JBL presets.  For those with stronger backs, beefy trucks, and a desire for a more physical low end the JBL 4880A are dropping in price, too.  Where a 30 year old KF-650 rig represents a good use of available technology for the day, the subwoofer drivers we have now completely eclipse the woofers of 30 years ago.  That's why the "Z" version of your KF boxes is important - they use newer drivers, among other things, to improve performance.  RCF?  We can't talk about them because you almost never see them come up used.  When folks find the models they like, they keep them forever.  RCF is another manufacturer that has kind of blurry lines between products, but pretty much each does what RCF says it will.  Ignore the HDL tupperware arrays.  Please.  If you want 3 days of torture mix monitors for a festival, behind the S.L. hang.  You will question ALL your life choices and Google for which local spiders have the most toxic venom.  Yes, it sucks that much.  The RCF plastic boxes on sticks are no worse (and often better) than other brands with similar feature sets.  The RCF TT (touring and theatre) models - line or point source - sound really good, as you'd expect at their price point.  But where RCF really shines is in the subwoofer section and where buying "more/lower output for the footprint" becomes meaningful.  First, if you've got too much sub, be happy you can turn then down and will have more when you add more PA.  That will save over buying another full set of subs if you doubled up on the tops later.  Same space, maybe more weight, but MORE, and more is MORE! 😇  Seriously, the more good sound you can get out of the same size box, the fewer of them you have to buy, and you're purchasing for coverage and not for additional output.  This is also where having a KF-650 rig or equivalent in the shop earns its keep.

The primary issue with original ITech amps is parts & service.  Harmon no longer offers service and too many of the critical parts are no longer made.  AFAIK all the parts for the ITech HD are still available.  The DSP inside the HD series is based on BSS London Blu which is what made the V5 processing for JBL touring and portable systems possible - FIR filters.  Anyone bi-amping or tri-amping a JBL system and buying amps should look into HD.

I still use my Peavey Black widdows (sps 1808 bwx) (1990s) and the Peavey Scorpion tops (SP5G). I have EV line arrays, center fills, but the old made in USA Peavey is the sm58 of speakers. They work, even at redline, and they just come through day after day  show after show...
...but my brand new SLXD Shure mic system drops out  has interference, and same with out wireless in ears. However the wired monitors, dont fail. The wireless mic is a let down, (freq availability is always an issue when we do shows near Lambeau Field. TV, Radio, and a dozen fixed instal venues all within RF range of esch other...

...brand is less important than durability for me.

Pound per dollar my 6 Carvin 3900 with subs have made me more money on small-medium events than anything else. Love the smooth silky top end of my versarray mark 2 with the old QSC power light 2 amps.  But, nowadays the RCF NXL24As and 8004 go out more than anything  simply because ease of deployment.

The king of the old shit! I hope we both live to a 100 so that in 30 years you could brag about just getting your hands on a complete plastic line array system. By the way it’s the RCF 8004 or 9004 subs. I know I own a bunch of them, ahhhh the money issue again.

On the topic of gear snobs, I know of dozens of people who will only mix on a DiGiCo, Avid or SSL... Out of all the sound engineers I know, only one owns any DiGiCo gear at all, and yet, he's very much in the mindset of using the right tool for the job. His Yamaha DM3 is probably one of his most used mixers. Not every event demands a Quantum!

(Grandpa gear) 😂... I've got a lot of old-school and new gear and i must agree with you on this, the old tried and tested stuff is still my favorite. I only have the new stuff as well just to make the client feel at ease that i use the older gear by choice, not because its all i have😊. Look at AC/DC sound engineer Pab Boothroyd still preferring the old analog mixer from the 80's👌.

Well said. Until I see what is going to happen with the economy and all this AI tech, I am not making any huge investments in my systems. As long as the stuff I have still kicks but, there is no need for me to buy anything else. Who knows if live music is going to survive the next 10 years? I certainly hope so! God bless.

The guys who say they won't do this or that, will do it if it means they won't get paid otherwise.

Don’t let em bring you down Grump-a-saurus it’s the Ear not the gear .. but good dependable gear is nice tools to have

26:42 you are 1000% I own my self 6 boxes of fbt jmaxx 114 they  got the job done I trust them and they built it dummy proof so you can’t blow it with built in limiter . Am not impressed about the dsp or presets I like them because they are rich in low end not harsh in highs and they got the job done for stick rig . My dad used to own fbt double 15 inch an 3 inch for over 20 years they are great but heavy as hell it make no sense to bring 98kg of speakers to 4 piece band and small room barely can handle 100 people.
So yes is about easy of deployment
( these fbt not cheap by the way I do 100% recommended for small room and corporate stuff my corporate clients love them )

How are you liking those ADMARK's?

Any thoughts on the sr-x line like sr4719x and sr4726x?

I think anyone who wants to comment on this video should be someone who actually has skin in the game, and not just their Pelican 1510 with a few toys in it, and a copy of Smaart on their MacBook.

Personally I prefer the L-ACOUSTICS kara 2 or k2 systems but I am quite spoiled that a syva system is considers basic with the clients i have. but jbl srx is not bad so are rcf line array. Some of the worst ive heard are vrx 932 those are horrible.