Xb Bass System
Xb Bass System
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2
highest sound pressure levels. This means
that the front-of-house engineer will not have
to retune the EQ and level settings as the
SPL is increased throughout the show. This
also means that the sound-system perfor-
mance will remain consistent in different
array configurations and from venue to
venue.
The X-Array
™
systems utilizes a unique rig-
ging system. A hinge assembly is used to link
cabinets together at their rear corners, while
wire-rope/fitting assemblies are used at the
front to adjust the relative angle between sys-
tems. (See the Flying the X-Array
™
Systems
section for more details.)
The durable Xb enclosure is constructed of
18-mm, 13-ply birch plywood and has a
wear-resistant black, textured paint finish.
The system is trapezoidal, forming an 18°
wedge and includes a heavy-duty steel grille
with a water-resistant charcoal-gray foam in-
terlining. The enclosure features vinyl
bumper pads on the front corners to and feet
on the bottom to resist wear.
A variety of accessories are available for the
X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems, including
rigging hardware, dollies, covers, electronic
crossovers, amplifier racks and speaker ca-
bling. Consult the X-Array
™
Accessories sec-
tion for a complete listing of the available
accessories
Applications
The X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems were de-
signed for optimal performance in both con-
cert-sound and permanent-installation appli-
cations where studio-monitor sound quality
is required at concert-sound levels. The
X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems work well
individually, in small arrays and in large ar-
rays. The high acoustic output from these
compact, lightweight systems provide the
highest acoustic-power-to-weight ratio, the
highest acoustic-power-to-frontal-area ratio,
and the highest acoustic-power-to-bulk-vol-
ume ratio in the industry. That means that
X-Array
™
systems will be considerably
smaller and lighter compared to competitive
systems having equivalent acoustic output.
With its response from 37-160 Hz, the Xb
is recommended for low-frequency appli-
cations where very-high levels of bass are
required from a compact enclosure. Spe-
cifically, the Xb has been optimized to pro-
vide low-frequency reinforcement for the
mid-bass-/high-frequency X-Array
™
sys-
tems (like the Xf or Xcn) and the MB/HF
or LF/MB/HF X-Array
™
systems (like the
Xn). The Xb may be used individually or
in multiples to construct low-frequency ar-
rays, or may be used with the mid-bass-/
high-frequency or low-/mid-bass-/high-fre-
quency X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems to
construct large full-range arrays. The Xb
enclosure shell and rigging are identical to
the other full-size X-Array
™
systems for
easy array integration. The Xb would be
well suited for front-of-house, front-fill,
side-fill applications and down-fill appli-
cations.
The Xb is intended to be used with other
X-Array
™
systems for a full-range response
as an active system that requires an active
electronic crossover. Both the Electro-Voice
Dx38 and Klark Teknik DN8000 digital
crossovers are recommended for signal
control. (See the Crossover, Equalization
and Signal Delay Controller section.) The
Electro-Voice P3000 amplifier is recom-
mended for powering the Xb. (See the
Amplifier Recommendations section.)
Power-Handling Capabilities
The Xb systems are rated as per the
“ANSI/EIA RS-426-A Loudspeaker Power-
Rating, Full-Range Test,” which uses a
shaped-random-noise signal to simulate typi-
cal music to test the mechanical and thermal
capabilities of the loudspeakers. A digital
crossover was used to provide the appropri-
ate filtering and equalization. The test pa-
rameters are as follows:
Low-Frequency Section (Pins 1 and 2 par-
alleled):
P
E(MAX)
:
1,200 watts
Test Voltage: 58.7-volts rms
117.4-volts peak
R
SR
(1.15R
E
):
2.88 ohms
Amplifier Recommendations
Power amplifiers with the following ratings
are recommended for use with the Xb loud-
speaker systems:
LF:
800 watts per channel
into 8 ohms
93-volts rms short term
132-volts peak
Xb loudspeakers may be paralleled with
other Xb systems as long as the amplifiers
can drive the lower impedances. To main-
tain a sufficient damping factor with long
cable runs, amplifier loads of four ohms
per channel are recommended. The
Electro-Voice P3000 amplifiers are ideal for
powering the X-Array
™
systems.
Crossover, Equalization and Signal
Delay Controller
The Xb is intended to be used with other
X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems (like the Xf
or Xn, for example) to construct full-range
arrays as an active system requiring an ac-
tive crossover, equalization and signal delay
controller. For basic applications, the
Electro-Voice Dx38 2-in/4-out controller is
recommended. For more sophisticated ap-
plications, the Klark Teknik DN8000
2-in/5-out controller is recommended.
Linkwitz-Riley crossover filters with a mini-
mum slope of 24 dB per octave at 125 Hz
and 1,760 Hz are recommended, and sub-
sonic filter protection at 42 Hz or higher
with a minimum slope of 12-dB/octave is
recommended in the low-frequency sec-
tion. Both the Dx38 and the DN8000 offer
appropriate filtering, equalization and sig-
nal delay capabilities to provide optimum
performance of the X-Array
™
loudspeaker
systems. Digital parameter settings for
both controllers are available upon request.
Electrical Connection and System
Wiring
Two paralleled Neutrik 8-pin Speakon
®
con-
nectors are used for electrical connection to
the Xb loudspeakers with the following pin
assignments:
LF1:
Pins 2 Paralleled
LF2:
Pins 1 Paralleled
The Xb wiring diagram is shown in
Figure 7. Since the connectors are paralleled,
it does not matter which connector is used
as the input or output when paralleling Xb
systems. Although Pins 3 and 4 are not used
by the Xb systems, they are paralleled on
the input panel. This allows an X-Array
™
MB/HF box (like the Xf – which uses Pins
3 and 4, but not Pins 1 and 2) to be paral-
