Ayone know the wattage used at a Rock concert?


I just attended a Dave Matthews concert last night at a large outdoor venue (very good show). The sound level was incredible, the bass was chest thumping. I'm wondering what type of amplification is used at something like this, ie, number of amps, type of amps, number of watts, that type of thing. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? I kinda like trivial knowlegde of this sort. Thanks.
mijknarf

Showing 1 response by normansizemore

I ran sound at at few shows in Chicago back in the 70's.  You'd see a mix of amps, with Crown being the dominant brand back then.  You might see an occisional Phase Linear 700. I remember when Journey toured in the late 70's they ran stacks of Peavey 400's which sounded surprisingly good. (Not a peavey fan)
I never heard the famous Dead Mac setup. I would have loved it I'm sure. 

Using Crown amps at the old Sox park we ran ten DC300's per side for the bass cabinets and 5 DC300's per side for the mids and highs. Speakers were mostly JBL and everything was horn loaded so it didn't take as much power as you would think.  I believe it was under 3000 watts total to average around 110db sound pressure levels mid field. That includes running the stage monitors. But then life was simpler. =)

Attending live shows at large venues today the sound seems cleaner, and way more powerful. I would love to know what amplification is dominating sound reinforcement today.  Is Crown still a player?

N