Peavey Mark III Series Speakers FH-1, MB-2, MFX-1 and Peavey XR1200 Powered Mixer

[Guitarman67]

Long story but I'm a guitar player who has recently started playing out of a PA system with a digital processor. In doing this the first PA head I got was a Fender Sunn, SR6300P. I also have Peavey XR1200 powered mixer. It's very old but it's also in very nice condition. I was running four Soundtech cabinets out of my Fender Sunn the R-15 models two on the left and two on the right.
I just got a very old set of Peavey Mark III Series with the two FH-1, two MB-2 and two MFX-1 I hooked these up to my Fender Sun and they sound freaking great no power amp or anything just the powered head. I'm not up to date on the ohms thing or skilled in that area. I still have my four Soundtech cabinets I'm just not running them in line with these.
I would like to start doing music at weddings now and then as my wife is a florist. I would like to give the people the option of running just the Soundtech speakers that are front loaded but with mild bass. Or being able to bring these monsters that weigh a ton but have mega bass and sound so freaking good. Could I get an idea from someone of what I would need to run all of these? I'm sure I couldn't hook all 10 speaker cabinets to one powered mixer head without running power amps or something without messing up my Fender Sunn. I have the XR1200 I could also make use of but it weighs mega tons. So I'm thinking of a rack system with the small rack mounted mixer like a DJ would use and power amps. What would I need to set this up? What size amps? Rack mount crossover? Any ideas? What size speaker cable would be best on the Peavey Mark III speakers?
Yes the Peavey Mark III speakers are old school and much newer things are on the market that weigh far less but I'm going to hang with these for now. Any written diagrams would be great!! or even just explained.

[Guitarman67]

Would it damage these Peavey Mark III speakers just running them with a powered mixer head or the XR1200 powered board and no power amps or crossovers? They sound fantastic this way but I don't want to blow anything.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Would it damage these Peavey Mark III speakers just running them with a powered mixer head or the XR1200 powered board and no power amps or crossovers? They sound fantastic this way but I don't want to blow anything.

Shouldn't be any problem at all. Peaveys MkIII speakers were tough as boots. Your powered mixers have power amps built into them, and your speakers don't care whether they're driven from separate power amps or the ones built into your mix-amps. Day comes when you decide to run your whole speaker collection, then the fun starts. It would be a good idea to use separate power amps for the extra speakers, and you can take the line out of your mix/amp to drive the power amp inputs. What will be important is to get the whole collection working in identical polarity, so all your speakers are moving the same direction at the same time. For now stick with what's simple and works well.

[The Dude]

Would it damage these Peavey Mark III speakers just running them with a powered mixer head or the XR1200 powered board and no power amps or crossovers? They sound fantastic this way but I don't want to blow anything.

It won't damage them, but as far as I know, only the MFX-1 has a built in crossover. The mid and bass cabinets do not. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Therefore, the full frequency spectrum is being applied to the cabinets without crossovers. It would probably sound much better if you used a crossover and separate amps.

I've another question. What is the model of your Soundtech cabinets. I'm batting an idea around in my head, but need to know exactly what we're dealing with first.

Edit: It should also be pointed out that your Fender/Sunn SR6300P is a mono unit. There is no "left and right". It has two speaker jacks, but they are both paralleled from the same amp.

[The Dude]

Ok, I scribbled this out quickly, so don't be too critical. IMO, this is the best way to use what you have and get the most out of it without additional purchases. I wouldn't even bother using the Peavey mid and high cabinets because of lack of crossover issues, impedance problems, and phasing issues with mismatched speakers. Of course, there are lots of other options and many correct ones. This is just my $.02.

[Guitarman67]

Ok, I scribbled this out quickly, so don't be too critical. IMO, this is the best way to use what you have and get the most out of it without additional purchases. I wouldn't even bother using the Peavey mid and high cabinets because of lack of crossover issues, impedance problems, and phasing issues with mismatched speakers. Of course, there are lots of other options and many correct ones. This is just my $.02.

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I have one set of R15 and a set of H15 Soundtech cabinets. Could I run the Soundtech speakers out of the Fender Sunn speaker out jacks and then buy a power amp and come out of the Fender Sunn into it and run the 6 Mark III speakers the FH-1, MB-2 and MFX-1 out of the power amp? Would it take three different power amps to run these 6 cabinets or just one?

The Peavey cabinets sound fantastic with nothing else but them and the Fender Sunn amp with no crossover. The horn does have one built in with a low output or normal range output. I have tried both and like the normal range going into the MB-2 and didn't care for how the low output sounded in the MB-2. The four Soundtech speakers sound great also but do not have the kick and mids these old Peavey cabinets have. I'm thinking hard about just staying with the Peavey and working myself into a rack with a none powered mixer rack mount and what ever power amps and crossovers I need to run these monsters.

I couldn't run one FH-1, one MB-2 and one MFX-1 and two of the Soundtech out of one jack on the Fender Sunn and run the other half from the other jack could I? Would it blow anything or cause a strain as far as ohms? Sure don't want any damage.

[Guitarman67]

Thank you for the diagram I may end up going that route for a while. Could I run all 6 Peavey speakers like this instead of just the bottom ones?

[The Dude]

Nope. Don't do that. The Fender's minimum impedance is 2 ohms. And, since it's a mono/single amp, you can only run 4 speakers total (assuming they are all 8 ohms). IMO, even that is a stretch. I don't like running an amp at 2 ohms, whether it says you can or not. Those two jacks on the Fender are connected to the same amp, so anything plugged into either one lowers the impedance of both.

Edit: This was an answer to your post #6. I was typing while you posted.

[The Dude]

Thank you for the diagram I may end up going that route for a while. Could I run all 6 Peavey speakers like this instead of just the bottom ones?

Yes, you can run the Peaveys instead of the Soundtechs no problem.

[Guitarman67]

On your diagram you show just running the FH-1 cabinets but could I run all 6 Peavey cabinets out like this and still hook into the XR1200 and run the Soundtech cabinets out of it?

[The Dude]

You could do that. Just ignore the EQ notes on my diagram and run the Fender EQ as you normally would. You are still running the Fender at around 2 ohms since neither the mid or sub cabinets have crossovers, which is "legal" according to the Fender specs. I wouldn't chance it myself. IMO, running an amp at 2 ohms is pushing it. The horns don't change the impedance much as they have built in crossovers and are only responding to high frequencies.

A better option would be to run the Peavey cabinets on the Peavey mixer since it has a stereo power amp and run ONE set of Soundtechs on the Fender mixer. You can run both, but (again) I wouldn't, despite the Fender specs saying you can.

[Guitarman67]

That works for me thanks. Do they make any none powered mixers with built in crossovers or power amps with this feature?

[The Dude]

I would look at a rack mount mixer and there are many modern power amps with built in DSP that will negate the need for a separate crossover. The built in DSP's have limiting, crossover, EQ, and other features you'll find useful.

[Guitarman67]

Thank you for the help. I pulled the XR-1200 out today and fired it up it weighs as much as my first car did 68 Fury III. But when I first got things up and going I kept hearing this freaking hum. It took me all day to zero everything down and then slowly move things up and work it out of the mix. I'm guessing it was just up to high somewhere it sounds fine now. What's the best way to run this XR-1200 mono or stereo? I have patch cords and tried both ways. I need to trade this Fender Sunn and the XR-1200 in for a rack mount mixer and some power amps. Move out of the stone age I guess but I can't bring myself to part with the Peavey Mark III speakers they might weigh 500 pounds and take up one side of my garage but the way they sound is beyond all these other cabinets I have come across for the money.

[Guitarman67]

Would anyone have any idea why I get a hum on this Peavey Xr-1200 in standard stereo hook up. But if I use the patch cables to patch it over to mono with both power amps going and EQ A it's clear as a bell. I thought I had it toned out bringing everything down to zero and going back up but I can still hear it.