Electro-Voice SX500PI+ EDS User Manual
Sx500PI+
400-Watt Two-Way
Weather-Resistant
Speaker System
• Ring-Mode Decoupling (RMDTM) Technol-
ogy for increased intelligibility
• Black powder - coated, full-face stainless
steel grille with foam backing and a
polyester mesh water shield.
• Durable structural-foam enclosure with
integral handles, stand mount and
molded-in attachment points for secure
suspension with optional brackets
• DL15Sx-W 15-inch woofer and DH2T
compression driver for great sound and
reliable performance
• Asymmetric constant-directivity
75° x 60° high-frequency horn
• Asymmetric horn-loaded woofer section
• 400-watt long-term rms power capacity
• Passive network with biamp capability
Description
The Electro-V oice Sx500PI+ is a weather-resistant version of the popular Sx500+ loudspeaker.
It is a 400-watt, 15-inch two-way, biampable,
high-efficiency, constant-directivity speaker
system featuring a vented-horn woofer section.
The weather-resistant features are the specially
treated woofer, the DL15Sx-W , and the full-face
stainless-steel grille backed with both foam and
a polyester mesh water shield. Additionally, two
port plugs are included for the customer to install when increased weather resistance is
needed. Through extensive use of computeraided design and modeling, Electro-Voice engineers have developed a state-of-the-art professional loudspeaker system for permanent installations where weather resistance is needed.
The high-frequency section of the Sx500PI+ utilizes a molded-in 75° x 60° constant-directivity
horn which is aimed downward by 10°. This
unique pattern contributes to high intelligibility
and aims the speaker's output where it is most
useful. Vocals sound natural yet “cut through”
in reverberant, noisy rooms. In addition, the coverage pattern is unusually uniform over its range
of operation. The horn’s unique, VariPath
throat geometry helps direct driver output to the
corners of the room, to points of coverage not
described in the usual specifications of horizontal and vertical coverage angles, and to parts of
the audience that typically do not receive the
strongest coverage.
TM
One of the many other unique features of the
Sx500PI+ is the cabinet. Constructed of highimpact polypropylene structural foam, it provides a stiff and extremely durable enclosure.
The cabinet includes integral carrying handles
and a stand socket for mounting on 1
stands such as the Electro-V oice 100BK. Rubber
feet that are attached to the bottom of the cabinet
and mating sockets that are molded into the top
provide a means of stacking systems. The shaped
plastic cabinet, in combination with the uniform,
75° x 60° directivity characteristics, make the
Sx500PI+ ideal for use alone or in arrays.
The Sx500PI+’s high-frequency horn is driven
by the DH2T one-inch throat, wide-bandwidth,
titanium-diaphragm driver. This driver uses a
unique, convex-drive Time Path
structure (U.S. Patent #4,525,604) for smooth
and extended high-frequency performance. The
voice coil is coupled to the diaphragm with EV’s
exclusive Resonant Drive™ Technology. This
increases and smooths the high-frequency response and reduces the amount of internal equalization required for flat frequency response,
which extends to 20,000 Hz.
A self-resetting high-frequency protection circuit, EV’s PRO™ circuit, is included with the
Sx500PI+ to prevent against accidental overdrive and improve system reliability. If the input power to the high-frequency driver exceeds
the nominal rating, the protection circuit is activated and reduces the power delivered to the
driver by 6 dB. The system will remain in this
3
/8-inch
™
phasing plug
mode of operation until the input power is reduced to a safe level.
The bass section of the Sx500+ is a vented-horn
design using Thiele-Small parameters for solid
performance to 45 Hz. This horn provides directivity control for the woofer section and
matches the asymmetry of the high-frequency
section. The 381-mm (15-in.) DL15Sx-W
weather-resistant woofer used is a specially designed unit featuring an extended-length voice
coil and high-temperature construction materials. The system combines professional-quality
components, arranged in an unusually durable
Thiele-Small-aligned vented enclosure. The result is clear and articulate, high-quality sound.
Ring-Mode Decoupling (RMDTM)
Technology
The Sx500PI+ controls both acoustical and mechanical ring modes to provide dramatically
creased intelligibility, using techniques learned
from the development of the Electro-Voice
X-Array™ concert speakers. There is much less
coloration of the sound from resonating
sources, leaving only the intended sound to be
heard by the audience. The most obvious implementation of RMD™ in the Sx500PI+ is the
foam attached to the back of the woofer grille.
Speaker Protection
The Sx500PI+ like all other vented systems experiences rapidly increasing cone excursion
in-
Sx500PI+ 400-Watt Two-Way Weather-Resistant Speaker System
below the box-tuning frequency, while the
acoustic output decreases rapidly. To ensure a
long woofer life even when used at high power
levels, it is recommended that some form of
electronics be used to control unnecessary
woofer cone excursion.
Graphic equalizers and active crossovers are
two methods that can be used to prevent lowfrequency signal below band-pass from going
to the loudspeaker. When using an active crossover, a high-pass filter with a cutoff frequency
of 32- to 45-Hz will provide the necessary protection. The filter should have a slope of at least
12 dB per octave. Such subpass band filters
are found in many crossovers and equalizers
manufactured by Electro-V oice, as well as other
commercially available equipment.
Enclosure Construction
The Sx500PI+ enclosure is contructed of very
durable structural foam that is hard to dent,
scratch or break. The structural foam enclosure
allows for the high- and low-frequency horns,
the stand mount and the suspension points to
be molded into the enclosure. It also allows for
three handles to be integrated into the enclosure.
Frequency Response
The combination of a 15-inch woofer, wide-
Sx500PI+ 400-Watt Two-Way Weather-Resistant Speaker System
bandwith high-frequency driver and an equalized crossover results in the wide and smooth
overall response shown in Figures 1a and 1b.
Figure 1a is the response with the ports open
while Figure 1b is the response with the two
optional port plugs installed. This response was
measured at 3.05 meters (10 feet), using a 4volt swept sine-wave input in an anechoic
chamber using the internal passive crossover.
No external equalization was used. Figures 1a
and 1b have been averaged and corrected for 1
watt at 1 meter.
Port Plugs
The two ports, on either side of the high-frequency horn, may be "sealed" in order to add
further weather protection to the system. These
optional foam port plugs are included with the
system for use in situations where increased
weather resistance is needed. This will help
prevent any moisture from wicking through the
foam-backed grille and accumulating inside the
enclosure under extreme weather condidtions.
The optional port plugs and instructions are
supplied with each system. It should be noted,
however, that once the port plugs are installed,
2
the frequency response will change to that
shown in Figure 1b.
Connections and Biamping
The Sx500PI+ is equipped with two parallel
Neutrik Speakon
®
NL4MP connectors. In the
full-range mode, as supplied by the factory, pins
1+ and 1– are the inputs to the system.
Another system can be connected in parallel
by using the other connector. Care must be
taken not to abuse the amplifier by connecting
impedances which are too low.
The user may put the system in biamp mode
by removing the input panel and moving a connector from the full-range mode to biamp mode,
as noted on the crossover. In biamp mode, 1+,
1– are the LF inputs and 2+, 2– are the HF
inputs.
Constant-Directivity Speaker System
The crossover frequency and speaker- component geometries have been selected so that the
directional characteristics of the woofer and
constant-directivity high-frequency horn match
at the crossover frequency to create a special
system type — the constant-directivity system.
At higher frequencies, the horizontal coverage
pattern remains constant and the vertical pattern smoothly transitions to a 60° angle above
5,000 Hz. Response within the 75° x 60° rated
coverage angle is uniform, which means dependable audience coverage without “hot
spots” or dead zones at certain frequencies. The
75° x 60° dispersion characteristic also helps
avoid early reflections from nearby floor or
side-wall surfaces which could degrade performance. The controlled directivity of the highand low-frequency transducers also eliminates
response irregularities caused by diffraction off
nearby enclosure edges and, in combination
with an essentially flat on-axis frequency response, produces a total acoustic power output
that is uniform with frequency.
Directivity
A unique feature of the Sx500PI+ is the constant-directivity dispersion provided by the 75°
x 60° horn. The polar response of the system
at selected one-third-octave bandwidths is
shown in Figure 2. These polar responses were
measured in an anechoic environment at 6.1
meters (20 feet) using one-third-octave pinknoise inputs. The frequencies selected are fully
representative of the polar response of the system. Beamwidth of the system utilizing the
complete one-third-octave polar data is shown
in Figure 3. Directivity factor, R
ity index, D
, are plotted in Figure 4.
i
and directiv-
,
Power-Handling Capacity
The Sx500PI+ is shipped in full-range mode
using an internal crossover. In biamp mode, the
long-term average power-handling capacity is
as follows:
Low Frequency: 400 watts
High Frequency: 60 watts
Electro-Voice components and systems are
manufactured to exacting standards, ensuring
they will hold up, not only through the most
rigorous of power tests, but also through continued use in arduous, real-life conditions. The
EIA Loudspeaker Power Rating Full Range
(ANSI/EIA RS-426-A 1980) uses a noise spectrum which mimics typical music and tests the
thermal and mechanical capabilities of the components. Electro-V oice will support relevant additional standards as and when they become
available. Extreme, in-house power tests, which
push the performance boundaries of the woofers, are also performed and passed to ensure
years of trouble-free service.
Specifically, the Sx500PI+ passes ANSI/EIA
RS-426-A 1980 with the following values:
R = 5.76 ohms (1.15 x (R
R
= woofer DCR
E
+ 1.86))
E
1.86 =horn-load impedance correction
P
= 400 watts
E(MAX)
Test voltage = 48.00 volts rms,
96.00 volts peak (+6 dB)
The “peak” power-handling capacity of a
woofer is determined by the peak test-voltage
amount. For the Sx500PI+, a 96.00-volt peak
test-voltage translates into 1,600-watts shortterm peak power-handling capacity. This is the
equivalent of four times the “average” powerhandling capacity, and is a peak that can be
sustained for only a few milliseconds. However, this sort of short duration peak is very
typical in speech and music. Provided the amplifier can reproduce the signal accurately without clipping, the woofer will also perform accurately and reliably, even at these levels.
Amplifier Power Recommendations
As noted in the Power-Handling Capacity section
above, the Sx500PI+ has a random-noise power capacity of 400-watts long term (1,600- watts peak)
per ANSI/EIA RS-426-A 1980. The following
guidelines will help relate this to an appropriate
power amplifier output rating.
Sx500PI+ 400-Watt Two-Way Weather-Resistant Speaker System
1. To use the Sx500PI+ to full capacity , skilled
experts in sound-system installation and operation will obtain the best results if the
power amplifier is 2.0 to 4.0 times the longterm average noise- power rating of the
speaker system. For the Sx500PI+, this is
800 to 1,600 watts.
The caution cannot be made strongly
enough, however, that this arrangement is
only for experts or those who can discipline
themselves against “pushing” the system for
ever-higher sound levels and who can avoid
“accidents” such as catastrophic feedback
or dropped microphones.
2. A more conservative, “normal” amplifier
size, which will produce audible results
nearly equal to those of the “expert” recommendation, is 1.0 to 1.4 times the longterm average noise-power rating of the
speaker. For the Sx500PI+, this is 400 to
640 watts.
3. To be very conservative, one can use an
amplifier rated at 0.5 to 0.7 times the longterm average noise-power rating of the
speaker. For the Sx500PI+, this is 200 to
280 watts.
Request P .A. Bible Addition No. T wo (“Power
Handling Capacity”) for more background on
these recommendations.
Service
In the unlikely event the Sx500PI+ requires service, the woofer can be removed from the front.
The high-frequency driver can be removed
from the rear by first removing the input panel.
A service data sheet is available from ElectroVoice.
Stand Mounting
When used on a stand, the stand must be placed
on a stable surface. The stand must be rated to
support systems of 38.6 kg (85 lb) or greater.
It must have a base diameter of 1.22 m (4 ft) or
greater. The bottom of the speaker should be
no higher than 1.52 m (5 ft) from the bottom of
the stand. The user must be sure that safe use
on a stand is not affected by wind or any other
conditions.
The Sx500PI+ can be mounted on the 100BK
speaker stand or any other stand with a
3
1
/8-inch diameter shaft.
Suspending Sx500PI+ Enclosures
WARNING: Suspending any object is
potentially dangerous and should be
attempted only by individuals who have a
thorough knowledge of the techniques and
regulations of rigging objects overhead.
Electro-V oice strongly recommends that the
Sx500PI+ be suspended taking into account
all current national, federal, state and local
regulations. It is the responsi-bility of the
installer to ensure the Sx500PI+ is safely
installed in accordance with all such
regulations. If the Sx500PI+ is suspended,
Electro-V oice strongly recommends that the
system be inspected at least once a year. If
any sign of weakness or damage is detected,
remedial action should be taken
immediately.
The Sx500PI+ enclosure contains eight
M8 x 1.25 inserts (see Figure 7) which are built
into the enclosure for the purpose of suspension. Before the enclosure is suspended, these
inserts are used to attach plates that hold the
two halves of the enclosure together in addition to providing a way to suspend the enclosure.
The suspension kits that are available for the
Sx500PI+ are listed below. Please refer to individual suspension-kit engineering data sheets
for full details and safety information.
The first approach is to suspend individual
Sx500PI+ enclosures. The Mb700 forged eyebolt attachment kit (see Figure 9) is an eyebolt
suspension kit. It includes a top and bottom
mounting plate to secure the two halves of the
enclosure, in addition to the necessary hardware. Typically it will be necessary to attach
two cables to the top eyebolts and to “pull-up”
on the bottom plate. The Mb500 wall/ceiling
mounting bracket (see Figure 8) encompasses
the top and bottom of the enclosure with a
bracket attached to the two plates to secure the
halves of the enclosure. Additionally, it has features to make suspending the Sx500PI+ easier
and more flexible. Electro-Voice recommends
the use of the Mb500 in all but the simplest
situations. The Mb500 has supplementary holes
to allow the Sx500PI+ to be attached to a wall
or ceiling and aimed at an audience.
The second approach is to suspend multiple
Sx500PI+ enclosures. The Sx500PI+ enclosure
is not designed to suspend multiple enclosures
from itself. If an “array” is required, then multiple Mb500’s must be used. Arrays may be
constructed vertically by “daisy chaining” two
Mb500’s from each other . The Mb600 horizontal array kit allows the easy and secure construction of horizontal arrays, using Mb500’s
to support the enclosure.
Weather-Resistant Mounting
When mounting the Sx500PI+ in a location
where a weather-resistant system is required,
a minimum of a five-degree down angle is recommended. (See Figure 10.) This will help
prevent any moisture from wicking through the
foam and mesh-backed grille and accumulating inside the enclosure under extreme weather
conditions.
Architects’ and Engineers’ Specifications
The loudspeaker shall be a compact ventedbox type. The low frequencies shall be reproduced with one horn-loaded DL15Sx-W
381-mm (15-in.) woofer. The high frequencies
shall be reproduced by a DH2T, high-frequency
compression driver with a pure-titanium diaphragm, coupled to a 75° x 60° constant-directivity horn molded into the front baffle of the
enclosure. The system will use a passive crossover-equalizer network with protection for the
high-frequency driver. The loudspeaker shall
meet the following performance criteria: frequency response of 66-16,000 Hz, –3 dB;
power handling of 400-watts long term and
1,600-watts short term, with a shaped randomnoise input per ANSI/EIA RS-426-A 1980;
sensitivity of 100-dB SPL at 1 meter with a 1watt, 300-2,000-Hz pink-noise input; 6dBdown horizontal coverage angle of 75° + 14°/
– 20° in the 2,000- to 16,000-Hz range; 6-dBdown vertical coverage angle of 60° +11°/
– 8° in the 2,000- to 16,000-Hz range; crossover frequency of 1,600 Hz; nominal impedance of 8 ohms and minimum impedance of
5.2 ohms in full-range mode. Paralleled input
and output connectors shall be present, consisting of Neutrik Speakon
®
NL4MP connectors. The enclosure shall be constructed of
polypropylene structural foam and fitted with
a powder-coated full-face stainless-steel grille
with foam backing and a polyester mesh water
shield, three integral handles, a stand socket
for mounting on 1
3
/8 -inch stands, rubber feet
and mating sockets to facilitate stacking. Dimensions shall be 838 mm (33 in.) high x 673
mm (26.5 in.) wide x 448 mm (17.63 in.) deep.
Net weight shall be 32.9 kg (72.5 lb).
The system shall be capable of producing average sound levels in excess of 126 dB in the
long term, and short-term peaks of 132 dB.
The loudspeaker system shall be the
Electro-Voice Sx500PI+.
Sx500PI+ 400-Watt Two-Way Weather-Resistant Speaker System
3
Sx500PI+ 400-Watt Two-Way Weather-Resistant Speaker System
Uniform Limited Warranty
Electro-V oice products are guaranteed against
malfunction due to defects in materials or
workmanship for a specified period, as noted
in the individual product-line statement(s) below, or in the individual product data sheet or
owner’s manual, beginning with the date of
original purchase. If such malfunction occurs
during the specified period, the product will
be repaired or replaced (at our option) without
charge. The product will be returned to the customer prepaid. Exclusions and Limitations:
The Limited Warranty does not apply to: (a)
exterior finish or appearance; (b) certain specific items described in the individual product-line statement(s) below, or in the individual
product data sheet or owner’s manual; (c) malfunction resulting from use or operation of the
product other than as specified in the product
data sheet or owner’s manual; (d) malfunction
resulting from misuse or abuse of the product;
or (e) malfunction occurring at any time after
repairs have been made to the product by anyone other than Electro-Voice Service or any
of its authorized service representatives.
Obtaining Warranty Service: T o obtain warranty service, a customer must deliver the product, prepaid, to Electro-Voice Service or any
of its authorized service representatives together with proof of purchase of the product in
the form of a bill of sale or receipted invoice.
A list of authorized service representatives is
available from Electro-Voice Service at
600 Cecil Street, Buchanan, MI 49107
(800/234-6831 or FAX 616/695-4743). Inci-
dental and Consequential Damages Excluded: Product repair or replacement and re-
turn to the customer are the only remedies provided to the customer. Electro-Voice shall not
be liable for any incidental or consequential
damages including, without limitation, injury
to persons or property or loss of use. Some
states do not allow the exclusion or limitation
of incidental or consequential damages so the
above limitation or exclusion may not apply to
you. Other Rights: This warranty gives you
specific legal rights, and you may also have
other rights which vary from state to state.
Electro-Voice Speakers and Speaker Systems are guaranteed against malfunction due
to defects in materials or workmanship for a
period of five (5) years from the date of original purchase. The Limited Warranty does not
apply to burned voice coils or malfunctions
such as cone and/or coil damage resulting from
improperly designed enclosures. Electro-V oice
active electronics associated with the speaker
systems are guaranteed for three (3) years from
the date of original purchase. Additional details are included in the Uniform Limited Warranty statement.
For warranty repair, service information, or a
listing of the repair facilities nearest you, contact the service repair department at:
616/695-6831 or 800/685-2606.
For technical assistance, contact Technical
Support at 800/234-6831 or 616/695-6831,
M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard
time.
Specifications subject to change without notice.
Sx500PI+ 400-Watt Two-Way Weather-Resistant Speaker System
4
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