Bishopsound UK

[paul007]

Hi,

Just a quick question, has anyone heard of Bishopsound in the UK and has anyone got any experience using their PA speakers? I have read some reviews that they have excellent sound quality but I am just after another opinion?

Hope someone can help.

Thanks Paul

[Michael Harrison]

I spend 99% of my professional time running live sound (and lusting over potential related purchases!) and I've NEVER seen, heard, read of or even been offered any of their products...

[Hugh Robjohns]

BishopSound appears to have grown out of the former Carlsboro company:

https://bishopsound.com/about/history/

We've never reviewed any of their equipment AFAIK

H

[Michael Harrison]

Out of curiosity, I did a little Googling. Results were... interesting.

This, from their own website:

"British sound is better than french sound. Customers say Bishopsound beats L-Acoustics on sound quality and value for money" [sic]

Nationalistic statements & poor grammar aside; those are some bold statements.

L'Acoustics make some of the finest loudspeakers money can buy. It's not inconceivable that they could be bettered on performance (they're NOT without reasonable competition; but you'll pay DEARLY for *subjectively* better) OR cost (they're not cheap) but to claim *both* is pretty ambitious, IMO. Then there's the questionable etiquette of singling out & claiming superiority over one specific (and well-regarded) competitor...

This, from their product description on Amazon:

"Modern Styling Combined With Sensational Thumping British Tone"

...caused me to raise an eyebrow; quite a bit. Also:

"Beta 18″Sub Bass 1000w RMS 8Ω The Beta 18″ Sub woofer we believe provides the tightest and most defined bass frequency response available in the UK today. Finished in Heavy Duty blach splatter paint it will withstand all the knocks and scrapes gathered through touring. DJ's love these sub-woofers. Black Betty has never sounded so good! For Church applications the low frequency response will move the congregation during reproduction of the spoken word, hymns or more evangelical music. Model Beta 118 SUB (Textured Black Paint) System Type 18″ (Subwoofer) Frequency Range 35~150 hz Impedance 8 OHM Power RMS (W) 1000 Power PROG (W) 2000 (4000w Peak) LF (Power/Sensitivity) 1000w/121dB HF(Power/Sensitivity) / Nominal Coverage / Sensitivity (1w/1m)(dB) 108dB Max SPL (dB) 125dB Cross over (Hz) 150hz Connection 4 Pole connector Cabinet size 520*680*600mm (Cabinet MDF) Carton size 580*740*660 mm Product Weight 48Kg/51Kg Top Hat Inverted in top of cab for pole mount You can call John Roberts 07966 133139 or email john@bishopsound.com at anytime for more details We are PA experts and would be pleased to help you. See all details here:http://bishopsound.com/bs-product/bb15s-beta-115-sub/"

...asides containing further questionable statements & reading like the proverbial dog's dinner; doesn't actually make much sense & is potentially incorrect in at least one instance!!

Now, I'm not saying the brand is NOT any good, but -

They make some seriously questionable/laughable statements

Their products are priced on a par with semi-pro/budget-pro equipment; yet claim to outdo L'Acoustics

Their own published specifications vary between inconsistent & underwhelming

They exhibit a sub-par grasp of the English language; despite flying the flag of 'proud British heritage' (I can think of other groups that do this - I'm not a fan of them either)

Based on the above, I personally would never be inclined to pursue any of their products - that market point has some very stiff competition. Furthermore, if I ever receive advance tech spec for a venue offering a BS (!!) system, I'll be likely to reject the tender & request that they hire in a L'Acoustics system for the show instead!!

But, that's just me.

[Bishopsound]

Just for the record - it is my customers comparing Bishopsound to other makers not me. I just concentrate on making the best sounding speakers at the most affordable price. In future when customers compare me with the others I will not publish it.

I apologise for the bad grammar and I will improve on this. The measurements are from our tests and customers tests and will just give you a guide.

If anyone would like to hear my speakers please let me know and i will try to put you in touch with a user local to you.

I also have plans to tone down the use of the Union Flag. I apologise for offending you. I am happy to answer any questions on the phone or by email andrew@bishopsound.com

Thank you for all the comments.
Andrew
Bishopsound.com

[Hugh Robjohns]

Welcome to the SOS forums Andrew. I'm sure all our members will appreciate you taking the time to respond to their comments and interest. I look forward to reading more about your products, and maybe even some reviews in the magazine.

H

[Eventtechsw]

Let me help you all out here.

I have a small sound and lighting company in Plymouth. We like yourselves had never heard of Bishopsound until about a month ago.

After speaking with Andrew we decided to go for one of his outdoor rigs for a few festivals we had coming up.

Now we weren't sure and we knew he had his 30 day money back guarantee so we couldn't really lose much. We got the system and tried it out and WOW! My sound engineer is fussy as hell and he was impressed by the throw and the clarity of the speakers.

We have a smaller KV2 rig which was over 3 times the price of the Bishopsound system and i'm going to stand here and say the quality of sound is on par! You heard me right! I'm comparing this to our KV2 rig! Put it this way. We will not be using Andrews money back guarantee.

[MarkPAman]

Interesting

As a regular KV2 user, of many of their smaller systems, and up to the ES, I’d be very interested in which of their systems you’re comparing, to which Bishop Sound system.

All of the KV2 is very good, and some is absolutely stunning. At a demo day I attended recently, they were keen to point out the size advantage their systems have over most coparible stuff*. How big is what you have?

* Pair of 5” was quite enough for speech in the 800ish seat theatre, while the largest they had with them literally vibrated my eyeballs yet still sounded clean, for the couple of seconds they turned it up all the way.

[MarkPAman]

No reply?

well there's a surprise!

[Eventtechsw]

Hi Mark,

Sorry for the delay in my reply.

We have a pair of KV2 EX12 tops with a pair of EX2.5 subs which we use for small/medium size venues. Cant take anything away from that system its amazing but for the price i stand by what i said above.

Don't knock it until you've tried it.

[MarkPAman]

That's a good sounding system, I've used it several times, though not right up with their best IMO, and is certainly not something I'd choose for an outdoor event of any size.

[Eventtechsw]

Its a lovely sounding system and yes your right its not man enough for outside hence looking for a larger system and buying the Bishopsound system.

[MartinTremor]

All his stuff is made in China and can be bought on Alibaba site and made in China it's the same as sanway just rebadged and the figures do not add up in the slightest

Take the dual 21" sub 29-1000hz

Who puts 1000hz through a 21" driver?

Granted he's a good salesman

Wouldn't trust his equipment as far as I could throw it

Better than kv2 l'acoustic hmm his stuff isn't even on par with Peavey

[Mike Stranks]

Old thread I know, but I've never heard anything less than eye-wateringly expensive (for me) that comes anywhere close to KV2 gear. Superb kit.

[Sam Spoons]

That bump prompted me to have another look at the Bishopsound website and WRT improbably claims this review seems particularly improbable (unless the L'Acoustics system was particularly badly set up).

"I used my Beta 12 for a small tour launching the http://www.resoundworship.org album Songs for Sundays. Four dates. The first two using the house system, the second two using mine. We started with a very nice L Acoustics setup and next had a Fohhn install. By far the best sound was on the third night, in a 15th century church, pairing the Bishopsound Beta12s with compact Thomann 12″ subs, crossed with a Behringer DCX and powered by a Thomann TSA-4700. We ended with a larger venue, much higher SPL with the same setup. I always think it’s foolish to suggest a £299 pair of speakers are better than something costing thousands, but sound wise, in this context, these speakers more than held their own. They sounded great. This was their first serious outing. I feared after the first night I’d be left pining for the L Acoustics gear that venue had. I wasn’t. I can see that physically these speaker may not stand up to a great deal of careless handling without looking tatty, but that’s about the only criticism I can level at them. I can’t recommend these highly enough, not just for the money but for the sound. These really do rival cabinets costing a great deal more."

Even if the BS speakers are as good as they say the 12" Berry subs they teamed them with certainly are not capable of approaching the L'Acoustics.....

[Wonks]

Take the dual 21" sub 29-1000hz

Who puts 1000hz through a 21" driver?

No one. That's the spec for the driver itself. The specifications for it also say "Crossover 150Hz". I admit that the information is poorly laid out, and I have no idea whether it has a 150Hz LPF built in, or that's the recommended crossover frequency for an external active crossover, but you certainly wouldn't want to put up to 1kHz through it.

The sensitivity figures are also all over the place, but I'd ignore all but the maximum SPL figure of 125dB, (which isn't all that loud for a big sub). If you took the 120dB sensitivity @1W @1m figure seriously, then at 1500W, it should (in theory) push out an SPL of over 150dB at 1m. I think not.

There is also an issue of what it looks like. The photo for the single Delta 21" sub shows a very different looking sub for the 2 x Delta 21" sub picture (the proportions are all wrong for it to be the same speaker)!

https://bishopsound.com/speakers/beta-21-sub-2000w-rms-1#register

It's not a product I would consider, especially with such a paucity of information and so much conflicting information as well.

So yes, lots of bad information which If I was selling the stuff I'd certainly sort out and present the true facts. But if you know anything about speakers and were faintly interested in the product, you can sort of work out what's going on, and would contact Bishopsound to ask more questions.

[paulears]

I've been a happy Carlsbro customer for years and I think we'll be buying one of his big rig systems shortly, as they're too good value to not take the chance. I also note he now has some line arrays - 4 boxes in a flight case for two grand. Tempting. I was under the impression he makes the speaker boxes and just imports the amps from China - which in all fairness, so do plenty of people.

I understand that people are sceptical, but until somebody (SOS??) does a review, we can only guess. Especially as he sells direct and not through normal outlets.

Could SOS do a review?

[Wonks]

If they ask to be reviewed and provide a sample.

[Hugh Robjohns]

It's possible we could review it, but no promises. Live-sound products are only a small sub-section of the magazine content, and there are a lot of different live-sound products competing for the strictly limited space available.

Havi g said that, if Bishopsound wanted to get the ball rolling he could make contact with the relevant section subeditor, Chris Korff...

H

[stevetrumpet]

I saw a 10 piece band last night. Two 15 tops and two big subs. Big system but I was left hugely unimpressed. I’ve seen this band at other venues with different PA speakers. This PA sounded incredibly boxy and struggled with the strong vocalists voice, she sounded like she was really struggling and it all sounded harsh and strained. I used to run 8 - 12 musicians through two RCF 745a’s and they outperformed this massive system with ease.

In fairness to the system though, it could be the soundguy.

[Wonks]

I saw a 10 piece band last night. Two 15 tops and two big subs. Big system but I was left hugely unimpressed. I’ve seen this band at other venues with different PA speakers. This PA sounded incredibly boxy and struggled with the strong vocalists voice, she sounded like she was really struggling and it all sounded harsh and strained. I used to run 8 - 12 musicians through two RCF 745a’s and they outperformed this massive system with ease.

In fairness to the system though, it could be the soundguy.

Was this a Bishopsound system?

[stevetrumpet]

Yes. I hadn’t heard of you guys until I looked at the speakers to see what they were. As I said it could have been the soundguy.

[Astrokye]

I'm about to take delivery of the BSP12 speaker from Bishop Sound. Obviously, I'm interested in the specifications for the speaker compared to the BDP12 which is rated 100W more than the one that I've ordered. Whereas there's a lot of detail in the spec, and notably the BDP version voice coil is 75mm rather than 50mm for the BSP. Can I take a straw pole of SOS users of how many users think that the SPL vs Frequency response could be exactly the same for the two speakers? Franky, if they are identicle that would be an incredible achievement if it were deliberate. LOL!

[jamseeboy]

Hi all, I have 4 pairs of the little 15inch subs and the 12s and 10s tops all passive. In a small theatre on there own I had to turn them down! Amazing speakers - the 10s I have to take a frequency out as they a little harsh. I did sound for a mate outside in a pub beer garden 2x15subs with 2x10 tops and it sang with a 5 piece band with acoustic drums. Value for money if you are starting out, you will not be disappointed. My other sound and band friends are so impressed with these units. I think they are amazing.