What kind of speakers does Disneyland use?

[Rodolfito]

In terms of background sound...I have heard compaq but I am not sure someone know?

[MasterGracey1969]

The little mushroom ones, IDK if they're called compact.

[Rockstar1986]

I know Disney uses a mixture of EAW, JBL and Meyer Speakers. Most of their speakers are modified to withstand the exterior elements.

[Robert Cook]

In terms of background sound...

Do you mean on the ride vehicles or in outdoor areas of the park? They use a wide variety of PA (public address)-type speakers from different pro-audio companies. The parade route speakers, for example, are from EAW (KF300 series I think) and are supplemented by hidden custom-designed subwoofers (otherwise they're only strong down to 100 Hz in that size venue). They're similar to equipment that bands would use for live sound, albeit better (and pricier) than most. Equipment from other companies such as Meyer and JBL are used throughout the property and inside attractions (I'm sure the speakers in some of the rides are pretty old by now, though). The smallest PA speakers mounted on poles are common JBL Control 25s. Arrays of many speakers are used in major shows such as Fantasmic! (which currently uses a system supplied by d&b audiotechnik). I'm not sure what speakers are used on ride vehicles--probably mostly JBLs (custom installations), like many of the attraction speakers, but that's just a guess.

These are not the same type of speakers you'll generally find on the home audio market. They're designed to have high levels of output for their size and price, and in some cases weather resistance.

I have heard compaq but I am not sure someone know?

What does a computer company have to do with speakers?

[hurricanefreak]

It has to vary by type environment and show

[HighLeveller]

As an aside, does anybody know if the subs are a recent addition, like in the past couple years? Back when started going to DL on a regular basis (once in 2006, regularly beginning in 2007) I recall a lack of low-end support along the parade route, enough for me to comment on a blog or site somewhere that "large-scale subwoofers hidden in the bushes" would be a good idea. Then (I don't recall when), I was noticing improvement in places like the hub and eventually found there were indeed subs.

[Robert Cook]

As an aside, does anybody know if the subs are a recent addition, like in the past couple years? Back when started going to DL on a regular basis (once in 2006, regularly beginning in 2007) I recall a lack of low-end support along the parade route, enough for me to comment on a blog or site somewhere that "large-scale subwoofers hidden in the bushes" would be a good idea. Then (I don't recall when), I was noticing improvement in places like the hub and eventually found there were indeed subs.

They may have added more subs or upgraded the installations they already had, but I don't even remember when bass reinforcement along the parade route was lacking by today's standards (well, maybe in some spots). For example, I thought that The Lion King Celebration parade/street show sounded pretty decent at the low end, and that was way back in 1994. I'm positive that they had subwoofers back then, but I don't have any details on the equipment being used and when.

Maybe they use Bose Acoustimass modules...DAAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA! Oh God, I slay myself!

But seriously, it seems that WDI or somebody at Disney built their own subwoofers using drivers from an outside vendor.

[Goover]

At first I thought you meant speakers as in announcers.

I was going to say some guy with a really generic voice.

[HighLeveller]

They may have added more subs or upgraded the installations they already had, but I don't even remember when bass reinforcement along the parade route was lacking by today's standards (well, maybe in some spots). For example, I thought that The Lion King Celebration parade/street show sounded pretty decent at the low end, and that was way back in 1994. I'm positive that they had subwoofers back then, but I don't have any details on the equipment being used and when.

I was thinking this too possibly, and likely just wasn't in the right places where the better low-end is.

Maybe they use Bose Acoustimass modules...DAAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA! Oh God, I slay myself!

I'm partial to the Thunder Table myself

But seriously, it seems that WDI or somebody at Disney built their own subwoofers using drivers from an outside vendor.

If they can build a theme park and rides and big shows and stuff, they can certainly build a speaker cabinet.

[Robert Cook]

Oh, duh, a simple search for "+disneyland +speakers" (no quotes) on Google got the following hit:

Disneyland Speakers

There are a couple of good links in there, too.

I was thinking this too possibly, and likely just wasn't in the right places where the better low-end is.

Not surprisingly, you'll get better bass response wherever they can hide a sufficient number of subwoofers, such as around the Hub. It's not easy to reproduce loud bass (for loud shows--maybe overly loud these days, but that's a different topic) in a wide-open, outdoor venue. Some concert venues literally have stacks of subwoofers (you can probably see them out in the open at the Fantasyland Theater, although I haven't been there since the Snow White show ended).

By the way, the reason that many car subwoofers are so loud is that the car itself acts as a resonator, and together with the usual acoustic suspension subwoofer enclosure inside, the system acts as a huge "sixth-order band-pass" subwoofer (the whole car). The result is incredibly loud bass, but the tradeoff is that it's practically one-note bass, which is not suitable for high quality music reproduction.

I'm partial to the Thunder Table myself

I can definitely see where this person's priorities lie with the relatively small TV placed off-center, the ordinary-looking speakers, and three subwoofers including this monster.

Looking at the system critically, however, I'd replace the amp with a far more powerful one from Crown or Behringer, or else there may be serious power compression. The EP1500, for example, should maximize the performance of this subwoofer with headroom to spare at a very affordable price. Stuffing the box with poly-fill might help tighten the bass up a bit, too.