steve_k
New member
Time to replace these old Yamaha PA speakers made in Bumfuct. What's hot and what's not?
thegame
Well-known member
steve_k":3a42hf23 said:
EV12Ls. Believe it or not, originally intended as full range PA drivers !
moltenmetalburn
Active member
Eminence delta 12 a , not the pro version. $89, indestructible and sound great. Can be used as pa, guitar or bass. I actually have a cabinet that has been used for all three depending on the situation. Great all purpose driver.
glpg80
Well-known member
Another for EV's - the only ones i would consider if doing it right the first time.
billm408
New member
If you're looking for passive speakers, I've got a pair of EAW's that have been great. Did a lot of comparison shopping beforehand (JBL, EV, Yamaha, Yorkville, etc...) and have never regretted the decision.
blackba
Well-known member
I am confused are you looking at replacing the drivers in the yamahas or getting all new speakers?
The Yamaha club series are actually some pretty nice speakers, especially for the money.
The Yamaha club series are actually some pretty nice speakers, especially for the money.
tweed
New member
check out the Alto's Steve, Ralph turned me onto them and they are pretty damn nice! Not top of the line QSC but damn close!
IndyWS6
Well-known member
QSC powered cabinets.
I spent hours A/B-ing QSC, JBL and Mackie at Sweetwater's Gear Fest and went in fully expecting to walk out with JBL's. They were clearly inferior and placed last. Mackie was a close second but lost out due to a number of warranty-related issues on the HD series. The QSC's have been rock solid and all of the local bands envy our PA. Granted, there are more upscale options available, but for the places we play, the QSC's rock. They also have a 6-year warranty. Definitely on my "no regrets" list.
A pair of KW181's and a pair of KW153's - easily fills a 200 - 300 person venue.
I spent hours A/B-ing QSC, JBL and Mackie at Sweetwater's Gear Fest and went in fully expecting to walk out with JBL's. They were clearly inferior and placed last. Mackie was a close second but lost out due to a number of warranty-related issues on the HD series. The QSC's have been rock solid and all of the local bands envy our PA. Granted, there are more upscale options available, but for the places we play, the QSC's rock. They also have a 6-year warranty. Definitely on my "no regrets" list.
A pair of KW181's and a pair of KW153's - easily fills a 200 - 300 person venue.
rcm78
New member
I use JBL 618XLF subs with 615 mains. Sound great and IMO better then the QSC K series boxes...
IndyWS6
Well-known member
Those particular JBL subs were on the list of cabinets I compared. The QSC KW181's destroyed them (perceived volume, throw, coverage, clarity when pushed, etc). Everyone has different opinions, but I found the QSC's to be far superior. For the sake of clarity, I'm talking about the KW series - not the K series...rcm78":w4s1jsb3 said:
Cheers
rcm78
New member
IndyWS6":uyk9b254 said:
I've heard the KW series are in a different class. I directly compared the K Series. The subs were 2 12" drivers. The JBL's are 18". The XLF is a great sub. We love them... The K series stuff fell apart when pushed...
IndyWS6
Well-known member
The KW 181 has a single 18" sub in a birch cabinet with all the cool DSP doo-dads. It slats...rcm78":1l7w5ddw said:
steve_k
New member
I was thinking to replace the complete system, including the cabinets. These old carpeted boxes have served their purpose. The crossovers and horns are probably toast and lack clarity lately. The subs are still good though. Got plenty of power amps, so looking for passive options.
sixstringking713
New member
mackie SRM450s for mains and SRM350 for monitor for my band's small PA. Was big enough for the bars we played around upstate NY atleast. Only things pushed through the PA were vocals and the Kick.
When I used to run sound on the side, those active QSC's rocked for sure but I couldnt justify spending that cash when we weren't playing big enough places.
When I used to run sound on the side, those active QSC's rocked for sure but I couldnt justify spending that cash when we weren't playing big enough places.
steve_k
New member
sixstringking713":553pe2rr said:
For an active system, what sort of wattage and speaker systems (sub/mid/high) were you running? Maybe looking at an active system would be something to take a look at. For a full on, mic'd up 4 piece band in say a 400 person venue, what is optimal? Under power and clipping active PA is what I am unsure of.
snowdog
Active member
Buy whatever Shark Diver posted last week in his rig thread, they looked to kick all kinds of ass.
IndyWS6
Well-known member
Steve - I wouldn't hesitate to use my PA in a 400 person venue. I've considered an additional pair of subs, but have yet to play a place where I can justify the expense. It's a want - not something that has ever really been needed. The QSC's are 1,000W nominal and 2,000W peak, each, so we're pushing 4,000 watts out front at idle. With this setup you don't need a crossover (that funtion is built-in to the speaker), or an old school tri-amp setup. I chose to add a Driverack PX for speaker optimization and feedback suppression, although we used the system without that for 6 months with great results. That unit pushes the lows to the subs and all mid/highs to the KW153's where the on-board crossovers do the work. I also have 3 dual channel DBX Compressor/Limiters in the effects rack that gives us 6 channels of compression we can use as needed. This particular system has never felt underpowered. There's only one venue where we pushed it really hard, but that was a space large enough for 800+ with 30-foot ceilings. And we still had headroom available. We use this for a 5-piece band and routinely use 24 (or more) channels. We mic everything (12 channels for the drums alone) and get great results.steve_k":vzlcanz3 said:
I love the powered solution. We're not lugging a rack of amps around with us and the ease of setup/teardown combined with the substantial drop in current draw is a huge plus. Just my .02...
rcm78
New member
IndyWS6":3uokm4et said:
My experience with our JBL system is very close to this... We dont have as many channels and only one two channel compressor (Kick and Lead Vocal) but powered speakers are definitely the way to go!!!
The one thing IndyWS6 didnt mention was how light these boxes are. Our 618XLF subs can be carried by one person with ease. The 2 615 mains can be carried by one person. Putting the mains on the poles is easy.
Go ahead and compare the weight of passive vs powered speakers. The powered option is a no brainer!!!
richardt4520
Member
Steve, I'm with Indy. I had the money to buy whatever I wanted and spent a lot of time comparing side by side. The 3 way QSC KW153s sounded smoothest from top to bottom with no weird peaks or dips like you usually get with 2 way systems.
guitarmike
Well-known member
I might not buy powered pa speakers if I play in heat. My church has a pair of higher end Mackie's that we used in a 4th of July parade and they could not handle the heat and shut down. Powered speakers like power amps need to be kept cool, if you cannot get a fan blowing on them, consistent temps over 90f will kill powered speakers.