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Topic: best powered speakers

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GEMINI...........PEAVEY..........MACKIE..........JBL..............ETC..
 
Posted Sun 11 Apr 10 @ 12:15 am
For me Mackie & JBL's.
 
VERSE, very small italian quality speakers
 
Yea had 5 different PRX 515s before giving up on them (random static issues). Think JBL and Crown have cheapend up the design a bit too much this time. They are not the quality companies that they were once known to be. Hope that changes because they sounded great at high volumes. Which brings me to my next point, the Sound Gate "feature" is really annoying. All to reduce audible hiss at low volumes. Play a slower quite song and the voulme is all over the place (fluctuates on its own). Nuff said....

I run a pair of Mackie SRM 450s on a generator in a field for 10 hours at a clip, all October for 2 years now and you just can't beat them. They seem indestructable. I hide them in large cabinets because they look small on my 40 foot stage. But EVRYBODY has commented how great they sound and ask what they are. When I show them off, everybody has the same response, "REALLY!"

Not to knock my QSC K12s, I like them. I don't beat them mercilessly like the Mackies, so I am not as impressed yet (still new). But they sound good, they are the only speakers that I know of with built in fans, locking power cords and a 6 year warranty from the factory. They are so small, I can fit 2 - K12s, My K Sub and all my gear in my wife's car, in one shot! They are a great mobile DJ system. The only draw back is price, but even that is not too bad.

To sum it up, if I had to do it again, I would probably go with Mackies. They sound almost as good as the QSCs for about $500 less and take a beating. Instant on at high volumes and shutting the generator off while the speakers are still on, makes a really bad noise (I work with some non "tech savy" people at times).

QSC is my favorite, if I had the money to spend. JBL, not an option at this point, that was 5 - PRX 515 speakers (thier better line with Crown amps) in 2 months. Guitar Center said they would not swap them anymore, they thought I was breaking them (used in 1 show and practice at my house) or making it up. They suggested QSC with the 6 year factory warranty, as I had to spend more money if I wanted them to take back the JBLs and I was NOT going to get stuck with that mess.

Good luck.
 
What about gemini...i found a package deal 2 Gemini RS4212-1 wit stands and wires for under 450.00 usd 1600 watts wat u think.
 
Mackie & RCF.
 
Hands down Mackie 450s! Don't buy Gemini, they are cheaply made and will not last.
 
The Neighbors are probably compalining about the loud music LOL
 
thx peeps keep it comin
 
@Caliente

No, not at all. I live in a home up in the hills above my city and they are all newer homes up here that were custom built with very high quality construction and insulation. When I walk outside in the front, once I pass my driveway I can even hardly hear the music, and that is even when it is extremely loud inside!



DJ RuDe
 
Nice... Over by me, The houses are built with just barely passing standards. @ Perico.. Yorkville, JBL & QSC speakers sound good.
 
@ Caliente good look fam.........@ Rude check ur messages bro
 
im involved with a lot of ghetto parties the speakers used arent that great. we dont care about sound too much. i guess the talent makes up for it.
one time our speakers died and we called in these other boys from the burbs to save us. they brought in some funny lookin jbl's. i could sense some trouble just by the way they were pushing those things in. they had wheels.
when they plugged them in for a sound test i could feel my insides shaking. the bass was like i was exploding from within. that was a pretty good party and the best party i was involved with. i dont know what the fuc the model of that sub was. but it was only one but enough to bring that whole hall down. there were about 400 ppl in there.

jbl's are no joke.
















buy cheap buy twice.
 
@Ghettotech

Dude, then if you thought those JBL were the ish, you really need to hear my QSC HPRs... Oh my God! These babies will rock a house till the roof falls in trust me on that one. With my two 18" subs and two 3 way 15" tops all individually powered and using a dbx DriveRack PX and a BBE 882i Sonic Maximizer this set up will shake your freakin' shoes off with the bass!


DJ RuDe
 
Agreed, Rude, your setup is awsome! It sounded like it was bringing you camera's mic or my laptop speakers to it knees. That is exactly what I would get for big shows.

One question - what song was playing just after he said 1 more time? I am slowly getting into house/techno and it sounds great.

If I worked more than a few shows a year (for more than 100 people a show) , I would consider it. QSC rocks for powered speakers. K series is awsome for how compact it is. K Sub is a little "mussy" sounding, but the Aphex 204 seems to sharpen that right up. Then it all fits in a car, if you are mobile!

JBL is not what they use to be, period.
 
@Rude That sounds like a Killer setup! I've seen those QSC tops with JBL Jrx subs as well and like the QSC sub better. I'm a huge fan of JBL, but QSC makes some nice gear.
 
RCF!!!
 
for big pasa pasa jams... Yorkville's are loud as hell.
 
I've gone back to passive and am having better success rate being able to play at louder volumes without the dreaded red lights flashing.

I'll give you an example, you have a pair of top line RCF and then you have a pair of FBT's and a Crown XTI 4000, the FBT rig will perform better and have less wires. Then again there a big difference in price which makes it an unfair comparison, in short actives ok if you have enough of it, rudes tops and bottoms will be enough for any gig he does no doubt but if you were to just go out with the tops it would have to be a really small gig.
 
Hi, I found a great and awesome article that compares the Behringer B215A to the Tapco TH-15A.

These are some of the things the guy said:


"At the end of the day you need to decide what you want these speakers for. If you want studio near
field monitoring and stage use don't get the Thump. The Behringers in this respect where the better
speakers in terms of low level noise although they were less controlled higher up. Buy these speaker
for what they are designed to do which is provide high levels of audio to an audience, in an
environment where the slightest background noise plays no part at all"

"The Thumps at
these high levels really do sound better than the Behringers, they are simply less distorted and lower
frequencies are so much more controlled. That is not to say the Behringers are poor, they were very
good and to be honest there were times in the mid range they sounded better than the Thumps. It
was great fun playing these speakers at these levels outside and must admit I was taken back
slightly by the high bass levels they all produced. Either of these speakers would be great for a
small mobile disco or wedding set-up. Make sure you get decent speaker stands though. I had some
old lighter weight stands which the Thumps managed to destroy; it might have been due to someone
falling into them but it sounds much better to say that. “the Thumps destroyed the speaker stands
with there massive sound levels”.

"After this day of testing these speaker all the people that listened to them all rated both sets of
speaker highly. Most liked the control in the low end that the Thumps had and detailed highs, they
felt the Behringers probably had more mid range detail but this was about 50/50."

"The band were asked at the end of the session which speaker they would take away with them if
they had the choice, all when for the Tapco Thumps. Stereotypically they all said the Behringers
sounded great but were shit build and wouldn't survive a few weeks gigs."

Thump TH-15A
Pros: great sound, very good controlled bass and detail highs
Good build quality
Seeming long life and reliability based on internet research,
Mackie association.
Very light weight cabs
Cons: Grills a bit flimsy
Mid range is not as punchy as highs and lows
Can get muddy is not stand mounted.
Digital artefact noise at low levels, gate apparent at very low volume.

Eurolive B-215A
Pros: very clear sound with good detail throughout range
Solid build, After a year of abuse the B215A plastic housing still looked very good
Nice design with recessed switches.
Current product still in product range
Cons: Reliability – easy to find negative comments on internet (subjective)
Not as controlled with more distortion at high levels
Go for the B315A over the B215A, better tweeters and can be found at the same price.


This is a very good and informative article!
 


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