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Mackie Thump Boosted 15BST 15" Powered Speaker Pro Review Express


Chris Loeffler

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What's a Pro Review Express? We've done them before, and they're essentially light versions of the Pro Review format pioneered by Craig Anderton nearly a decade ago. By evaluating a piece of gear in real time over the course of a month, we have an opportunity to not only take a deeper diver and indulge in asides, but also to answer questions and check out features the community is truly interested in trying out.

 

About a month ago I received two Mackie Thump Boosted 15" powered monitors to pair and evaluate, which is what we'll be documenting here.

 

 

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Before even hopping into the Thump, it's worth a quick walk-through of the Thump Connect app. The Thump Connect app is an exact digital replica of the back mixer on the Thump Boosted speakers, and is one of the more seamless set-up for Wi-FI/Bluetooth connectivity I've experienced in a MI product. Maybe I've been burned by too many complicated, buggy, and poorly designed connection protocols, but I tend to grimace when I'm given a product to review that has Bluetooth connectivity based on how spotty they are. In a live situation, there's no room for Bluetooth dropping out!

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As I am currently in the process of moving, I found myself somewhat restricted on music studio work this week, so I chose to have some fun with the Mackies and set them up with my home theater system (currently compromised due to half of it being boxed up!).

 

Wow.

 

While I don’t run a $10k+ audiophile setup, I was pretty happy with my sound bars and satellite speakers until o dropped the Thumps in. Unlike studio monitors I’ve played with in the past, which made poor audio mixes on most movies so grating to my ears that I immediately removed them, these speakers sounded sweet and crisp, and their affection for low-end married beautifully with action movies like Annihilation and Predators (yes, I still want that movie to be better than it is).

 

Hmmm... how might I rationalize a 1000 watt audio solution in my living room...

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Have you had any experience with the Mackie Thump 15 non boosted version compared to these? As far as I can see the main differance is the on board DSP, but there is a big price differance here is Australia.

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I have played with both, and there is more of a difference than the DSP. The biggest difference is the wireless control and app integration. It is incredibly helpful if you ever see yourself needing to tweak the PA away from the physical unit, like during sound check without a house sound guy or even just while playing.

 

Sonically, I think they are a bit beefier than I recall the original Thump I reviewed to be.

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