PRX618s-XLF's and good matched tops

[nchangin]

I hope this subject isn't beating on a overly discussed subject. I currently run 4 MRX 518's 2 MRX 515's, not paid for, working on that, great speakers and love them.  518's are run off qsc 2450 and 515's off yamaha cp2000. crossover dbx 223.

Passive: In the future if I were to upgrade I would want to go the SRX route, however they are hard to find and I am very reluctant to go used on any speakers and I think the SRX 715 would be a nice speaker however they require 800 wpc which means need to upgrade my yamaha, the QSC I suppose I could bridge to run 2 SRX 718's but reluctant to bridge.

Research has yielded that if I went SRX route it would be best to match up with a drive rack or just use the DBX 223, so the drive rack is another chunk of change (not to mention the learning curve of using it)

Active: What if I went with 2 PRX618 XLF's to lighten the load, drop the amps, only have to move 2 subs vs 4, what would be a good match for tops? It seems the XLF's are in their own class as they come from VRX series, will the PRX series in 15's or 12's match up well with that sub or that sub simply in a class of it's own? If they would match up it seems most recommended on here is the 12's over the XLF's, but will the 12's keep up with XLF's? However I like to have 15's for those small shows where no subs are needed.

Would the SRX option would have an upper hand over the PRX route? If so how much?

I'm in the sticks don't have access to hear any of this live unfortunately, and as always thank you for your input!

[monthlymixcd]

I have a small powered rig for pro-bono DJ work... or just to loan out for neighborhood block parties, etc... but the main band gear is still rack and stacks. I've use the former for smallish bar gigs for the full band and while it got the job done there was NO headroom and it made me uncomfortable. So, I picked up a pair of used PRX615s and a single PRX618XLF sub (will add another when funds allow) to replace the passive system... which we'll keep as backup or for shows where we need lots of coverage. All that to say, I'm sort of in the same boat...

I was shopping for a pair of 635s (we're a 12-piece band w/ horns) but finding no scorching deals on those used around here (and reading that I might be better off with 2-ways above the XLFs that were my endgame anyway) I popped on a good deal I found on the 615s. They go pretty low and the kick sounds pretty punchy through them without subs (good enough for those smallish bar gigs anyway). I know they won't match up as well w/ the subs as the 612s, but well enough to justify having the option to run just tops for the small stuff.

To your Q, I love the 615s so far (and I've heard the 612s as well) and my initial impressions are that a pair of XLFs will be needed to keep up with the tops (not vice versa)... at full volume. I can tell you that the single 618XLF is just enough to hang with the 615s at moderate volumes... for our use as live band SR. YMMV...

[nchangin]

 

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monthlymixcd wrote:

 

 

I have a small powered rig for pro-bono DJ work... or just to loan out for neighborhood block parties, etc... but the main band gear is still rack and stacks. I've use the former for smallish bar gigs for the full band and while it got the job done there was NO headroom and it made me uncomfortable. So, I picked up a pair of used PRX615s and a single PRX618XLF sub (will add another when funds allow) to replace the passive system... which we'll keep as backup or for shows where we need lots of coverage. All that to say, I'm sort of in the same boat...

 

I

was

shopping for a pair of 635s (we're a 12-piece band w/ horns) but finding no scorching deals on those used around here (and reading that I might be better off with 2-ways above the XLFs that were my endgame anyway) I popped on a good deal I found on the 615s. They go pretty low and the kick sounds pretty punchy through them without subs (good enough for those smallish bar gigs anyway). I know they won't match up as well w/ the subs as the 612s, but well enough to justify having the option to run just tops for the small stuff.

 

To your Q, I love the 615s so far (and I've heard the 612s as well) and my initial impressions are that a pair of XLFs will be needed to keep up with the tops (not vice versa)... at full volume. I can tell you that the single 618XLF is

just

enough to hang with the 615s at moderate volumes... for our use as live band SR. YMMV...

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Thank you for the comment. Good to hear the 615's seem to have enough to keep up with the XLF's which was my concern.

[agedhorse]

The srx715 doesn't have to have 800 watts and in fact work perfectly fine with 1 per channel on an RMX-2450. They also don't need a drive rack.

 

That said, I think a pair of PRX-612's would get you to about the same place because all of the dsp programming is already done for you and done better than you can do yourself.

[cecilabrego]

I went from 2 mrx512 over 2 mrx518 to 2 srx715 over srx718.  The only thing I really gained was clean sound at higher volumes.  If the mrx is doing what you need volume wise I would keep what you got.  If you want to lighten your load you can get lighter power amps.  I ran my subs one to each channel of an IPR 3000 and my tops on a gx7 and it sounded great. Sometimes I wish I had just added two more mrx cabs.

[nchangin]

 

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cecilabrego wrote:

 

 

I went from 2 mrx512 over 2 mrx518 to 2 srx715 over srx718.  The only thing I really gained was clean sound at higher volumes.  If the mrx is doing what you need volume wise I would keep what you got.  If you want to lighten your load you can get lighter power amps.  I ran my subs one to each channel of an IPR 3000 and my tops on a gx7 and it sounded great. Sometimes I wish I had just added two more mrx cabs.

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Thank you to everyone for your posts. This is interesting as I could easily add two more 515's to get more oomph on the tops as I think the bottoms do a pretty good job, only issue is mounting them? I've seen the home made rigs stacking two 515's next to each other, but A. They are pretty wide and B. two sitting above 2 subs stacked, isn't that a lot of weight to have that high up in the air to avoid liability issues?  Question 2: If I went with 2 more 515's on top what type of db increase could I expect? 1 or 2 db maybe?

[agedhorse]

Doubling up doesn't have to increase horizontal coverage. Overlapping works pretty well with these cabinets with minimal comb filtering artifacts. You would gain at least 3dB and maybe more due to a little effective coupling, and due to reduction in power compression.

[Rumorsband]

I can vouch for the 612's with the 618 xlf ... awesome... an I only had 1 sub

[jlb]

Getting ready to set up my 612/618XLF rig for tonight's rowdy college crowd show. It's an all around great compact rig that requires little effort to get sounding good.

[OneEng]

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cecilabrego wrote:

I went from 2 mrx512 over 2 mrx518 to 2 srx715 over srx718.  The only thing I really gained was clean sound at higher volumes.  If the mrx is doing what you need volume wise I would keep what you got.  If you want to lighten your load you can get lighter power amps.  I ran my subs one to each channel of an IPR 3000 and my tops on a gx7 and it sounded great. Sometimes I wish I had just added two more mrx cabs.

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That is a first for me.  Both my experience, and that of others would suggest that the SRX is a step up from the MRX (a noticeable one to my ears).

To the OP,

My personal preference is the powered setup.  It is lighter, easier to setup and take down, takes up less stage space, and is nearly impossible to make sound bad.

It has been my experience that a well amplified and processed SRX718 sounds about the same as a PRX618S-XLF.  Sadly, there are plenty of places I know that have SRX718's that aren't properly processed

I use Yamaha DSR112's over the XLF's.  I would say that the DSR's would out-run the XLF's; however, when this rig finally runs out of gas, there is quite a bit of SPL out there.  I have played a room that was ~ 75' wide by 110 long with tall ceilings holding ~300 people playing modern and classic rock (lots of kick and bass).  This rig will fill that bar, but will be tickling the limit lights (as mine was) all night long.  Any more than this, and I would be wanting more subs ..... and possibly more tops as well.

I have directly compared the DSR112's, PRX612m's, K12's and the SRX715 when I was looking for my tops.  The DSR112 and the SRX715 both have tighter punch on the bottom than the other 2 boxes with the SRX getting the knod for the HF driver behaving better at higher volumes.  The PRX612m is close to the DSR112, but to my ear lacks some of the punch down low.  The K12 sounds good when you keep it out of clip range.  The MRX512's use very similiar drivers (if not the same) as the PRX612m.  The best you could hope for the the MRX and really good processing would be that it sounds the same as the PRX612m (which is not bad at all IMHO).  

I just love the XLF's though.  I think that the XLF's are a definate step up from the MRX518's in both output and sound quality.

Anyhow, just my thoughts YMMV

[ChiroVette]

 

 

agedhorse wrote:

 

 

 

That said, I think a pair of PRX-612's would get you to about the same place because all of the dsp programming is already done for you and done better than you can do yourself.

 

I'll tell you something funny: A little over a year ago, I would never have believed that powered cabinets could outperform the equivalent and even sometimes the superior passive ones. I was always of the old school belief that passive was the way to go, period, the end, and that this was unimpeachable.

 

 

Gotta love technology. This is just a great time to be alive!

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agedhorse wrote:

 

Doubling up doesn't have to increase horizontal coverage. Overlapping works pretty well with these cabinets with minimal comb filtering artifacts. You would gain at least 3dB and maybe more due to a little effective coupling, and due to reduction in power compression.

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This is awesome info because I intend to double up on my front end at some point for my band's larger gigs. Question: is the comb filtering minimum enough that the cabinets can be a few feet from one another? I ask because it just ocurred to me that if I am using two subs with two tops attached to them and two tops on tripod stands, or even if I am putting two subs per side next to one another with the sub-to-top poles, the tops will still be several feet apart.

 

 

Also, would you worry about aiming them in the same direction or offset them a little, say one top on each side pointed straight out and the other, maybe angled front and a little laterally?

I know nothing about comb filtering.