Two Mediocre Subs or One "Better Than Mediocre" Sub

[brianwohlgemuth]

I unfortunately don't have a vast budget (like everyone on this board) but I am willing to make an investment in the sound of my band.  We are a six piece that plays everything from Taylor Swift to Tool.  Most of the places we play have their own sound, but we are looking to start investing in our own gear in order to prepare for next year.  That being said.

(Existing system)

• Mackie DL1608
• Samson x2 DB500A's (I picked these up used for $350 for the pair)
• Other assorted gear (including a Behringer PA Head and Yamaha 12's we use for a monitor mix out of the Mackie)

This weekend was "Gearfest" at Sweetwater Sound and since I live just down the road from them, I went in a couple of times to try to negotiate a good deal on a couple of subs.  Looking at the competition, this is what we narrowed it down to.

• Behringer 1800
• JBL Eon 518
• JBL 618

Now, the Behringers are the cheapest, but they are also the worst.  I really am leery of them from the stories I've heard and Behringer's lack of local support.  JBL is the preferred vendor, but I am obviously open to ideas.

The big thing is, I want to make a purchase that will give us the best sound for what we have.  My guitarist is willing to purchase one of the subs, but obviously if we can just purchase one good one, will that be better than buying two crappy ones?  His budget is ~$600 and mine is a bit more (hence why the 618 is on the list). I don't think I could afford a QSC at this point, we do have a time constraint coming up (show in September) so it's not going to be used every weekend, more like 3-5x a year.

What do we want out of this?  Would like some much from the kick and better presentation of the piano portions I play (Criminal is played on the bottom half of the keyboard) and just a better all around response.

I have gone thorugh a number of the previous threads and see there are obviously a wide variety of opinions.  As I said, I see us using this in bars/small outdoor shows 3-5x a year.  My budget says the EON's are probably the best choice, but if for a couple hundred dollars more I could get the single 618 and then have mny guitarist make other investments (active monitors come to mind) then we can go that route.

[RoadRanger]

If you only need subs for 3-5x shows a year you're better off renting.

[Tomm Williams]

With a limited budget you might consider the DUS line from Audiopile. Quite inexpensive, great bang for buck

[brianwohlgemuth]

 

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RoadRanger wrote:

 

 

If you only need subs for 3-5x shows a year you're better off renting.

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Thought about that as well.  Discussion with my guitarist tonight and the ideas would be to start playing more places where we would be the primary sound.  We are renting for a big show next week, but it's pretty pricey and I really don't want to pay that much again.