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Let's try this "upgrading my PA" thing again...


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You gotta love when life gets in the way of things..lol.  Anyways, if you remember my posts previously (few months ago) I had plans on upgrading to a QSC system for larger events, but I haven't been paying attention recently to any changes.  Obviously of course, I will probably be beating a dead horse (for a good reason...I don't want the horse to come back and shoot me in the leg :D )

 

1. Has there been a price change with the KW series?  I had a nice list planned out and budgeted, but there was a rumor floating around of price increases.

 

2. Has JBL solved any of it's issues with the PRX series?  They were my runner up that I have been looking at, but the talk of failed power amplifiers and extreme (past designed cooling) power failures had me turned away, as these will be getting a lot of outdoor use, possibly even in the hot sun.

 

3. Are there any other options that follow the same criteria as the KW, with that being

- Powered, self-contained loudspeakers

- Lightweight (can be maneuvered by one person per speaker)

- Loud and clear sound for most any genre

 

The plan was for 2-4 KW153's (2 for most stuff, 4 for larger/outdoor events where additional volume may be required) over top of 2-4 KW181's pending on size of event, as well as 4-6 KW122's for foldback or for smaller events where three-way's may not be required.  Max I'm estimating would be covering the area of a football field (which was easily done with my current ELX system) and up to 500 people indoors (main venue hall I will be working is a 150' x 60' "community center" which was built recently, and the gigs may range from anything from single-person speeches to bluegrass, to rock/country bands and death metal bands, with DJ gigs mixed in of various genres (Which I can hire out larger system if needed), but I think this will give me a good cover of what I'll need immediately.

 

Also, if price is no object, is it worth adding a DBX Driverack system for any additional processing, or should I be alright with the processing in my Studiolive 2442 (and possibly soon to be 3242AI).

 

I appreciate it guys.  I know, this may sound like a broken record, but I have to get something going to make it in this town... :D

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Refresh the memory please, what was the intended use of your system?

Re: JBL, if they were your runner up, why bother with them? Note that I'm not saying they aren't a great speaker...

DBX Driverack: it sounds like you're not too familiar with what they do. Perhaps if you did some research, you might be able to answer your own question.  The short answer could be yes but the answer is probably no.

As to KW prices, I would check with the store where you plan to purchase said goods.

There are so many good powered speakers out there today that after intended application, it kind of comes down to personal preference, dealer and tech support, and price.  The application component will include weight, loudness, configuration, badge needs, scalability needs, and on and on.

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djiceman1575 wrote:

You gotta love when life gets in the way of things..lol.  Anyways, if you remember my posts previously (few months ago) I had plans on upgrading to a QSC system for larger events, but I haven't been paying attention recently to any changes.  Obviously of course, I will probably be beating a dead horse (for a good reason...I don't want the horse to come back and shoot me in the leg
:D
)

 

1. Has there been a price change with the KW series?  I had a nice list planned out and budgeted, but there was a rumor floating around of price increases.

 

2. Has JBL solved any of it's issues with the PRX series?  They were my runner up that I have been looking at, but the talk of failed power amplifiers and extreme (past designed cooling) power failures had me turned away, as these will be getting a lot of outdoor use, possibly even in the hot sun.

 

3. Are there any other options that follow the same criteria as the KW, with that being

- Powered, self-contained loudspeakers

- Lightweight (can be maneuvered by one person per speaker)

- Loud and clear sound for most any genre

 

The plan was for 2-4 KW153's (2 for most stuff, 4 for larger/outdoor events where additional volume may be required) over top of 2-4 KW181's pending on size of event, as well as 4-6 KW122's for foldback or for smaller events where three-way's may not be required.  Max I'm estimating would be covering the area of a football field (which was easily done with my current ELX system) and up to 500 people indoors (main venue hall I will be working is a 150' x 60' "community center" which was built recently, and the gigs may range from anything from single-person speeches to bluegrass, to rock/country bands and death metal bands, with DJ gigs mixed in of various genres (Which I can hire out larger system if needed), but I think this will give me a good cover of what I'll need immediately.

 

Also, if price is no object, is it worth adding a DBX Driverack system for any additional processing, or should I be alright with the processing in my Studiolive 2442 (and possibly soon to be 3242AI).

 

I appreciate it guys.  I know, this may sound like a broken record, but I have to get something going to make it in this town...
:D

I think that both the PRX and KW systems are in the same class of output and quality with the my nod going to the PRX618-XLF as being a slightly better sounding sub.

You have no reason what-so-ever to have a Driverack system with eithe of these powered speaker systems.  You will almost certianly cause more problems that you would solve..... and will have successfully wasted your money on the DRPA as well ;)

I have been using my XLF's regularly (about every week) for a little over a year and they have worked flawless.  I will let someone that works in live sound and has access to large numbers of repairs to base an opinion on the reliability of each speaker ;)

The price of all Neo driver based speakers will most surely NOT be going down.  If anything, it has gone up slightly.  All manufacturers either have released, or soon will (IMHO) release a non-Neo mangnet version of their speakers in order to be competitive.  These speakers will likely be either heavier, or less powerful than the current crop of Neo based speakers.

I like the Yamaha DSR tops better personally, but the subs are not up to snuff with either QSC or JBL's offerings.  With the limitation that you apparently would like to have your tops and bottoms matched, then I believe that QSC and JBL are the best on the market.

I personally run DSR tops over PRX subs and really like the sound.... but I admit, it doesn't look as cool on stage as having matched pairs ;)

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Primary use is going to vary, mostly live sound work which can be anything from bluegrass to classic rock to country to metal to jazz and funk & any other variety you can think of. 

 

The JBL's were cheaper, but as I had said before, they were nutorious for amp failures, but were still really sporadic.  I'm still probably going to be beating on a dead horse, but of course I want to do this right, and not buy a JBL system and the speakers fail one by one...

 

Driverack, I figured it wouldnt' be needed, especially with the new Smaart processing in the Presonus boards that have been added.  KW prices are probably the same, I had just heard there was a rumor floating around about a price hike...

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I think I have decided to skip the Driverack, plus that's around $400 I can spend on other goodies :D As for the brand mixing, I'd like to keep it all one brand, and I'm leaning towards QSC for their reliability and their quality.  I believe I have heard the PRX600's do have a slight edge in volume and a more "rock" style sound, but the amp failures still have me worried (which may not be a problem now...).  I appreciate it guys...still would like some more input if possible :D I appreciate it!

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