Members Zeromus-X Posted May 5, 2012 Members Share Posted May 5, 2012 I've got an opportunity to pick up a pair of 635s at what I believe to be a very, very good price. Downside will be that I'll need to buy a road case for them, since the one for the 612s will not fit very well, and that roadcase will be much heavier (currently about 80 pounds, up to about 140 pounds). Also the obvious downside of having to lift a 60 pound cabinet onto a pole instead of a 35 pound cabinet. I wasn't planning on continuing with any JBL stuff as a result of all the problems we had with their warranty support, but the price of these is too good to pass up if it's going to be a fairly significant upgrade. We run sound for a female-fronted rock band quite often and my only complaint about the 612s has been that when she really belts into it, it almost seems like we're hitting the limits of the cabinet when we play larger rooms. We're running the 618XLF subs (when they work), so low end isn't a big deal; I'm just figuring that the 3-way design will help clean up the vocals when we're pushing them. Does that sound about right? Lots of threads about 625 vs 635 on the internet, but not many 612 vs 635. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted May 5, 2012 Members Share Posted May 5, 2012 With your experience with JBL customer service you may want to pass on the 635's.......The 635's seems to have the highest failure/complaint issues of the PRX line...even though IMO they are the best sounding box in the entire line.Do a quick search and you will find many issues regarding the mid driver in the cabinet not being sealed properly and also.....amp failures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al Poulin Posted May 5, 2012 Members Share Posted May 5, 2012 From what I've read, the 635s sound very good - when they work. The number of used 635s would be of concern to me if I was in your place as would the JBL service you received recently. I have read that attaching a computer type fan on the back of the unit helps quite a bit... Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted May 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 5, 2012 I have heard about the 635's mid-driver failures but the hope in getting this one second-hand was that if it didn't exhibit the problem already, it probably won't. Most of the problems I've read about were discovered very quickly upon purchase. As far as overheating is concerned, we're concerned about that with the 612s as well, and the theory was that we wouldn't be driving the 635s as hard. Our 612s get extremely hot to the touch. We never had one of them thermal out, though we did have a 618 thermal when we were only using one of them. We're currently running with one 618 since I still don't have a functional second one, so we're making sure there's plenty of ventilation. If the 635s run as hot, we'll likely use a fan. At the minimum, I'm figuring that resale on the 635s should be better than the 612s, so when I do find a better solution for our rig, at least it'll be worth more on the used market. I don't like running a rig that I don't have faith in its operation, but I'm also not in a large enough company where selling it at a loss would be worth it in the long run. I run maybe 50 shows a year, max, and by the time the warranty is up on these cabinets I can't imagine I will still be the owner. Based on eBay pricing, I'll be able to sell my 612s for more than I'm paying for the 635s, so at this point I'll probably jump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 5, 2012 Members Share Posted May 5, 2012 The 635 is a very nice sounding speaker IMO. Your JBL experience is something that is a negative of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OneEng Posted May 5, 2012 Members Share Posted May 5, 2012 I've got an opportunity to pick up a pair of 635s at what I believe to be a very, very good price. Downside will be that I'll need to buy a road case for them, since the one for the 612s will not fit very well, and that roadcase will be much heavier (currently about 80 pounds, up to about 140 pounds). Also the obvious downside of having to lift a 60 pound cabinet onto a pole instead of a 35 pound cabinet. I wasn't planning on continuing with any JBL stuff as a result of all the problems we had with their warranty support, but the price of these is too good to pass up if it's going to be a fairly significant upgrade. We run sound for a female-fronted rock band quite often and my only complaint about the 612s has been that when she really belts into it, it almost seems like we're hitting the limits of the cabinet when we play larger rooms. We're running the 618XLF subs (when they work), so low end isn't a big deal; I'm just figuring that the 3-way design will help clean up the vocals when we're pushing them. Does that sound about right? Lots of threads about 625 vs 635 on the internet, but not many 612 vs 635. Aside from the obvious issue with weight (which you have already pointed out), I would be concerned that you may well have more top than you do bottom. I am finding that my DSR112's are just about evenly matched with the PRX618S-XLF's (ie the mix I like results in the tops clipping at about the same time as the subs clip). In my experience, the DSR112 is a tad bit stronger 12" top than the PRX612, and I am fairly sure that the PRX635 is a more potent top than the DSR112 (Likely by a bit more than a "tad"). I am quite certain that these tops would provide better vocal clarity compared to the PRX612's. Additionally, moving to a 15" woofer is definitely going to give you more bottom punch. I know that the PRX618S-XLF crosses over at 90 Hz, but I have found that LOTS of punch comes from my 12" top woofer. I am pretty sure that the limits that my tops have are being hit because of the LF limitation, not the HF driver. Raising the capability of your tops so much would most easily exceed your subs capability IMHO (using only 2 PRX618S-XLFs), but it would be a remarkably scaleable system if you were to purchase 2 more PRX618S-XLF's in the future. I suspect that 2 XLF's would match up nicely with the capabilities of a single PRX635. I would think that such a system would be good for around 500 people (ie more than I usually play for ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 5, 2012 Members Share Posted May 5, 2012 I don't see any balance issues between the tops and the subs in either 1:1 with a 612 or 635 scenario. Certainly not for the music I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted May 6, 2012 Members Share Posted May 6, 2012 Well, they'll sound better than your 612M's when the subs aren't working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted May 6, 2012 Members Share Posted May 6, 2012 Well, they'll sound better than your 612M's when the subs aren't working :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OneEng Posted May 6, 2012 Members Share Posted May 6, 2012 I don't see any balance issues between the tops and the subs in either 1:1 with a 612 or 635 scenario. Certainly not for the music I do. Are you saying that the 635 will not go further than the 612, or that in your application, it is unnecessary to go further than a 612 will go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drumstix Posted May 6, 2012 Members Share Posted May 6, 2012 :lol: This is getting terrible, I sure hope someone in the customer relations is watching this forum. What will the out come be? New poster: what sub should I buy, JBL or Behringer? Answers: pick your poison. 2 or 3 behringers for the price of one XLF. None of them are reliable...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted May 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2012 Well, they'll sound better than your 612M's when the subs aren't working To be perfectly honest, that was the first thing we considered. The 635s would have a bit more bass output to even things out while one sub is out of commission -- hopefully never again, but at least now. We had two events to do yesterday, double-booked, so I grabbed the 635s and we used a pair of those by themselves at one event and the 612+612+618 at the other. Both of them ended up fine and everyone was happy. The original plan was to use a pair of EV ELX112Ps with one sub at one event, and the pair of 612Ms with one sub at the other... but that obviously couldn't happen. I didn't get to hear the 635s because I ran the other rig, but my other guy said he was very happy with the way they sounded, and that "they got really really hot just playing music at wedding levels"... but that's no surprise, our 612s get super hot as well. We're probably going to permanently mount some fans on them as a precaution. I managed to get the 635s for about $600 each without a scratch on them, so even if they don't work out for us I'm pretty sure I can flip them for a good profit anyway. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 6, 2012 Members Share Posted May 6, 2012 Are you saying that the 635 will not go further than the 612, or that in your application, it is unnecessary to go further than a 612 will go? One top to one sub is a pretty good match for all of the music styles that I work with regardless of the model. I like the 635's sound a little better but the size/weight is more of an issue. Tradeoff. Overall volume is pretty close with the edge towards the 635 if only in the headroom at the lower end. Maybe a dB or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted May 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2012 Any idea how to protect larger speakers like these in a trailer? I've been looking at cases but I hate to stick two 60-pound speakers in a 100-pound ATA case; that makes it fairly unmanageable. I just think they'll get dented and beat up in JBL protective bags. JBL's ATA case is $750 which is sort of a turn-off too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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