Members Vinny D Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 I posted this over at PSW and figured I would give it a go here as well,In my never ending (or so it seems) quest for new PA cabs I just can't seem to make a decision, mostly because nobody localy seems to have anything I am looking for too listen too!Here are what I believe to be my *final* choices (in no particular order): 1) JBL SRX7152) Yorkville E152B3) Yorkville U15B4) RCF 325i The JBL to me seem very nice for there size and weight.The E152 and U15B also seem nice but they are on the heavy side for the clubs that I play that are on the second floor .The RCF again seems nice I am mostly afraid of the sound from a platic cab.The cost of these cabs is not an issue, I really just want something that will fit my needs the best. These will be used by my band only and in many instances will be a vocal only situation.For music style check the link in my sig.Thanks for any advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 You may also want to consider the EV QRx-112/75 or EV QRx-115/75 speakers. I have heard the 112/75s in a couple of different places matched with the QRx-218 subs and that sounded absolutely amazing! Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted March 20, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 You may also want to consider the EV QRx-112/75 or EV QRx-115/75 speakers. I have heard the 112/75s in a couple of different places matched with the QRx-218 subs and that sounded absolutely amazing! Good Luck! Can those be run passive or are they Biamp only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Can those be run passive or are they Biamp only? I believe they can be, although I do not know that for a fact. On EV's website, they list an ohm load and wattage rating for passive mode and refer to it as a full range speaker. I'm not sure if that means it can be run passively, but I think so. The experts may want to chime in here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dandy Don Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 All of the speaker's you listed are good choices and I considered all but the RCF's at the time they were not aval. in my area. I went with the EV-SX-500 they sure have a lot of punch and are so clean sounding, I hear so many band's that have systems that sound way to muddy some may be due to X-over point and EQ but without quality speaker's it's hard to get good clarity at high sound level's. The EV's do this with no problem!! In Jan. of this year I replaced my sub's with Cerwin Vega earthquake Jr's I couldn't be more pleased, hope this help's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 I have Yorkville Elite cabinets and love them but they are heavy. If the JBL SRX's are considerably lighter, that would be a fine choice. I too am reluctant of the plastic cabs but I'm sure the RCF's sound great too. You have to factor in Warrenty and resale value. The Yorkies have a great warrenty but the JBL SRX's are very easy to resell. Edit: I just checked the JBL site and they claim the weight is 48lbs for the SRX715. The Yorkie E152b's are 82lbs. For my money...I'd get the JBL's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted March 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 I am starting to lean towards the JBL for a few reasons, as mentioned they are light and they have a solid resale value.......and they are light:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 The one thing you should really consider though about the speakers is the sensitivity rating. Granted the EV QRx 112/75 may weigh around 70 lbs, but it has a sensitivity rating of 98 dB @ 1w/1m vs. the 96 dB @ 1w/1m of the JBL SRX-715. This means that you will get more sound out of the EV speaker with less power than you will with the JBL at the same power. Also, the EV speakers seem to be rated much more conservatively when it comes to power ratings... I mean 1200 watts max for the EVs vs. 3200 watts max for the JBLs. It could be good to have a 3200 watts maximum power rating, but it also may mean that you need more wattage to achieve higher sound levels. Also, I believe the EV QRx line have a fairly solid and high resell value all over the place. Idk... there seem to be a lot of things to consider when buying such high level speakers... not merely the weight! My best advice to you is to try them out if you can and see which one works the best for you! Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted March 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 The problem is nobody around me has any of these to listen too, soo it's like a roll of the dice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 The problem is nobody around me has any of these to listen too, soo it's like a roll of the dice! Well I attended an event with around 1000+ people in attendance in a very large room and the system used was 4 EV QRx 112/75 tops and 2 QRx 218 dual 18" subwoofers for the mains and 2 EV Sx speakers on sticks for side fills. This system rocked the house! It was used for a couple of different purposes... some public speakers, recorded music playback, live band, etc... and in all of these instances the sound was absolutely amazing! This basically tells me that it will perform well in basically any situation it is called upon! However, I have not heard the others you have mentioned "out in the field," so to each his own... Good Luck! Btw, they are all good speakers, so you cannot go wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Well still been doing some shopping and a *lot* of talking to a few different sales people and users.The general thing I keep hearing from everyone is the the JBL SRX715 speakers sound great *but* they sound best when really being driven hard and with big power. The big power part is not really a problem as I have amps to drive them but some of the times I am only going to be running these cabs as a vocal only PA, so I am starting too think these are not the speakers for me.I also inquired about the EV QRX115/75 speakers, they seem really nice but are even more money then the JBL's and the general info I heard on these is similar to the JBL's with the acception that these sound better then the SRX's at lower volumes, but like the SRX's these sound best when driven hard. Everyone also seemed to be in agreement though that these don't need as much power as the JBL's to drive them.Everyone also seemed to be in agreement that these are best when used with some processing. This I kind of want to avoid, I like the simplicity of my DBX 2031 eq and my Ashly XR1001 crossover:) So I think I am going to rule these two out....for now anyway:confused: I think I am going to make a decision between the RCF 325i and the Yorkville E152B, these are not as expensive as the others I was looking at (which price really is not a determining factor) and seeing how these are going to be used by me and me only I think either of these will do the job I need.So between these two........I still like the weight of the RCF but I can't hear them anywhere local, although I do have someone offering me a trial period on them with the option to return them (thanks!)The Yorkville.....well I do have Audio east about an hour away and may be able to go and listen or rent a pair of the powered version so I can hear what they sound like, it really is the weight of these cabs thats holding me back from getting them. Decisions decisions:freak: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Well...if Audioeast is but an hour away...give Dan a call. He resells Yorkville, JBL SRX and EV....perhaps he can audition some cab's for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al Poulin Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 I'm hoping to one day have a listen to the Unity cabs. The concept looks really interesting and that's one damn big horn! The 152 is probably one crazy loud box, but I'd think the Unity would have a more refined sound to it. Also, because the three 5'' midrange drivers and 1.75'' horn and pretty padded down, this translates into much lower distortion at higher output levels. I'd also prefer the unity because I'm sure someone would probably comment on how cool they look and sound fairly often because of it's very different and unique design. I know... decisions, decisions. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 Well...if Audioeast is but an hour away...give Dan a call. He resells Yorkville, JBL SRX and EV....perhaps he can audition some cab's for you. I was talking with, I think it was Stan or Sam? (Dan was on another line) for a bit today on the phone, he was very helpful with info on the EV and Yorkville stuff. I may make a trip up to go check some stuff out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vinny D Posted March 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 I'm hoping to one day have a listen to the Unity cabs. The concept looks really interesting and that's one damn big horn! The 152 is probably one crazy loud box, but I'd think the Unity would have a more refined sound to it. Also, because the three 5'' midrange drivers and 1.75'' horn and pretty padded down, this translates into much lower distortion at higher output levels. I'd also prefer the unity because I'm sure someone would probably comment on how cool they look and sound fairly often because of it's very different and unique design. I know... decisions, decisions. Al See I really like the specs on the Unity cab but again from what I am hearing from most everyone is that these boxes really need to be processed properly to get the best usage out of them, I guess I could get the Yorkville processor to go with them but again it's the weight that is turning me off on them.....but maybe I could overlook that if these sound as good as what everyone says they do, especially seeing how people (not me:D ) in my band can actually sing and there vocals really carry the band. Dammit, now I have to add these back into my decision making! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 The one thing you should really consider though about the speakers is the sensitivity rating. Granted the EV QRx 112/75 may weigh around 70 lbs, but it has a sensitivity rating of 98 dB @ 1w/1m vs. the 96 dB @ 1w/1m of the JBL SRX-715. This means that you will get more sound out of the EV speaker with less power than you will with the JBL at the same power. Also, the EV speakers seem to be rated much more conservatively when it comes to power ratings... I mean 1200 watts max for the EVs vs. 3200 watts max for the JBLs. It could be good to have a 3200 watts maximum power rating, but it also may mean that you need more wattage to achieve higher sound levels. : You just can't blindly compare "maximum power ratings", there is so much detail involved as in the method the numbers are arrived at for example. The peak rating for the JBL is virtually meaningless, the 1600 watt program is (IMO) the largest amp you should even consider running given the fact that the 1600 watt amp will in fact deliver 3200 watts peak (voltage x 1.414) squared x speaker impedance. I believe that EV's number is equiv. to a "program" rating give or take. I personally would look at powering the JBL with around 800-1000 watts (being careful) and the EV's with no more than 800 watts. This is pretty agressive for me too, and assumes HPF's are properly implimented and limiters correctly calibrated. Same applies to efficiency numbers... we do not know if even average sensitivity is being used. Peak sensitivity numbers or limited bandwidth numbers would of course be higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 I'd also prefer the unity because I'm sure someone would probably comment on how cool they look and sound fairly often because of it's very different and unique design. NOBODY can SEE the design in normal use.Through the grill, all you can see is that it looks like there is a ~ 17" circle above the 15" circle of the woofer. You want a unique shape, go for a Danley SH25 unified horn. If it was any longer a tapered horn, I'd expect some guys to blow "riccola" through the end ;>) Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlindquist Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 See I really like the specs on the Unity cab but again from what I am hearing from most everyone is that these boxes really need to be processed properly to get the best usage out of them, I guess I could get the Yorkville processor to go with them but again it's the weight that is turning me off on them.....but maybe I could overlook that if these sound as good as what everyone says they do, especially seeing how people (not me:D ) in my band can actually sing and there vocals really carry the band. Dammit, now I have to add these back into my decision making! FWIW -- our band (low-level weekend warrior rock band) has also been considering upgrading mid-high boxes, and our list is very similar to yours. We recently rented a pair of the U15P boxes to audition. Like you, we are looking for something that will excel on vocals. We used the U15P with no processing whatsoever (other than whatever filters are built into the U15) -- just a straight crossover between the U15 and our JBL MP418 subs. We thought they sounded great, particularly on vocals. They are at the top of our list right now. Anyhoo, that was just our experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 We used the U15P with no processing whatsoever (other than whatever filters are built into the U15) -- just a straight crossover between the U15 and our JBL MP418 subs. We thought they sounded great, particularly on vocals. They are at the top of our list right now. We like our U15Bs. But I must point out you rented U15P, powered, and they come with the Yorkville processing IN the built-in amp. I use a dbx DRPA for processing my band's U15s only because I bought the processor, the U15s belong to my guitarist, and I have 2 other sets of speakers I can & do use for tops for various gigs that I have programmed in the DRPA. If the U15s were mine, I'd have likely bought the factory processor. IF you do get the unpowered U15s (pay the extra for the black NON-fur ones) AND get the factory processor (UP15), make sure you get the one with the I/Os you prefer. They come in either TRS ONLY or XLR only and for some reason initially pushed only the TRS in the USA ;>( I'm an XLR patching kinda guy. Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlindquist Posted March 22, 2007 Members Share Posted March 22, 2007 We like our U15Bs. But I must point out you rented U15P, powered, and they come with the Yorkville processing IN the built-in amp.I use a dbx DRPA for processing my band's U15s only because I bought the processor, the U15s belong to my guitarist, and I have 2 other sets of speakers I can & do use for tops for various gigs that I have programmed in the DRPA.If the U15s were mine, I'd have likely bought the factory processor. IF you do get the unpowered U15s (pay the extra for the black NON-fur ones) AND get the factory processor (UP15), make sure you get the one with the I/Os you prefer. They come in either TRS ONLY or XLR only and for some reason initially pushed only the TRS in the USA ;>( I'm an XLR patching kinda guy.Boomerweps Excellent point. Thanks for clarifying. Perhaps this highlights why the powered version is a good option for bands (like mine) who want -- or need -- to keep it simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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