Opinions on Peavey SP1 and Mark IV

[Bugzie]

I got a chuckle out of the Klipsch LaScala comparison. The LaScala's weren't designed as a PA speaker. For their day they were a hell of a home/danceclub box. But they weigh in at just over 150 lbs themselves. They did have a 3 (or more) box PA setup available,but it was rediculously expensive compared to a lot of boxes.The LaScala's were also capable of being run with 200 WPC (pro version) and extremely efficient for their day.If I recall correctly they were something like 105db at 1 watt. Of course they may have used magic measurements, by they screamed with minimum power.

[MstroBill]

I've had a pair of  SP-2s since the early '80s and always thought they had enough "heft" in their sound,  and when they're EQ'ed right they sound clear and have a good "throw"... now, Ive gotten a set of monster SP-1s to put the SP-2's on top of.  Yes, they're huge and heavy... but when you're playing ground-shaking Rock it can be just what the doctor ordered.  The durability for long-term wear of these cabinets is amazing. In 37 years of use, I've only had to replace 1 22-A driver and 1 backside crossover/input/output "box".  ...I like the sound and the look of them - for an "economical" price they deliver a lot of decibels... better have some strong roadies if you want to move'm around, though.

[Dookietwo]

18 hours ago, MstroBill said:

I've had a pair of  SP-2s since the early '80s and always thought they had enough "heft" in their sound,  and when they're EQ'ed right they sound clear and have a good "throw"... now, Ive gotten a set of monster SP-1s to put the SP-2's on top of.  Yes, they're huge and heavy... but when you're playing ground-shaking Rock it can be just what the doctor ordered.  The durability for long-term wear of these cabinets is amazing. In 37 years of use, I've only had to replace 1 22-A driver and 1 backside crossover/input/output "box".  ...I like the sound and the look of them - for an "economical" price they deliver a lot of decibels... better have some strong roadies if you want to move'm around, though.

I had the sp1"split" ( MFx-1 and FH-1 sub)  Something that sounded good was FH-1 sub - SP2A-Mfx-1 horn on top. The whole load was 4 ohms and they sounded , for what they were , pretty good. This was in the late 80's , early 90's. Seen in this 1991 brightened picture. The box was a SP1 split by someone and the crossover out to feed to the sub was in the horn box.

[Dookietwo]

18 hours ago, MstroBill said:

I've had a pair of  SP-2s since the early '80s and always thought they had enough "heft" in their sound,  and when they're EQ'ed right they sound clear and have a good "throw"... now, Ive gotten a set of monster SP-1s to put the SP-2's on top of.  Yes, they're huge and heavy... but when you're playing ground-shaking Rock it can be just what the doctor ordered.  The durability for long-term wear of these cabinets is amazing. In 37 years of use, I've only had to replace 1 22-A driver and 1 backside crossover/input/output "box".  ...I like the sound and the look of them - for an "economical" price they deliver a lot of decibels... better have some strong roadies if you want to move'm around, though.

If the stage is high enough place the SP2 upside down on top of the sp1 to better couple the horns. Have the horn drivers inside as close to the same plane up and down as possible. ( Forward to Back ) 

[Dennis Salem]

I have a pair of Peavey Sp1 speakers in mint condition and used very little, I think these were totally amazing and will handle just about any size venue. I paid 2K per pair . any interest e-mail me  I'd like $900 for the pair. The do have the black widow drivers and sound unreal.

[Axisplayer]

This thread is hysterically funny. I recently was in Goodwill and bought a PAIR of SP-1s in normal working condition, needing only paint, for $25. Brought them home and they sounded as good as they ever did. Gave them to a kid band. The only time I thought they were decent is when a friend got a pair in 1960s for his  "rock" band in HS. Powered with a CS800. Yea, he thought it was great. Today they are virtually useless for anything approaching good sound. Yes, they get loud and make noise. So do jet airplanes.

PS-Someone trying to argue with Agedhorse about PAs was entertaining. ....where angels fear to tread. Andy is a walking encyclopedia about audio gear. Good luck with that!

[Katscratchmusic]

On 7/14/2009 at 6:49 PM, zooboz said:

I too had a set of SP1's with the added 12' horn driver cabinet back in the 80's. it was more than fantastic and even better when all the speakers were replaced with Electro Voice EVM's. tri-amped xover mono with 1 CS800 low end and 2 cs400's mid and high. had the Mark 4 board as well. the prior comment about it being no good in small clubs is not correct, we used them everywhere " bi-amp them straight up stock and you will be amazed too, the x-over on a full range system screws up the sound pretty bad.

Do you need a crossover to run them full range?

[Bostonsbest]

Saw this post and felt compelled to comment. SP-1s were massive and I was shocked to learn that they were only rated at 100w peak. My high school band used to rent these regularly for gigs in or outside and somehow they projected well beyond their power rating. I suspect the actual cabinet serves as an acoustic amplifier (like old movie theater sound systems of the 1940-70s) that may add to the efficacy of the speaker performance. We typically ran our PA through a Peavey KB400 head (or similar) at 300w and it was generally ample for most settings. I cannot attest to their sonic accuracy but they definitely packed a punch. We even used them on some outdoor venues and they performed reasonably well. Having performed since then extensively with all sorts of sound systems and arrays, I have become more accustomed to powered speakers (currently using QSC). Clearly SP-1s were phased out for myriad reasons (weight, dimensions, efficiency, accuracy, power, etc.) but at the time (late 1980s), they were workhorse speakers and were reliable with pretty wide dispersion.