Members Dogoth Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 I know this question has been beat to death here but I'll ask it again. The casino I work for is interested in buying about 4 powered speakers. Weight is an issue (although not the defining one). These would be replacing a set of older JBL EONs that are getting long in the tooth (but amazingly still work OK). These would have multiple uses. firstly they must all function as either monitors or mains. I would prefer to have 2ea 15" & 2ea 12" (the 15" would be main speakers on poles for jazz shows and act as drum monitors on another R&R stage that already has a VRX system installed). I was thinking JBL PRX series but can't seem to find any info on the 15" versions (either 515 or 535 models) being dual purpose (I.E. having differing angles and the heatsink, XLRs & controls being in an apropriate place for use as a floor wedge (I know about the Mackey overheating issue)). Also what is the difference in the newest 12" version (the 512Mi vs the 512M)? The specs look basicly the same (possibly just some switchable DSP tricks)? I'm not necessarily stuck on JBL but I do believe they would be an easier sell to managment (and possibly to the artists (some of the regional acts have minimal rider specs and name brand does mean something here)). I know little about the Yorkville line but are they comparable? Other brands I'd consider would be EV, RCF, QSC, Peavey..........(I'm open to suggestions). I'd like to say money is no object here but that's never the case. I've been given no budget but ballpark it in the $4k region for 4 speakers & two tripods. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Redbassman86 Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 You wanna be looking at the PRX 600 series line, the 500 has been discontinued. The part number is PRX615m, see the link below. http://www.jblpro.com/catalog/general/Product.aspx?PId=361&MId=3 The PRX612m is below http://www.jblpro.com/catalog/general/Product.aspx?PId=360&MId=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soulvillemusic Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 The newer JBL PRX stuff sounds good and is reliable in my experience. There are plenty of other options out there also but the PRX is probably the lightest of the bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted February 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 Considering that you mentioned rider-type concerns and brand name recognition, does Yorkville rate in that department where you are? Good question. I didn't say other brands would be un-sellable but rather how easy it would be to make it work. This venue is an open cabaret (in that it's open to the casino floor). So far the acts booked are regional & not national acts (considering that it's open to the public and the facility of this stage, high dollar acts probably will never get booked here). Yes they have riders but often aren't very equipment specific. I'd guess most of these groups play in bars with much lower quality equipment (not to mention nice rooms, hospitality, real dressing rooms etc.....). Odds are, as long as I can back up what I promiss (I'll promiss them a decent monitor mix), that I can provide Yorkville or some lesser brand and get away with it. If absolutly necessary we have some top end equipment in another room (my main venue) like JBL SRX or EAW SM500s BUT I'm trying NOT to have to move this equipment from it's home (the smaller stage in question is nothing but stairs access and I need to keep the wear & tear of our better gear (and my back as well :-) to a minimum (plus it requires the rental of a rack of amps which are not transportable from room to room). This was really my proposal to managment. One of the selling points was that the existing Eons could be more readily available to our A/V department for Q & D audio in strange places (casinos sometimes have difficult expectations (they're clueless about the logistics involved :-) and powered speakers make a lot of sense in this environment). I'm just trying to find the middle ground between acceptability & cost effectivness. For instance, I believe Meyers makes a line of powered speakers but the cost would be prohibitive. I did want to add that I'm not a fan of Yamaha speakers (I understand that they just came out with a line of powered boxes). It's not that they don't work well and as a new purchase aren't cost effective but repair costs (for their speakers only) from Yamaha are astronomical. As a rule I like Yamaha gear a lot but having to repair a few of their speakers (new drivers & crossovers), I got totaly turned off by their outrageous factory costs (If I remember right the crossover for a club series was just about the same as buying a whole used speaker - we ended up buying a Peavey x-over which cost less and had bigger inductors & higher rated caps for far less money). So please don't recommend Yamaha - sorry & thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OneEng Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 I own the Yamaha DSR112's and would not have recommended them only based on your disclosure that brand recognition is an issue. BTW, I would recommend that you go listen to what is out there at GC since this is an easy enough thing to do. For what you have stated, I would go with either the JBL PRX or QSC KW speakers. Both of these should have decent recognition and both sound very good. You should have no problem A/B'ing these at your local GC to decide on your own. The JBL are by far the lightest, but I prefer the sound of the KW a little better (not enough to sway me too much in either direction though). Good luck with your decision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 Two of the casinos I play in use EV SxA250's. These have been around for a while and might not be "current" enough but I mention them because they've been running for years at least four days a week, sometimes more. From an artist point of view they work really well for vocals, keys, forns and even drums (at moderate volumes). I recall a few other casinos using HPR122's, and I guess that can count as a name brand, depending on the artist. Regarding Yorkville.... they only make two cabs that might qualify IMO. That's the NX55P and the NX750P. Once again IMO, the EV SxA250 is better than the NX55P and is as good or better than the NX750P. And the EV is wood (of some sort). I should say though, that one nice thing about the NXP series is that they sound musical (to my ears) as opposed to something like the HPR122 which is a great box but very clinical sounding (again to my ears). Even though I'm a Yorkville fan, I think you might have to cross it off the list because of the lack of name recognition, and the fact that there are many other cabs that would do an equal or better job - in your particular situation. Looks like the orange badge might win again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted February 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 I own the Yamaha DSR112's and would not have recommended them only based on your disclosure that brand recognition is an issue. BTW, I would recommend that you go listen to what is out there at GC since this is an easy enough thing to do.For what you have stated, I would go with either the JBL PRX or QSC KW speakers. Both of these should have decent recognition and both sound very good. You should have no problem A/B'ing these at your local GC to decide on your own. The JBL are by far the lightest, but I prefer the sound of the KW a little better (not enough to sway me too much in either direction though).Good luck with your decision! Great idea and I will go do just that. I'm just asking about folks who own this various gear to see what the pros & cons are when used in the real world (besides sound quality :-). Thanks for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 I have both the PRX 612m and the PRX 615m. They both are built so the amp section does not rest on the floor in the monitor position. The 612m has a 30 degree angle on the back, while the 615m has a 40 degree angle. Not a big difference, but you may need to shim the 612m to give you a better monitor angle. The 615m takes up a fair chunk of stage space as a monitor, but that may be OK if placed upstage. Depending on the stage, the 615m might be distracting on the lip of the stage. Both have dual pole cups, so you can point them down for an up-close audience or dance floor. Accordingly, you might want taller than usual stands to take advantage of that feature. Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dedmeet Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 IMHO, the PRX cabs sound a little better, but the QSC K series sounds plenty good for most uses and has a great bang/buck ratio. No 15" cab in that series, though. The KWs and their predecessor the HPR series sound amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 For your application JR, the PRX's are a slam dunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dedmeet Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 I agree with AH on this one. If I were in your shoes, that would be my go-to boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 For your application JR, the PRX's are a slam dunk. Yep! I have two of the 512's and two of the 612's and both sound great. Couldn't be happier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted February 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Awsome! Thanks for your recommendations. I'm still going to go comparativly listen (if anything just for my own future reference) but unless I'm just knocked out by something, I'll be pricing out some PRX boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OneEng Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 I know you are not going to go with the DSR's, but you should listen to them if they have them. I still believe that the JBL's are easier to "sell" to bands, but the DSR's sure sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted February 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 I know you are not going to go with the DSR's, but you should listen to them if they have them. I still believe that the JBL's are easier to "sell" to bands, but the DSR's sure sound good. I will try and take a listen. You never know. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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