Powered Speaker “Shootout”

J

Jon R Smith

Freshman
Jan 19, 2011
36
0
0
SLC, Utah
Greetings,

Had the opportunity to listen to the new EV, LiveX powered speakers today in both the 12“ & 15” versions. Also the QSC K12 and the new Yamaha DSP series in both 12“ & 15” versions. I am bringing my PRX 600 in next week and we are going to do a side by side shoot-out between all of them. Right now I must say Yamaha may blow all of them right out of the water with my initial listen today. Incredible WOW factor. I will let you know how it goes and what we come up with.

I have been waiting for the chance to test all four products and they have all landed at my dealer at once! Reports to follow.
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

Rob,

Very non-scientific actually, so results will be subjective. Best sound out of the box. Least amount of EQ needed. Best monitor angles. Input options. Flyable or not. Who gets loudest before breaking up. Kind of a best utility box for the bucks comparison. I currently own the PRX 615's & 612's so I want to do a direct ABCD heads up face off between 4 of the major players. Which will at this time include but not limited to: JBL PRX 600 series, QSC K series, EV Live-X series and the Yamaha DSR series. FBT and Mackie may also come into play.

Rob, if there is something you would like me to test while I am at it let me know. That goes for anyone interested in these boxes.

This will be at the Performance Audio, SLC store in their showroom sometime in the coming week. Garn is getting them all out and ready for us to have a go at it.
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

All those speakers have been debated before...

I am interested in hearing results from a shootout with: EV ZXA-5, DAS SML, dB Technologies DVX, FBT Mitus, RCF NX. All can be found for under $2k.

Sorry, but any Powered/Active speakers without Linkable power fail in my book and since it doesn't have that feature I'm not going to look at it.
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

Matt Vivlamore said:
All those speakers have been debated before...

I am interested in hearing results from a shootout with: EV ZXA-5, DAS SML, dB Technologies DVX, FBT Mitus, RCF NX. All can be found for under $2k.

Sorry, but any Powered/Active speakers without Linkable power fail in my book and since it doesn't have that feature I'm not going to look at it.
Click to expand...

What is meant by "linkable power"? That there is an "in" and "out" for AC mains power, or that you want an output from the internal power amp to link to another speaker?
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

"Like a Powercon In to a Powercon Out, so that I can daisy chain the power run across the front of the stage."

How many powered speakers do you normally run on one circuit?
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

Chuck Simon said:
"Like a Powercon In to a Powercon Out, so that I can daisy chain the power run across the front of the stage."

How many powered speakers do you normally run on one circuit?
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In my experience, PowerCon links on powered speakers are pretty standard... at least in the high end.

FYI, I regularly run 6 relatively beefy fills (10", 1.4", 1200w) off one 20a circuit for rock shows, and I lean on my fills pretty hard. I have run as many as eight for some shows. Properly RMS limited boxes don't really draw that much...
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

Bennett Prescott said:
In my experience, PowerCon links on powered speakers are pretty standard... at least in the high end.

FYI, I regularly run 6 relatively beefy fills (10", 1.4", 1200w) off one 20a circuit for rock shows, and I lean on my fills pretty hard. I have run as many as eight for some shows. Properly RMS limited boxes don't really draw that much...
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+1. I was just having this argument with a freelance tech I employ yesterday. We had 18 EV Sxa250's distributed as delays for a large outdoor dinner party/picnic. I was comfortable running 9 per side off a 20a breaker, but he was not. In the end of course they ran without issue on one circuit. I bet all 18 would have been fine on one circuit...
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

I have run 6 Mackie 450s on a circuit with no issues, so long as I didn't use the distro breaker to turn them on. I discovered that the inrush current of 6 Mackies will pop the breaker. A 20A breaker will start 4 Mackies, but not 6.
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

I know it a harsh statement... but I'm picky due to a bad experience with powered speakers; the IEC would magically come unplugged from the box anytime it was bumped.

If you have a line of 4 monitors across the front, those shouldn't have a problem running off 1 breaker. Look at the new EV ELX112p, it only draws 1amp.

Most of the time I am running my entire rig & band off 1 or 2 20amp breakers.
 
Matt Vivlamore said:
I know it a harsh statement... but I'm picky due to a bad experience with powered speakers; the IEC would magically come unplugged from the box anytime it was bumped.
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Quality IEC's won't do that, though some SOS inlets are poorly laid out for wedge use. Even cheap ones work - discard those that are loose. I don't love the IEC connector, but with some Marinco or Hubbell connectors some 12 or 14/3 SOOW and some twofers you can make a very useable system. I've also been satisfied with monoprice 25' IEC's for those small wallpower indoor gigs where you never have enough (fashion shows, galleries, etc). For the linkable aspect on stage, each artist usually gets a quad box anyways. Plus, you can't link the signal anyways, so with a siamese cable you're not far off the simplicity of a passive system with a quad box or two near the stage box.

For tops over subs stuff, I do enjoy that my Kv2 subs have a female IEC out which easily links to the top, but I'd be just fine with a twofer and two short IEC's.

All-in-all there are a number of very workable solutions. The only scenario where I'd make a locking absolutely necessary would be some flown speakers (or speakers to be flown on a regular basis).You don't want to drop truss just to fix that, mind you the projectors or some other devices might not be locking anyways. For a small rock show it's the last thing I'd be worrying about. SQ, weight, service, size, aesthetic, and cost all come before connector type and linkability for me.




Posted via Tapatalk app - lower standards may apply.
 
Re: Powered Speaker “Shootout”

Marlow Wilson said:
... I've also been satisfied with monoprice 25' IEC's for those small wallpower indoor gigs where you never have enough (fashion shows, galleries, etc). For the linkable aspect on stage, each artist usually gets a quad box anyways. Plus, you can't link the signal anyways, so with a siamese cable you're not far off the simplicity of a passive system with a quad box or two near the stage box...
Click to expand...

+1

I have purchased 4 of these 25' IEC 14awg cords from Monoprice and paired them with 25' XLR cables using friction tape. Works great and hold firmly in socket. Bought mine at $8.50 each which is a steal.
 
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