Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

D

Daniel Postilnik

Junior
Jan 14, 2011
304
1
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37
San Francisco, CA
Hi folks,

I just noticed a fairly prominent rental house no longer lists the powered VRX tops and subs in their rental inventory, and instead has the QSC KLA-series top boxes and QSC KW-series subs.

Don't get me wrong, I love QSC gear - I send out mostly KW and HPR-series gear on important shows, and they work fine for my purposes. However, I don't delude myself about these speakers being truly pro-level. Icepick high-mids or not, I have always understood the VRX line to be a more professional box than any of QSC's self-powered offerings. Especially considering the fact that the KLA top box is plastic, or in other words a line-array-ified K12.

If I were to guess, I would say that the KLA gear has a better rate of return, but that's hard to argue because it's currently priced within $100 of the VRX. So why would a shop move to an inferior product that costs almost the same? Is it possible that they have some kind of special arrangement with QSC that isn't available with JBL? I know they also rent out other smaller QSC speakers.

Also, is there something I don't know about the VRX powered line that has come up recently that would influence folks to move away from it?
 
Re: Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

Daniel Postilnik said:
So why would a shop move to an inferior product that costs almost the same? Is it possible that they have some kind of special arrangement with QSC that isn't available with JBL? I know they also rent out other smaller QSC speakers.

Also, is there something I don't know about the VRX powered line that has come up recently that would influence folks to move away from it?
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Anything is possible, but it could be as simple as their market is full of VRX systems and they want a brand to differentiate themselves from the competition.

If the VRX has paid for itself and is fully depreciated, it could well be time to move on/up/sideways from a business standpoint. It's not a sonic decision, IOW.
 
Re: Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

I agree, I have never been very happy with any VRX I have worked on, maybe because it was deployed instead of a real line array. Never heard or used the QSC.
 
Re: Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

Tim McCulloch said:
Anything is possible, but it could be as simple as their market is full of VRX systems and they want a brand to differentiate themselves from the competition.

If the VRX has paid for itself and is fully depreciated, it could well be time to move on/up/sideways from a business standpoint. It's not a sonic decision, IOW.
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This seems to be the most likely explanation. Thanks Tim.
 
Re: Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

Peter Morris said:
Page 11 figure 17 http://qsc.com/files/1213/4625/5897/QSC_KLA_Series_User_Manual_Eng_revB.pdf.pdf Very quick and easy.
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I was digging it until I got to the part about attaching two subs together or using an array frame, where (the included) 6mm Hex wrench is required to rig them.

For a rental fleet especially, I'd probably want to stay with the 90deg JBL quick release rigging pins, with the lanyards ... JBL 361239 003 Release Pin for JBL VRX9OO Series Speaker Cabinets | Full Compass

Just to be sure, so I don't spend the rest of my life replacing 6mm Hex keys every time a rig goes out. I guess you could just order a pallet of hex keys from harbor freight and just not worry about it for a few years :razz: but that kinda thing would drive me nuts eventually.
 
Re: Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

I believe the hex key is only required if you want to fly subs. The kla12's need no tools to connect to the flybar, or to each other. Both the vrx and kla are ok for 2 a side on a stick but are very limited other than that due to the lack of vertical angle options. Darren
 
Re: Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

Steve Milner said:
I was digging it until I got to the part about attaching two subs together or using an array frame, where (the included) 6mm Hex wrench is required to rig them.

For a rental fleet especially, I'd probably want to stay with the 90deg JBL quick release rigging pins, with the lanyards ... JBL 361239 003 Release Pin for JBL VRX9OO Series Speaker Cabinets | Full Compass

Just to be sure, so I don't spend the rest of my life replacing 6mm Hex keys every time a rig goes out. I guess you could just order a pallet of hex keys from harbor freight and just not worry about it for a few years :razz: but that kinda thing would drive me nuts eventually.
Click to expand...

Put the hex key on your key ring. See how quickly you either A) stop losing it or B) start losing your keys.
 
Re: Local rental house phasing out VRXLA-P, phasing in QSC KLA...why?

Darren Scaresbrook said:
I believe the hex key is only required if you want to fly subs. The kla12's need no tools to connect to the flybar, or to each other. Both the vrx and kla are ok for 2 a side on a stick but are very limited other than that due to the lack of vertical angle options. Darren
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You're right Darren, but coming from a pretty fair amount of VRX experience, I tend to only want to fly them w/ a sub at the top of the array. With a pair of 932's & a 918 (per hang) flown as the main arrays and an aux fed cluster somewhere on the ground, I find the VRX to be far more useful then when you just fly the 932's and have all of your subs on the ground.

I've dry hired this configuration from two local (friends) who are providers, pretty often over the past few years, and think it's a pretty common package for mid-sized corporate work and similar applications where you would find this type of cabinet being deployed. Requiring a specific tool to go out w/ the boxes just seems like a misstep on an otherwise very well thought-out rigging system.

I'm sure that I'm over-thinking this, and honestly, I carry a hex key set in my kit typically... but for a rental fleet, it would just make me a bit nervous. :(~:-(~:sad:
 
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