Not to knock anyone's comments or opinions, but I will point out a couple of things: 1) despite what ribbon drivers give away in max output, you will not find ANY compression driver with harmonic distortion nearly as low as what ribbons deliver. It is that, not "smoothness", that sets them apart. I will qualify that statement by remarking that the driver JBL developed for the VTX series sounds exceptional - and VTX's cost around $10K per box. If you can't justify $120K+ for your basic hang, there is nothing that sound better on the high end than Versarray. 2) The mids - yes, the coverage is inconsistent. I would just echo Eric's comments from many moons ago - "it's a case of measuring bad but sounding good." I have never used the "safe" preset, so maybe my achieved coverage is better than what some of the commenters have experienced. Nevertheless my ribbon consumption has averaged 2-3 per year. At $20 a ribbon I consider that a very acceptable level of attrition. 3) Max SPL - I don't mix loud. I don't like to do that to an audience. I have heard engineers for national acts, and locals as well, mix at levels that exceeded not just good taste (IMHO) but the threshold of pain. If you are one of those guys you won't want Versarrays. But if you are comfortable mixing somewhere under 110db and want to hear more clarity and detail than you have ever heard outside of a recording studio or from an audiophile's home rig, you should consider checking out a well kept Versarray system. No, you are not going to do stadiums with them, but you can do audiences in the the thousands and get a LOT of compliments in the process. I know, because I do. Tim's, Evan's, and Jeff's comments represent a common view of Peavey products in general, and that is certainly a factor to consider if you are primarily oriented toward being a rental shop, but I will offer that I have been doing sound professionally for 40 years, and I have used virtually all of the gear they prefer. Some of it I like, some I don't, but I love the sound of my 16 box Versarray system.
