Thoughts on Martin W8 rigs

M

Mike Brown

Sophomore
Feb 7, 2012
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Not sure what forum to put this in.... but:

Just wondering what your feelings are towards Martin W8 rigs. I've done quite bit of searching over the usual messageboards. Most posts are 5-10 years old and I wonder in the light of some of the more recent PA's how the W8's hold up in 2012.

I may be able to pick up 8 W8's, 4 W8S's and 4 WSX's plus amps. I've mixed on martin rigs before as a BE, but I am not sure I can specifically remember a W8 rig. I am really familiar setting up, mixing and tearing down on VERTEC or L'Acoustics stuff and have BE'ed on a smattering of other PA's.

One of my concerns would be at the low end response near the boxes, as this may be used in smaller rooms. What kind of capacities do you think these boxes could be appropriate for? Do you smile when you see these boxes on the gear list?

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
Re: Thoughts on Martin W8 rigs

Since you've posted in Jr Varsity, from that perspective I would say that the W8 rig would make most folks pretty happy. While I have not mixed on any Martin rigs, I have heard the W8's in a few environments and always thought they were a pretty nice sounding system, warm and full.

They are getting a bit long in the tooth in the Varsity world.....

You may want to ask on some european sites, as the W8 was kind of a staple over there like the KF850 was in NA.

If I recall right they're in the 200lb range, which takes them out of one man setup territory unless you are very ambitious.
 
Re: Thoughts on Martin W8 rigs

My experiences mixing on them:

-Low-mids are a little "boxy" for my taste
-The HF isn't super crisp and runs out of gas quick.
-The subs were very underwhelming.

The rig is totally workable, and most people would be happy mixing on them, that's just my 2 cents. But with that said, I'd rather have a KF650/SB1000 rig.



Evan
 
Re: Thoughts on Martin W8 rigs

If you run them with the digital Martin controller or the XTA it's based on, with the correct settings and a proper gain structure, It's not that bad. Much better than other system made at the same time, I'd call it decent after todays standards.

And definitely run W8+W8S as a 5-way system. Much better performance in both ends of our hearing range :)
 
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