PA Build Underway

[Schaf]

Don't get dual 15 /horn top boxes. Those Crown amps are not very good either.

Thanks for the post - can you expound a liitle? I'm assuming that you are suggesting something with a 12" speaker (or pair of them...) would be better than dual 15's for the mids. If that's the case, I would agree - but I haven't seen many options for mid / high cabs with 12's. Any suggestions? Also, why do you say the Crown amps aren't very good? Rack mount Crown gear certainly has a solid reuptation for quality. Are the components in the powered cabinets inferior in some way?

I'm certainly open to suggestions. My budget is ~$4,000 for (2) subs and (2) mid / high cabinets with something in the neighborhood of 4,000 watts (although that's not necessarily the best performance criteria). This PA will be used for typical bar and club venues. If anyone has options for powered mains, post away

The Crown power amps they use in the powered speakers are not the same as say a Crown xTI. They are more like the XL dj stuff. I had the Mpro powered subs. 1st gig amp went out, repaired under warranty.....2nd gig amp went out again...replaced under warranty....no third gig for me, I sold them.

The powered QSC stuff is nice for med to small rooms. Larger rooms you need a bunch of them. They sound very good and setup / teardown is nice and quick. But they don't have alot of throw. I've used the subs with the dual 12's. Single 18's may gain alittle more bottom, but output should be about the same.

Your top boxes you can go with either 12's or 15's, either is fine just stay with one woofer per box cabs. The dual 15/ horn boxes are not intended to run with subs, more for standalone dj apps.

If you are looking for powered cabs, I had the best luck with Yorkville. With single woofer subs, if you want throw and thump go for something hornloaded. They will be bigger, but they put out! Front loaded cabs are good too but you need alot more of them to get the output. Something like the LS608 sub, two per side would be thunderous, though they are unpowered. The Yorkville NX series tops are powered and will sound great.

If you are looking at JBL stuff, SRX is where you want to be if you can afford it. I don't like anything lower than that.

my system was Yorkville Elite EF500P tops with LS800 subs. Awesome output and sound in a relatively small footprint.

Unfortunately, the SRX line is above my limit for this particular expense. I'm sure they are worth it, but I need to stretch the investment dollars a little farther. I've heard good things about Yorkville, but have no direct exposure to them. None of the bands around here use them and there doesn't seem to be any way to get a listen to them. There are a lot of choices and with the amount of money it will take to buy the gear, I sure don't want to make a bad one...

Well, we have the JBL MRX series. While I'll agree that the SRX is better, they also take more power to run. Quite a bit more, which will increase your expense. I can say that the MRX is a significant upgrade over the JRX, which I wouldn't recommend. We have 2 2-18 cabs and w 12/horn cabs. We have 2 3000 watt QSC PLX amps to run the subs. We also have one 1500 QSC PLX to run the tops. We run the system three way with the tops in stereo. Of course, a good crossover and good EQ's are critical, but I have to say for the size venues that we play, this system stomps. The lowend is very punchy (you can feel it punching you in the chest) and the mids and highs are crystal clear without being harsh sounding. But then again, that's $3000 in speakers at least. Then at least another 1000-1500 for amps used. Our soundman has run all kinds of systems, and he's pretty high on the MRX's for the money and compactness. Now to be fair, I haven't compared them to the Yorkville.

Schaf

 

[Greazygeo]

Don't get dual 15 /horn top boxes. Those Crown amps are not very good either.

Thanks for the post - can you expound a liitle? I'm assuming that you are suggesting something with a 12" speaker (or pair of them...) would be better than dual 15's for the mids. If that's the case, I would agree - but I haven't seen many options for mid / high cabs with 12's. Any suggestions? Also, why do you say the Crown amps aren't very good? Rack mount Crown gear certainly has a solid reuptation for quality. Are the components in the powered cabinets inferior in some way?

I'm certainly open to suggestions. My budget is ~$4,000 for (2) subs and (2) mid / high cabinets with something in the neighborhood of 4,000 watts (although that's not necessarily the best performance criteria). This PA will be used for typical bar and club venues. If anyone has options for powered mains, post away

The Crown power amps they use in the powered speakers are not the same as say a Crown xTI. They are more like the XL dj stuff. I had the Mpro powered subs. 1st gig amp went out, repaired under warranty.....2nd gig amp went out again...replaced under warranty....no third gig for me, I sold them.

The powered QSC stuff is nice for med to small rooms. Larger rooms you need a bunch of them. They sound very good and setup / teardown is nice and quick. But they don't have alot of throw. I've used the subs with the dual 12's. Single 18's may gain alittle more bottom, but output should be about the same.

Your top boxes you can go with either 12's or 15's, either is fine just stay with one woofer per box cabs. The dual 15/ horn boxes are not intended to run with subs, more for standalone dj apps.

If you are looking for powered cabs, I had the best luck with Yorkville. With single woofer subs, if you want throw and thump go for something hornloaded. They will be bigger, but they put out! Front loaded cabs are good too but you need alot more of them to get the output. Something like the LS608 sub, two per side would be thunderous, though they are unpowered. The Yorkville NX series tops are powered and will sound great.

If you are looking at JBL stuff, SRX is where you want to be if you can afford it. I don't like anything lower than that.

my system was Yorkville Elite EF500P tops with LS800 subs. Awesome output and sound in a relatively small footprint.

Unfortunately, the SRX line is above my limit for this particular expense. I'm sure they are worth it, but I need to stretch the investment dollars a little farther. I've heard good things about Yorkville, but have no direct exposure to them. None of the bands around here use them and there doesn't seem to be any way to get a listen to them. There are a lot of choices and with the amount of money it will take to buy the gear, I sure don't want to make a bad one...

Well, we have the JBL MRX series. While I'll agree that the SRX is better, they also take more power to run. Quite a bit more, which will increase your expense. I can say that the MRX is a significant upgrade over the JRX, which I wouldn't recommend. We have 2 2-18 cabs and w 12/horn cabs. We have 2 3000 watt QSC PLX amps to run the subs. We also have one 1500 QSC PLX to run the tops. We run the system three way with the tops in stereo. Of course, a good crossover and good EQ's are critical, but I have to say for the size venues that we play, this system stomps. The lowend is very punchy (you can feel it punching you in the chest) and the mids and highs are crystal clear without being harsh sounding. But then again, that's $3000 in speakers at least. Then at least another 1000-1500 for amps used. Our soundman has run all kinds of systems, and he's pretty high on the MRX's for the money and compactness. Now to be fair, I haven't compared them to the Yorkville.

Schaf

I had the earlier version of the MRX line...MP412 tops and MP418subs. The 1-18 subs were pretty worthless as far as output. Went to dual 18 subs which helped alittle, but not enough for the footprint. The MP412's were very nice sounding tops. Those ended up being moved to monitors, complete overkill of course!

The MRX stuff I would like for the top boxes and monitors. They do have a good sound. I just don't like front loaded subs.

I wanted a smaller footprint, powered cabs and more output....the Yorkville horn loaded 1-18's did the trick for me. Very efficient and tons of thump though they do need a bit of eq-ing. In wider rooms it would have been nice to have two tops per side for coverage.

lots of choices and ways to go these days.

 

[IndyWS6]

Don't get dual 15 /horn top boxes. Those Crown amps are not very good either.

Thanks for the post - can you expound a liitle? I'm assuming that you are suggesting something with a 12" speaker (or pair of them...) would be better than dual 15's for the mids. If that's the case, I would agree - but I haven't seen many options for mid / high cabs with 12's. Any suggestions? Also, why do you say the Crown amps aren't very good? Rack mount Crown gear certainly has a solid reuptation for quality. Are the components in the powered cabinets inferior in some way?

I'm certainly open to suggestions. My budget is ~$4,000 for (2) subs and (2) mid / high cabinets with something in the neighborhood of 4,000 watts (although that's not necessarily the best performance criteria). This PA will be used for typical bar and club venues. If anyone has options for powered mains, post away

The Crown power amps they use in the powered speakers are not the same as say a Crown xTI. They are more like the XL dj stuff. I had the Mpro powered subs. 1st gig amp went out, repaired under warranty.....2nd gig amp went out again...replaced under warranty....no third gig for me, I sold them.

The powered QSC stuff is nice for med to small rooms. Larger rooms you need a bunch of them. They sound very good and setup / teardown is nice and quick. But they don't have alot of throw. I've used the subs with the dual 12's. Single 18's may gain alittle more bottom, but output should be about the same.

Your top boxes you can go with either 12's or 15's, either is fine just stay with one woofer per box cabs. The dual 15/ horn boxes are not intended to run with subs, more for standalone dj apps.

If you are looking for powered cabs, I had the best luck with Yorkville. With single woofer subs, if you want throw and thump go for something hornloaded. They will be bigger, but they put out! Front loaded cabs are good too but you need alot more of them to get the output. Something like the LS608 sub, two per side would be thunderous, though they are unpowered. The Yorkville NX series tops are powered and will sound great.

If you are looking at JBL stuff, SRX is where you want to be if you can afford it. I don't like anything lower than that.

my system was Yorkville Elite EF500P tops with LS800 subs. Awesome output and sound in a relatively small footprint.

Unfortunately, the SRX line is above my limit for this particular expense. I'm sure they are worth it, but I need to stretch the investment dollars a little farther. I've heard good things about Yorkville, but have no direct exposure to them. None of the bands around here use them and there doesn't seem to be any way to get a listen to them. There are a lot of choices and with the amount of money it will take to buy the gear, I sure don't want to make a bad one...

Well, we have the JBL MRX series. While I'll agree that the SRX is better, they also take more power to run. Quite a bit more, which will increase your expense. I can say that the MRX is a significant upgrade over the JRX, which I wouldn't recommend. We have 2 2-18 cabs and w 12/horn cabs. We have 2 3000 watt QSC PLX amps to run the subs. We also have one 1500 QSC PLX to run the tops. We run the system three way with the tops in stereo. Of course, a good crossover and good EQ's are critical, but I have to say for the size venues that we play, this system stomps. The lowend is very punchy (you can feel it punching you in the chest) and the mids and highs are crystal clear without being harsh sounding. But then again, that's $3000 in speakers at least. Then at least another 1000-1500 for amps used. Our soundman has run all kinds of systems, and he's pretty high on the MRX's for the money and compactness. Now to be fair, I haven't compared them to the Yorkville.

Schaf

I had the earlier version of the MRX line...MP412 tops and MP418subs. The 1-18 subs were pretty worthless as far as output. Went to dual 18 subs which helped alittle, but not enough for the footprint. The MP412's were very nice sounding tops. Those ended up being moved to monitors, complete overkill of course!

The MRX stuff I would like for the top boxes and monitors. They do have a good sound. I just don't like front loaded subs.

I wanted a smaller footprint, powered cabs and more output....the Yorkville horn loaded 1-18's did the trick for me. Very efficient and tons of thump though they do need a bit of eq-ing. In wider rooms it would have been nice to have two tops per side for coverage.

lots of choices and ways to go these days.

I'm getting a little confused by the JBL models... I realize that the MRX's are passive and the PRX's are active, but I thought the MRX line was more or less the "entry level" JBL passive speakers, while the PRX's were newer and considered to be the mid-range (no pun intended ) active speakers. Am I mistaken?

Greazygeo - You mentioned that you used the Yorkville Elite EF500P tops with LS800 subs. If you were purchasing equipment today, which Yorkville cabinets would you choose? The same setup - or something different? I'm looking for powered cabinets that will kick ass for a reasonable price and have (approx) $4,000 in the budget. Ideally it would be a pair of subs and a pair of mid / high cabinets. I could always daisy-chain later if we need it for larger venues.

Thanks in advance

 

[Greazygeo]

I'm getting a little confused by the JBL models... I realize that the MRX's are passive and the PRX's are active, but I thought the MRX line was more or less the "entry level" JBL passive speakers, while the PRX's were newer and considered to be the mid-range (no pun intended ) active speakers. Am I mistaken?

Greazygeo - You mentioned that you used the Yorkville Elite EF500P tops with LS800 subs. If you were purchasing equipment today, which Yorkville cabinets would you choose? The same setup - or something different? I'm looking for powered cabinets that will kick ass for a reasonable price and have (approx) $4,000 in the budget. Ideally it would be a pair of subs and a pair of mid / high cabinets. I could always daisy-chain later if we need it for larger venues.

Thanks in advance

JRX is the bottom/entry level....MRX is next then SRX. PRX is similar to the QSC powered stuff.

If I was going powered again, I'd have no problem going with the same setup. I might go with the NX series tops for weight considerations. The EF500p's are almost 100lbs and were a bit of a workout to get up on the poles/ stands. The NX series has about the same power but with plastic boxes are lighter. I don't think your budget will quite get you there though. Alot of places we played only needed one LS800 sub.

The QSC stuff sounds great, but the output is not really close to the Yorkville setup. If you are only playing smaller rooms, they would be great.

Another thing to think about is how are you going to haul them and do you have help moving / setting up the gear? If space is a consideration, the LS800's may be too big. They won't fit in a minivan. In that case you may go with the LS700P. For tops, a pair of NX 55's would be great.

Or you could buy your tops now and save awhile and get subs later....lots of ways to go.