Portable PA systems

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Surreal
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#61 Post by Surreal » Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:23 pm

I was looking at the Ion Audio speaker that hepcat mentioned, then came across the Alesis which looks like the same thing...
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=600517
http://www.amazon.com/Ion-Portable-Syst ... B000I51FF6
Same price, both even come with a mic. Did the company just change names or something?

Has anyone tried either of these?

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hepcat72
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Ion

#62 Post by hepcat72 » Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:38 pm

Actually, I compared the Ion with other speakers at Guitar Center maybe 2 weeks ago and decided the sound quality of the Ion wasn't suitable for my standards. The bass didn't hold up at higher volumes and the treble occasionally sounded tinny. When cranked up all the way, I worried it wouldn't be loud enough for 50-100 people. Very portable and convenient though. I'd recommend it for small rooms with 25 dancers or less. I opted to buy a Behringer (sp?) speaker that was on close-out ($280). It had much better quality sound, though was much less portable. I'm going to use it at a dance on Saturday. If it does a good job, I'll buy a second one.

Rob

Surreal
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#63 Post by Surreal » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:45 pm

Has anyone ever tried building their own speakers? I just stumbled upon this site today: http://www.partsexpress.com/speaker-building.cfm
The engineer in me feels like buying more toys. Oh sure, I have no idea what I'm doing and it probably wouldn't sound as good as a storebought, but, y'know... toys.

SoundInMotionDJ
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#64 Post by SoundInMotionDJ » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:46 am

Surreal wrote:Has anyone ever tried building their own speakers?
Go here instead: http://billfitzmaurice.com/

I've built a full PA system using plans from that site. The sound is awesome, and the builder community is equally as awesome.

Edit: Here are some images that show what DIY speakers can look like...
This shows the finish on my subs:
Image

This shows a stack of four subs, and two tops.

Image

--Stan Graves

Surreal
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#65 Post by Surreal » Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:28 am

Hmm, I might just do that... don't think I'll be able to tackle the DR line though. I would probably start with the OmniTop 15 or maybe a Wedgehorn 10.

On a random note, I came across this ad while looking for used stuff: http://winnipeg.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sel ... dZ54219690
I know people who might be interested in this stuff, but don't really know what to look for. Any thoughts on the brands and what it might be worth?

SoundInMotionDJ
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#66 Post by SoundInMotionDJ » Sun Jul 13, 2008 12:07 pm

Surreal wrote:Hmm, I might just do that... don't think I'll be able to tackle the DR line though. I would probably start with the OmniTop 15 or maybe a Wedgehorn 10.
I'd build the Omni10 (or 10.5) instead of an OT15. The O10 will be a little more expensive (two 10's instead of one 15) but has an advantage in low end response, and is much smoother in the midrange and will take about twice the power as the OT15. Built as 10.5's this is a much more modular system.

In addition, smaller driver have more accurate and clearer sound. The DR200 uses an 8in driver, and is likely the clearest PA cabinet I have ever heard. The O10.5 will be a much better sounding cabinet than an OT15.

--Stan Graves

Surreal
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#67 Post by Surreal » Sun Aug 24, 2008 12:24 am

Argh! Every time I buy speakers, they get damaged within the first week. The first was my little Boomtube that I got for teaching. During class someone swept their jacket across the table and knocked all my gear to the floor (almost took my computer along with it). They knocked the speakers down a second time within 5 minutes.

When I got my Yamaha Stagepas 300, I was teaching a Charleston class and one particularly excited fellow managed to kick a speaker... that was on a stage 2 feet up.

Earlier this week I got my Cambridge Soundworks Model Twelve and set them up for a house (dance) party. Feeling somewhat paranoid, I put the satellites on a shelf and the subwoofer/case on the ground tucked a little behind a couch for safety. One guy then fails utterly on a lunge/slide and kicks a stool hard right into the sub.

Gah, just angry and need to vent. :x Why can't I have nice things? :(

Surreal
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#68 Post by Surreal » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:53 pm

The utter utter opposite of portable...
http://www.wisdomaudio.com/products_grande.php

So who has a spare $70k they could lend me? Actually, make that a round 100k as I'd probably have to renovate the house and reinforce the floor just to support those things.

Toon Town Dave
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#69 Post by Toon Town Dave » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:28 am

Check out the Mackie SRM150, I used mine all summer for our outdoor dance. It had just enough power for the space, it's the size of a toaster and built fairly sturdy. I haven't dropped it but it's held up to a bike ride from home to work to the dance and back home once a week all summer.

I'm really happy with it as a P.A. for speech, they audio is crisp and clear even with a cheap no-name mic. It can handle a laptop and 2 mics in one small, sturdy package.

If you want something a little bigger, Mackie redesigned the bigger powered PAs, the SRM 350v2 and 450v2 are smaller and lighter than the originals but still have great sound. They're all built for the abuse of transport so they should withstand being kicked or furniture or people falling on them.

minna
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#70 Post by minna » Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:10 am

The Mackie SRM150 sounds very interesting. Do you use some sort of
batteries to get it powered? Is it big enough for an outdoor dance with
about 60 dancers?

I organise a weekly outdoor dance in Helsinki, Finland. My problem with
the PA system is, that I don't have access to electricity. So I've been
using a boom box and a big "jelly" battery, but I'd really like to get a
more powerful system.

-minna

Toon Town Dave
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#71 Post by Toon Town Dave » Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:22 pm

It's powered off AC. Our outdoor venue had power so I haven't used it for real with battery power but I did test using a car battery and 300W power inverter. It was fine for the PA and my laptop.

Our group ranged from 30-60-ish. The sound projected well in a roughly 12m diameter amphitheater space. I needed to turn the lows down on a couple of bass heavy recordings because the 5" speaker can't handle a huge amount of bass.

Toon Town Dave
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#72 Post by Toon Town Dave » Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:14 pm

Reviving this thread because there are a lot of new products on the market and I'm in the market for some new speakers.

I was initially keen on the Mackie SRM 450/350 v2's but after giving them a listen a couple weeks ago, I really don't think they hold a candle to the originals.

The salesman was trying to talk me into the EV ELX115P or it's 12" sibling but they didn't have any in stock to listen to.

I've read a comparison between the EV ELX112P, the QSC K12 and the JBL PRX612M that suggested they were all good with comparable sound. I read another review comparing the ELX112P to it's 8" cousin the EV ZXA1 that suggested the ZXA1 had a better frequency response curve, the ELX being strong on the lows and highs but a bit weak in the mids.

Any thoughts from the audiophile DJs? Anyone have any other models that sound really good?

SoundInMotionDJ
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#73 Post by SoundInMotionDJ » Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:11 am

Toon Town Dave wrote:I've read a comparison between the EV ELX112P, the QSC K12 and the JBL PRX612M that suggested they were all good with comparable sound.
I have heard all of those speakers, and I agree that they are all in the same ballpark for sound.

In terms of "value" the RFC312A sound better than it should for the $$$. These are the only powered speakers I recommend in the <$1k / pair range. Once you have these, go make some $$ and add a sub or two later. This makes a GREAT starter system that is expandable down the road.

The two tops + sub configuration I recommend in the <$1k range remains the B52 Matrix 1000 v2 system. This system is a great starter system...but not really worth expanding later. Buy this and make $$$$, then put this on backup duty and buy a full PA that is an upgrade.

I actually prefer the K10 to the K12 (provided that there will be a sub involved). The K10 was noticeably clearer in the midrange, had a better sound in the 2kHz crossover region between the midbass and the tweeter, and had better horizontal dispersion of the highs. The K10 is OK standalone for non-bass heavy material. The K12 has a slight advantage in peak SPL, and in low end extension...but IMO that is not enough to justify the K12 over the K10.
Toon Town Dave wrote:Any thoughts from the audiophile DJs? Anyone have any other models that sound really good?
Audiophiles are INSANE and NOT worth listening to for longer than it takes to run screaming the other direction. Seriously...anytime someone says "audiophile"...I immediately mentally substitute "total moron" instead. :roll: Ironically, it makes anything else that is said make a LOT more sense. :wink:

EVERYTHING in pro-audio is a compromise...and that is especially true when the system is portable and will be in a different room on every use. EVERY speaker cabinet can benefit from EQ...if for no other reason that EQ can be used to alter the room response. Digital PA managers for <$500 make it possible to get reasonable sound out of (almost) any speakers.

Below the $3k price point for a "full PA with subs" there is VERY little to recommend. I have given the recommendations that I make above. Above that price point, there are reasonable systems from (almost) all of the "brand name" vendors.

Once your budget gets above about $5k...roughly 1/3 will be spent on cabinets, 1/3 on electronics, and 1/3 on cases, stands, cables, etc.

The key idea is balance....and understanding exactly what each piece of equipment in the signal chain adds to the final sound.

straycat
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#74 Post by straycat » Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:23 am

Toon Town Dave wrote:I was initially keen on the Mackie SRM 450/350 v2's but after giving them a listen a couple weeks ago, I really don't think they hold a candle to the originals.
Sadly true - we have a couple of v1s, and one v2 - and put side by side, the v2 sounds defective. Best avoided.

Toon Town Dave
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#75 Post by Toon Town Dave » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:23 am

Thanks straycat for confirming the marked difference in sound quality between the original SRM450s and the v2s. I still like my small SRM150s. For a mere 5" cone, they sound great for small spaces, classes, etc. I might have to pick up a spare in case they decided to make a SRM150v2.


SoundInMotionDJ, I hadn't heard of RCF before so I did a bit of homework reading discussions on DJ equipment forums and stumbled across many of your posts. You really get around!

I'm probably going to skip RCF because I can't find any place locally or near-ish that carries them let alone stocks them but they do sound like a good option for us.

You talk about kits with a sub or adding a sub later. If we're just using the gear for swing dances or similar, would a sub be worth the cost/effort? If we had an event with hard thumping music it would be rare enough that I think it would make more sense to rent than own.

Our price range is somewhere on the order of $1600 for speakers, stands and bags. The rest of our budget is going to a mixer that we could use for small bands and a couple of headset mics. We're hoping to use the speakers as mains if we have a small band in a small venue or to augment rented gear as monitors or mains if we have a larger venue or larger band. Our main use case is for our weekly outdoor dance during the summer. It's an outdoor amphitheater and needs surprisingly little sound reinforcement for a more or less open space.

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