PA Cab advice please.

[hamfist]

Well, the story is that due to a change of personnel one of my bands is having to buy a new set of active FoH cabs.
We are a relatively loud pub rock band and we mainly put vocals plus some drums and guitar through the FoH. Bass all comes from my rig though.
So, we thought that a decent set of 15" cabs with no subs should do the job.
I was working on a budget of £400-£450 per cab and the RCF ART 315 A's seemed perfect. I can also get them with a 3 year warranty.

However (there's always a "however") our drummer has a mate who does sound for the BBC (or something like that) who has strongly recommended these Proel cabs (the WD15A) I have never heard of ......

http://www.proel.com/proel/products/new_sound_system.html?cid=13540074059530/13540252221720/&pid=kms/11066738967290/13686085120770#.UmyEnfxFDcs

And says that he can get them for us for £350 each.

My gut tells me that the RCF's would be a better bet. Mainly due to actually being designed as a FoH cab, not a monitor, and having a larger cab size, as the PRoel cab's size looks small enough to be limiting bottom end to me, and I know that we will be pushing these fairly hard at times. The Proel specs are also a little coy in their accuracy. The RCF's are also a known item, with known decent reliability and ability.

Has anybody any experience of these Proel cabs, or can anyone give me any advice or ammunition when I get back to the band this week.

Edited October 27, 2013 by hamfist

[warwickhunt]

The RCFs over the Proels every time! Aside from the fact that the RCFs are better cabs all round; the resale value of those Proels will be pants in comparison to RCFs.

[hamfist]

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1382860362' post='2257185']
The RCFs over the Proels every time! Aside from the fact that the RCFs are better cabs all round; the resale value of those Proels will be pants in comparison to RCFs.
[/quote]

Agreed on re-sale value. To be honest, I expect whatever cabs are bought to be kept until they die so re-sale value would not be a huge issue for me. Would you still feel the same with just pure ability and reliability of the cabs ? And why ?

[JTUK]

Not sure on the Proels... I'd be wondering why the guy is pushing them..unless he can really sell them to you in terms of great sound.
He may have a 'deal'..???

I hear the RCF 10's and 12's alot and I like them... but if you are loud and a pub band, maybe think the 10/12's are better and then take a sub.
This pushes the price up, but I think a loud band putting kit and gtr thro a pr of tops is asking a lot.

We do it at times with a pr of KW112's (gtr, keys and kick plus o/h ) but it depends on the drummer we use...

When we get to that level of sound..either the subs should come out or we really have to turn down... as you just end up blowing everyones ears out..!!

[warwickhunt]

Looking at the specs of the two cabs in question (build materials as well) I'd still go for the RCFs and I owned an RCF rig (tops were the bigger 750w 15's) and I was always impressed with the sound and they were so easy to carry... well, other than the bass bin! I realise your cab choice is smaller then mine but I've heard plenty of local bands with your RCF cab choice and they sound good. Those Proels are 'designed' as wedge monitors, so you have to be compromising using them FOH. I agree with the comment re. is your 'friend' making a deal out of it himself (or greasing wheels somewhere).

[hamfist]

Thanks for your comments guys. They echo all my thoughts really. Just need to convince everyone else now.

[Phil Starr]

Proel are a perfectly respectable company who use decent quality components [url="http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/dec09/articles/proelflash.htm"]http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/dec09/articles/proelflash.htm[/url] The BBC do use them as I've seen them in use at their Edinburgh festival stage and i guess they will have been chosen on price/performance. I'd still use the RCF's though.