Active PA Speakers

[monkeynuts]

Morning all

I'm currently looking to upgrade my current PA speakers and the shortlist in budget seems to be;

JBL EON 515XT

DB Technologies 715DX

EV ZLX 15P

Budget could be stretched to £500 a speaker at a push.

Looking at 15's as I don't always carry a sub and that will be a later addition anyway.

Anyone used any of the above or any suggestions?

Thanks

Edited May 23, 2014 by monkeynuts

[crez5150]

EV.... but then again I am completely biased

[monkeynuts]

lol, I take it you work for them or have a close relationship then!!

All opinions are good, even biased ones :-)

[crez5150]

Yeah I work for them. I prefer the 12" ZLX-P over the 15' to be honest. There's plenty of good speakers in the price range you are looking at. Check out RCF too. At the end of the day it's personal preference to the cabinet sound. The ZLX has a greater DSP control over the other brands and is pretty competitive and has a 3year warranty too. The best thing you can do is get yourself down to somewhere like PMT or the like and compare a few out with some pre-recorded music you are familiar with so you can get a good idea

[monkeynuts]

Excellent, thanks for that.

I suppose I've always been wary of 12"s as I have always been in the 15" camp and never tried them. Is there enough low frequency from the 12 with sub's?

[crez5150]

The 12's have a great lower extension. More so than the 15's I'd say for the size of box. If you are gonna be sticking kick or the like through them you would want a sub anyway. But they are very respectable on their own

[monkeynuts]

Cool, I will look at the 12's as well then and try and get a listen of some :-) Thanks again

[martthebass]

The ZLX are Chinese made - not considered the best stuff from EV. At your price point I'd be looking at the RCF 312A (in fact that's what I'm aiming at at the mo). Alternatively if you can pick up some version 1 Mackie SRM450 (made in Italy not China) these are also well regarded. Beyond that then the QSC K12 but they're above your (and my) budget.

Edited May 23, 2014 by martthebass

[crez5150]

You know the Chinese argument doesn't really stack up these days.... I'd stick the ZLX up against anything from a European manufacture base.

[martthebass]

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1400845500' post='2457451']
You know the Chinese argument doesn't really stack up these days.... I'd stick the ZLX up against anything from a European manufacture base.
[/quote]

As a buyer where I bring lots of stuff in from China I was hoping that would be the case. I'd much rather save some money and get the ZLX over the RCF's......unfortunately my ears said differently so I'm still in save up mode. Just my opinion though someone else could think exactly the opposite.

[JapanAxe]

Just reading this on my Chinese-made iPad over lunch. In a minute I'll go upstairs and play through my Genz Benz amp (Taiwanese chassis) to tunes on my Chinese made Mac Mini... Etc.

[crez5150]

[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1400845933' post='2457457']
As a buyer where I bring lots of stuff in from China I was hoping that would be the case. I'd much rather save some money and get the ZLX over the RCF's......unfortunately my ears said differently so I'm still in save up mode. Just my opinion though someone else could think exactly the opposite.
[/quote]

Exactly... which is why I said that you should go and check out speakers with some familiar tracks ..... everyone has a different view on the sound they expect.

[martthebass]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1400846121' post='2457459']
Just reading this on my Chinese-made iPad over lunch. Chinese made Mac Mini... Etc.
[/quote]

'Assembled in China'.....designed in California ;-)

[Handwired]

[quote name='monkeynuts' timestamp='1400830674' post='2457278']
Morning all

I'm currently looking to upgrade my current PA speakers and the shortlist in budget seems to be;

JBL EON 515XT

DB Technologies 715DX

EV ZLX 15P

Budget could be stretched to £500 a speaker at a push.

Looking at 15's as I don't always carry a sub and that will be a later addition anyway.

Anyone used any of the above or any suggestions?

Thanks
[/quote]
The DB's win out of that list, I've used them all, however try and find some new old stock DB 605D's as they're lighter, more powerfull and sound better. DB 405D's are a similar wattage to the 715DX's and they're also better.
Oh, and by the way, DB Technologies are owned by RCF and use the same drivers and amps.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Handwired