Budget sub for pub band?

[ToLo]

Hi guys, 

 

I'm looking to get a sub for my pub band so that we can keep stage volume down a bit. We are on a mission to get our volume down so are transitioning to an electronic kit. Up until this point it has been an acoustic drum kit, occasionally with the kick mic'd, and then my bass has never gone through the PA - it's all coming from my amp. We want to change so that we put the electronic kit and my bass through the PA, but still have my amp on stage at a much lower volume for some monitoring. 

 

I've found these two options that both come in under £350 and are also relatively light weight (<25 kg):

 

1. Alto TX12S -900W 12-inch Subwoofer, DSP-Enhanced Powered PA Speaker with 2-inch Voice Coil

2. VONYX SWA18 18" Active PA Subwoofer - 1000W DJ Powered Subwoofer Speaker with Low-Pass Filter

 

Does anyone have any experience with these? Also open to other options that come in under £350 and won't break my back! (I've seen lots of Behringer subs that look like they might fit the bill but are >40 kg!). 

 

Additional question (I'm brand new to subwoofers!):

The two subs I've listed above have an 'input' and a 'thru' on the back. I presume that the 'thru' is going to be processed with a HPF applied (set to which ever frequency you have selected), and the PA tops won't be getting anything over the cut-off. I ask because I have seen other subs with an 'input', a 'thru' (which is unprocessed), and an 'output' which has the HPF applied to it. 

 

[Jack]

I doubt that the thru output will be processed, it'll just be straight. I've used Alto stuff, it's good budget gear. What are the tops? 

[Dan Dare]

The Alto won't cut it, imho. A single 12 with a 2" voice coil won't deal with drums and bass at any kind of volume and I'd be very sceptical of the claimed 900w rating.

 

The Vonyx looks to be a cheap DJ's boom box. At around £200, it's bound to be a waste of money. I wouldn't assume that either will apply a HPF to the signal to your tops at those prices.

 

Sorry to sound negative, but a decent sub can't be had that cheaply - certainly not brand new, anyway. Unless they employ sophisticated cabinets (which they won't at bargain basement prices), they aren't going to be light, either.

 

I'd look for something used from a reputable make. There's a used Turbosound Milan 15 on the 'Bay at the moment (not mine or being sold by anyone I know) for £350. Something like that would be more up to the job.

[ToLo]

8 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

The Alto won't cut it, imho. A single 12 with a 2" voice coil won't deal with drums and bass at any kind of volume and I'd be very sceptical of the claimed 900w rating.

 

The Vonyx looks to be a cheap DJ's boom box. At around £200, it's bound to be a waste of money. I wouldn't assume that either will apply a HPF to the signal to your tops at those prices.

 

Sorry to sound negative, but a decent sub can't be had that cheaply - certainly not brand new, anyway. Unless they employ sophisticated cabinets (which they won't at bargain basement prices), they aren't going to be light, either.

 

I'd look for something used from a reputable make. There's a used Turbosound Milan 15 on the 'Bay at the moment (not mine or being sold by anyone I know) for £350. Something like that would be more up to the job.

Do you have a link to this ebay item? I can't find anything when searching those terms.

[ToLo]

11 minutes ago, Jack said:

I doubt that the thru output will be processed, it'll just be straight. I've used Alto stuff, it's good budget gear. What are the tops? 

I believe the tops are ALTO TX310

[Dan Dare]

1 minute ago, ToLo said:

Do you have a link to this ebay item? I can't find anything when searching those terms.

 

I just searched for "turbosound milan sub" and it came top of the list.

[ToLo]

3 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

I just searched for "turbosound milan sub" and it came top of the list.

Ok, got it now - thanks. Pardon my ignorance, but this sub appears to only have a 'thru' and not a separate filtered output as well - does that mean their output won't have a HPF applied to them? 

If the sub does/doesn't send the signal to the tops with a HPF, how much of a difference does that make? Will it put the tops under more strain if it hasn't had a HPF, as they're still receiving all the low end from the original signal?

[Jack]

Yes. It would be best to remove the low end from the tops somehow, especially as they are on the budget end. 

[Dan Dare]

You can pick up a simple active crossover for less than £100 which will allow you to split the signal from the mixer. You may not need one. Some mixers have a dedicated sub output (mine does), so you can feed that to the sub and dial out the low frequencies you send to your top boxes using the master eq on the mixer.

[Chienmortbb]

I know some people don’t like Behringer but their analogue crossovers are good. 
£76  plus p&p from Andertons https://www.andertons.co.uk/behringer-cx2310-v2-crossovers/

[Steve Browning]

I have an Alto TS312S and use it with a pair of Alto TS312s. I have used this system in a pretty large pub and the sound was excellent and crystal clear. We keep the stage volume down and put most things through the PA (including bass) to help achieve that. That's the TS as opposed to the TX. This is not the current range so Ebay may well help you out here.

[Jack]

2 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

I have an Alto TS312S and use it with a pair of Alto TS312s. I have used this system in a pretty large pub and the sound was excellent and crystal clear. We keep the stage volume down and put most things through the PA (including bass) to help achieve that. That's the TS as opposed to the TX. This is not the current range so Ebay may well help you out here.

It's the TS range that I have gigging experience with. 2 1x15" tops and two 1x18" subs. I briefly owned a pair of the TX110 cabs but they never saw gigging action.

[Steve Browning]

On 14/04/2025 at 13:08, Jack said:

It's the TS range that I have gigging experience with. 2 1x15" tops and two 1x18" subs. I briefly owned a pair of the TX110 cabs but they never saw gigging action.

I used them (TX10s) as monitors and they worked very well. 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

On 13/04/2025 at 12:25, Dan Dare said:

The Alto won't cut it, imho. A single 12 with a 2" voice coil won't deal with drums and bass at any kind of volume and I'd be very sceptical of the claimed 900w rating.

+1. Whatever you have for tops requires a sub, or subs, with no less than twice the air moving capacity. The average moderately priced twelve top, for instance, has some 250cc cone displacement. That puts a pair of them at 500cc. A reasonable subwoofer match would require 1000cc displacement. That means a moderately priced 18 or a pair of 15s.