full range pa speakers

thomasw88

been using mackie thump th15A's for the last 3 years, and generally been happy enough with them, although we occasionally do have to run them nearly full power which caauses a bit of feedback.

however might be looking at upgrading them, so looking for suggestions of something recently price (ie no more than 1k for a pair), must be active, and fairly loud.   Must be reliable..    Tend to put vocals, guitars (acoustic, electric) and a couple of drum mics through them so would prefer something full range rather than just tops.

options so far I've looked at are:

1. Mackie SRM 450's v3 -  seem to be 12 inch as opposed to the 15? will they work for full range or would I need a sub?

2. Yamaha DBR15 or Yamaha DXR15 

3. RCF ART 715-A MKII  or possibly RCF Art 712-A MK II

4.EV ZLX 15P

Any suggestions/experiences with the above or alternatives would be muchly appreciated.

spacecadet

Make sure you get a returns note along with your receipt if you buy the modern Mackie SRM's. Older ones are miles better. 

DBR's are quite budget and won't be a huge step up from the thumps but will be a step up. DXR is considerably better. 

RCF stuff is good too. 715's if you can't afford a sub, 712's if you can or will be getting one soon. 

EV ZLX were good when I heard them but didn't seem that well made. 

If you need full range, thats what all these are but if you're putting kick through them, they won't manage a great deal. If you need kick drum to be a kick drum and not do damage to your speakers, you will need a sub. Being the anal git that I am, I would only buy the matching sub to the tops but it's not essential. 

Reliability wise, I would probably say the Yamaha/ RCF would be the best bet. Two bands I know went for a full ZLX rig and both of them blew up. Same experience with Mackie stuff. 

koneguitarist

Go for the RCF 310A 10" tops with RCF 15"sub, works far better than the RCF 15's. Smaller tops to me give a better vocal response than the 15" full range speakers such as SRM450 or RCF715.

Also ideal to take just tops for small gigs and rehearsel. As you can tell I am a fan of the RCF310A

koneguitarist

https://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/rcf-art-310-a-mk3-active-pa-speaker-bundle.html https://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/rcf-sub-705-as-15-inch-bandpass-active-subwoofer-700w-ex-display.html

thomasw88

Would the rcf's handle 4 vocals and an acoustic guitar plus Mic'd electric against a loud drummer?

koneguitarist

Easily, look at this it's an outdoor gig with RCF's and no subs! ,

thomasw88

sounds good tho your drummer is a lot more restrained than the one in my covers band!

are the guitars micd' up in this as well?

Danny1969

koneguitarist said:

Easily, look at this it's an outdoor gig with RCF's and no subs! 

And no kick drum either  

Good vocal though 

koneguitarist

Danny1969 said:

koneguitarist said:

Easily, look at this it's an outdoor gig with RCF's and no subs! 

And no kick drum either  

Good vocal though 

If I had had time, I would have borrowed a bass sub or two and mind Bass Drum, place for everything, sadly last minute gig, and did not know it was gonna be outdoors.

 The daytime gig is a small beer garden, and I do not mic up there, and a mate who is a drummer said he can hear everything clearly at the gig inc bass drum. 

thomasw88

I'm looking at the RCF 712-A's as a good all round compromise ie I can get away with putting a small amount of kick drum through.

anyone used these and compared against the 10 and 15 inch versions?

Danny1969

Do you use any compression on the kick drum ? basically if you get the dynamics of a kick drum under control so the dynamic range is tamed and you high pass at something sensible like 40hz then you can put your kick through anything. 

A bigger driver in a bigger box will always produce a better low frequency response though. The RCF712-A is spec'ed as 50hz to 20Khz but it doesn't say if it's -3dB down at 50hz or - 10dB or possible more ..... it's very unlikely it's response is as even at 50hz as it is at 1K so those 50 to 20 figures are meaningless  

Is it the lack of room in the car or something that's steering you away from normal subs - poles - tops ?

thomasw88

Theres some compression on the desk so yes I could compress the kick.  

The main driver is to get something thats reasonably portable and cost wise not over 1k new.   to get the RCF 310's and to get matching sub would blow that budget.  

koneguitarist

I would go for the 10's as they are enough for majority of gigs, as you get more money, pick up a Sub s/h, If you think you still need it.

thomasw88

I pulled the trigger in the 12's. Got a good deal from absolute music on them, the covers and a couple of other bits n bobs. Looking forward to it!!

koneguitarist

Well done, still bloody good speakers.

thomasw88

hope so.  hoping that the 12's will allow me to put through a smidge of the kick drum and provide enough power for all gigs without getting a sub, but if need be I'll maybe look at getting one next year.  

cheers fellas for the advice.