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Author Topic: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?  (Read 5730 times)

Richard Penrose

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Hi,

I just came across the Alesis Alpha speakers and they look pretty much identical to the Alto Truesonic range apart from improved specs?

http://alesis.com/alpha112

According to the specs these have 1000 watts amp (guessing peak) and a 1.75" titanium HF driver vs the Alto's 800watt amp and 1" neodymium HF driver!? Also, the DSP in the Alphas is Alesis own? Not only this but they cost exactly the same as the Alto Truesonic equivalents!

Anyone heard these? Are they an improved version of the Alto Truesonic range?
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David Morison

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Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2014, 08:02:31 AM »

Hi,

I just came across the Alesis Alpha speakers and they look pretty much identical to the Alto Truesonic range apart from improved specs?

http://alesis.com/alpha112

According to the specs these have 1000 watts amp (guessing peak) and a 1.75" titanium HF driver vs the Alto's 800watt amp and 1" neodymium HF driver!? Also, the DSP in the Alphas is Alesis own? Not only this but they cost exactly the same as the Alto Truesonic equivalents!

Anyone heard these? Are they an improved version of the Alto Truesonic range?

Not enough info to tell them apart to be honest.
Taking your example of the HF drivers: those could be exactly the same driver -  the characteristics you've chosen to highlight for each one are (or at least may be) different.

Titanium would refer to the diaphragm material whereas neodymium would be the magnet - and there are plenty neo magnet, titanium diaphragm drivers out there.
Similarly with the nominal size - 1" could be the exit while 1.75" could be the diaphragm diameter - this is in fact one of the most common combinations of dimensions.

Even the power difference doesn't say all that much - it could be measured under different conditions (higher % distortion allowed for one than the other perhaps). Even if real though, it's only one single decibel more power anyway. So, if all else was equal you and your audience would almost certainly not hear the difference.

I think with products at this level, you'll hardly ever get enough thoroughly qualified data so it's either find people who've taken the plunge and see what they think of the performance in real world usage or do the same yourself.

David.
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Richard Penrose

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Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2014, 04:58:42 PM »

Not enough info to tell them apart to be honest.
Taking your example of the HF drivers: those could be exactly the same driver -  the characteristics you've chosen to highlight for each one are (or at least may be) different.

Titanium would refer to the diaphragm material whereas neodymium would be the magnet - and there are plenty neo magnet, titanium diaphragm drivers out there.
Similarly with the nominal size - 1" could be the exit while 1.75" could be the diaphragm diameter - this is in fact one of the most common combinations of dimensions.

Even the power difference doesn't say all that much - it could be measured under different conditions (higher % distortion allowed for one than the other perhaps). Even if real though, it's only one single decibel more power anyway. So, if all else was equal you and your audience would almost certainly not hear the difference.

I think with products at this level, you'll hardly ever get enough thoroughly qualified data so it's either find people who've taken the plunge and see what they think of the performance in real world usage or do the same yourself.

David.

Well it's funny you should say that. I spoke to a dealer who sells both and he said they sound the same. Also, Alto and Alesis are owned by the same Music group!
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Richard Penrose

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Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2014, 07:36:33 AM »

Thought I'd update this post.

I've be speaking to one of the guys at InMusic and he said they are different speakers. Here's the difference between the two :-

Alesis has 2.5" voice coil on low transducer instead of 2.0" on Alto
Alesis has 1.75" voice coil on high transducer instead of 1.0" on Alto
Alesis has 500 Watt continuous (350 + 150)/1000 Watt max (700 + 300w), Alto has 400 Watt continuous (335 + 75)/800 Watt max  (670w + 130 W) amps
Alesis Frequency response is 51Hz-20kHz (-10db) 52Hz-20kHz (+3dB) and Alto is 54Hz-20kHz (-10dB) and 65Hz-19kHz (+3dB)
Alesis active crossover is set at 1.6kHz and Alto is 2.5kHz

The person I spoke to from InMusic said the Alesis Alpha was originally going to be released under Alto as a "pro" version of the Truesonic range but they found it too expensive to be commercially viable but as they had all the parts they released it under the Alesis Alpha label as to not confuse the Alto Truesonic range.

Apparently they sound like a more refined version of the Alto Truesonic range? I've ordered a pair of the Alesis Alpha 112's and will do a thorough a/b with my Alto TS112a's. Will report back to share my findings!
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Chuck Simon

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Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2014, 08:16:25 AM »

I don't know, I'm pretty skeptical of the whole story.  A difference in wattage between 335 watts and 350 would be inaudable. If it was too expensive to be "commercially viable" under the Alto name, why would it be more "commercially viable" to release it under the Alesis name?  It sounds like marketing B.S. to me!
« Last Edit: July 10, 2014, 09:53:09 AM by Chuck Simon »
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Richard Penrose

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Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2014, 11:57:13 AM »

I don't know, I'm pretty skeptical of the whole story.  A difference in wattage between 335 watts and 350 would be inaudable. If it was too expensive to be "commercially viable" under the Alto name, why would it be more "commercially viable" to release it under the Alesis name?  It sounds like marketing B.S. to me!

From my understanding Alto already had the parts for a small run but felt they were too expensive to make to be really commercially successful. Seeing as they had the parts for a small run already they decided to make the speakers and re-badge them under Alesis Alpha. Once this batch has gone that will be it!
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Mark Cadwallader

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Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2014, 02:34:08 PM »

Buying something with questionable future parts availabilty may not be a good long-range investment. Disposable speakers, purchased with disposable income, may work out just fine. Mark C.
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Richard Penrose

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Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #7 on: July 12, 2014, 07:25:49 AM »

Ok quick update. The Alesis Alpha's arrived yesterday and I took them straight over to a 350 seater hall I run the sound for.
As expected the Alesis Alpha's look identical to the Alto's apart from the logo and weigh the same (as much as I could tell anyway).
I set both pairs of speakers up on tripods side by side and had them patched into my A&H QU16 desk. I used two of the stereo aux pairs to connect the speakers so that I could switch between them instantly with the push of one button. I played tracks from my ipad covering a wide range of genres as well as playing keyboards through them and solo vocal/speech.
First thing I noticed is that these speakers definitely sound different to each other. The Alesis were brighter and had less emphasis on the low mids. The Alesis also had a little more output than the Alto's. I set the output on both pairs of speakers to 12 o'clock but I noticed I needed less level on the fader of the Alesis channel to match the output of the Alto's. You can hear the result of the different HF driver and higher rated amp's.
During the listening tests I preferred some tracks on the Alto's (mainly acoustic music) and preferred the Alesis for heavy rock. The Alto's were my favourite for acoustic piano though the Alesis also sounded great. When it came to testing vocal's the Alesis had a little more detail and sounded clearer in the low mids. However, one really disappointing thing I noticed about the Alesis Alpha's was the loud amount of hiss these speakers produce compared to the Alto's! I would say it's between 2-3 times as loud as the Alto's and really noticable even at the back of the hall!! This is a real shame as the Alesis speakers are very nice sounding boxes. I've had some EV ZLX12p's and RCF 710a's here to try and I definitely preferred both the Alesis and Alto's tone to the EV's and at times the Alesis speakers reminded me of the more balanced sound of the RCF's (though I still preferred the RCF's voicing).
I spent a little time messing around with some simple channel eq'ing and with a gentle sloping boost of about 2db from 1-10kHz the Alto's really opened up and I preferred this sound to the sound of the Alesis Alpha's. More importantly I was able to do this without having the loud hiss of the Alphas's!
The Alto Truesonic 112a's stil remain my favourite budget pa speaker and I'm not aware of anything around this price that could compete with them. Next step up would be the Yamaha DXR12's (I've used these and own a pair of DXR15's) and RCF 712's etc but these cost a lot more than the £300 I paid for my Alto's! For a small budget acoustic pa the Alto's are working out great!
« Last Edit: July 12, 2014, 10:18:06 AM by richard penrose »
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Alesis Alpha active speakers - improved version of Alto Truesonic?
« Reply #7 on: July 12, 2014, 07:25:49 AM »


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