Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Lance Rectanus]

I am gong to replace an old Fender Passport 125W/ch system, mounted on tripod stands, with a pair of wall mounted powered speakers. The usage will be for playing Disney-style DVD's and Youtube videos for our daycare and Sunday School. The area to be covered is roughly 25' wide x 30' deep (roughly a third of the full 40 x 60 room) with around 60 kids. The only expectation is that it will be equal in quality to the old Fender system. Any improvement over this will be a plus. We don't need ear-splitting volumes; 80-90 dB A would be plenty. I can look at specs all day long, but I would like people's real world experiences with the following units I am considering. I believe the most important thing is does one of these have better pattern control than the others, in real life?

       Model            Coverage
     EV ZLX 12P            90H x 60V
     JBL Eon 612           100H x 60V
     Turbosound iX12     80H x 60V
     Yamaha DBR10       90H x 60V

These are all around the same $350-400 MAPP price range. I could squeeze another $50/speaker for an EON 615 or iX15 if it helps. Anything more than $450 each is too rich for my budget. Before everybody goes off the deep end about us hanging our own speakers, our church is fortunate to have a couple of the principals of a very large design/build contractor as members. They are very generous with donating their time and labor (and their licensed engineering seal of approval).

Thanks for everyone's thoughts.

Lance

[Luke Geis]

At the price point that these are all located in, there will be little in terms of difference between overall performance.

With a room that size you only need one speaker really to more than complete the task. It becomes a matter of where the speaker will be placed. If you plan on placing it in a corner, you will want the lowest amount of Horizontal coverage you can find. In this case the Turbosound would take that cake. If you plan on placing the speaker near the center of a wall, you will want a larger Horizontal coverage speaker such as the JBL. This is purely from a coverage standpoint.  Quality of sound will be a non issue I think.

The Fender Passport system is not by any means a great sounding system. All of the above mentioned units will sound much better in comparison to the Fender unit. The Turbosound is the cheapest unit and is probably the lowest performer in terms of spec., but that doesn't mean a whole lot. The Yamaha is the most expensive and has the highest level of performance based on specs. In either case your budget will determine what you will afford. There is only a $150 difference between the mentioned models and all will sound and work very well. Choose a unit that fits your needs for what you can afford and you will not be disappointed.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

With a room that size you only need one speaker really to more than complete the task.

Yup.  Gets my vote.

I use one of my Alto SXM112a's for this.  12" coaxial 60 degree conical in one corner.  $299.00 from B&H

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/928135-REG/alto_sxm112a_sx_112_two_way_12.html

[Lance Rectanus]

I was thinking that with 2 speakers (L & R) I would get some stereo imaging from the pre-recorded material. Certainly not surround sound level or even home theater kind of quality.

[Don T. Williams]

Don't get hung up on the dispersion specs.  They vary greatly at different frequencies due to the physically small size of the horns of all of these.  It is just physics at work.  Dick mentioned the Alto SXM112a's.  The rest of the Alto line seems to out-perform their price point also.

[David Allred]

I was thinking that with 2 speakers (L & R) I would get some stereo imaging from the pre-recorded material. Certainly not surround sound level or even home theater kind of quality.

Does your DVD have mix down capabilities to a single channel?

I'll throw in the Yorkville C170P in.  $290 MAP.  Wall / ceiling bracket included.  For playing movies for daycare, perfect.  Dome tweeter (not compression driver) with a horn guide is softer on the ears.

[Lance Rectanus]

Does your DVD have mix down capabilities to a single channel?

My whole signal chain is, tentatively, a Dell refurb laptop > Mackie Pro DX4 mixer > speaker(s). The Mackie would allow me to plug in a mic on the 2 or 3 times a year we need one during a dinner/meeting. There will be a ceiling-mounted projector and a basic power sequencer (Furman M-8S) to complete the package. I'm not sure if the Mackie supports a mixdown to mono from the stereo input. I will check on that and take a look at the Yorkville.

[Ivan Beaver]

A "simple number" of pattern is almost worthless.

In order to do any real comparison, you need to look at the actual polar patterns.

How low is that "simple number" actually good for?  You might be surprised that in MANY cabinets, the rated pattern is only good for the top couple of octaves.

Below that, the pattern gets much wider-since there is no pattern control.

It is COMPLETELY WRONG to "assume" that the rated coverage is over the operating range of the loudspeaker.  But many people believe that.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

I'm not sure if the Mackie supports a mixdown to mono from the stereo input. I will check on that and take a look at the Yorkville.

Whether it does or not, the proper way to get signal from a computer to a mixer is to use a USB device such as a Peavey USB-p.  This will bypass the cheap computer sound card AND the minimally functional 1/8" headphone output and give you a balanced signal for your mixer.  It will also coherently sum to mono should you wish.

Stereo in your application is pretty much a myth for several reasons.  Buy one speaker, a USB-p and you're set with minimal $$$$.

[Lance Rectanus]

A "simple number" of pattern is almost worthless.

Over the many years spent lurking on this site Ivan, I have learned not to believe most of the published data. Hence my request for people's first hand experience. My wife says that I'm getting more cynical as I age. I say that I am getting better at ferreting out BS.

[ProSoundWeb Community]