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Peavey QW 118 Subwoofer Passive

0 (0%)

Peavey VersArray 118 Passive

0 (0%)

ETX 18s active

2 (13.3%)

Jbl SRX818SP active

11 (73.3%)

Qsc KW181 active

2 (13.3%)

Total Members Voted: 15

[Frank Caridi]

Came across Pevey subwoofers look really promising

Peavey VersArray 118

Peavey QW 118
What do you guys think?

[John Halliburton]

I don’t have active crossovers. I need a subwoofer that would do that my speakers are passive.

You're going to need some form of active crossover/dsp.  Your latest post you suggest the Peavey single 18" Versarray sub as a possibility, and that sub is not powered or processed, just like your Samson tops.  This makes an active crossover a necessity, along with proper amplification of both tops and subs

Running those Samson speakers full range with a sub will likely lead to premature failure of the woofers in those Samsons. 

Best regards,

John

[Frank Caridi]

You're going to need some form of active crossover/dsp.  Your latest post you suggest the Peavey single 18" Versarray sub as a possibility, and that sub is not powered or processed, just like your Samson tops.  This makes an active crossover a necessity, along with proper amplification of both tops and subs

Running those Samson speakers full range with a sub will likely lead to premature failure of the woofers in those Samsons. 

Best regards,

John

Yes I know the Pevey subs are passive and I’m going to need an amp but the amp that I use to run the Samson’s have a 50hz cut off so is it safe to say that that will be okay? Or just go with an active subwoofer so I can use the subwoofer to set the crossover and send let’s say 100hz to the tops and everything lower to the subwoofer?

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

Yes I know the Pevey subs are passive and I’m going to need an amp but the amp that I use to run the Samson’s have a 50hz cut off so is it safe to say that that will be okay? Or just go with an active subwoofer so I can use the subwoofer to set the crossover and send let’s say 100hz to the tops and everything lower to the subwoofer?

Hi Frank - welcome to the forum. 

I would argue that your choice of sub today matters less for your current speakers, than for what your future plans are.  Ideally, your sub choice will match future new main speakers - i.e. if you are going to eventually move to JBL SRX812p mains, it would make sense to get the JBL SRX818sp subs as they will match, which saves some headaches.  It's possible to mix and match, but that requires some setup know how, and as someone mentioned, since most of the subs in your list are more similar than different (passive subs excepted), it's better to just get matching gear if you can.

RE protecting your current main speakers - yes, turn the 50Hz high-pass filter on on your amp.  That will help, but ideally you will want a higher rolloff - somewhere between 80Hz and 120Hz, depending on some other variables.  This is best done with a DSP, but can probably be approximated if you have a digital mixing board.

[Frank Caridi]

Hi Frank - welcome to the forum. 

I would argue that your choice of sub today matters less for your current speakers, than for what your current plans are.  Ideally, your sub choice will match future new main speakers - i.e. if you are going to eventually move to JBL SRX812p mains, it would make sense to get the JBL SRX818sp subs as they will match, which saves some headaches.  It's possible to mix and match, but that requires some setup know how, and as someone mentioned, since most of the subs in your list are more similar than different (passive subs excepted), it's better to just get matching gear if you can.

RE protecting your current main speakers - yes, turn the 50Hz high-pass filter on on your amp.  That will help, but ideally you will want a higher rolloff - somewhere between 80Hz and 120Hz, depending on some other variables.  This is best done with a DSP, but can probably be approximated if you have a digital mixing board.

Thank you! Yes that does make sense! I can go cheaper with the subwoofer and get samsons 18in subwoofer but I wasn’t crazy about the subwoofer! The speakers I do like. But my question for get the passive subwoofer cause I see I’m going to have to buy a lot more gear to get that and I just don’t have the know how yet to dabble with that. My question is if I get the ETX 18sp it has a lot of DSP and functionality but if I go with that I can set the crossover in there to send the 100hz and higher to my tops is this correct? Cause with the Qsc I don’t see that option.
This would make my life a lot simpler if the subwoofer has the crossover built in!

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

Thank you! Yes that does make sense! I can go cheaper with the subwoofer and get samsons 18in subwoofer but I wasn’t crazy about the subwoofer! The speakers I do like. But my question for get the passive subwoofer cause I see I’m going to have to buy a lot more gear to get that and I just don’t have the know how yet to dabble with that. My question is if I get the ETX 18sp it has a lot of DSP and functionality but if I go with that I can set the crossover in there to send the 100hz and higher to my tops is this correct? Cause with the Qsc I don’t see that option.
This would make my life a lot simpler if the subwoofer has the crossover built in!

First of all, for 99% of users, a self-powered system is the way to go.  Apples to apples, they are cheaper than buying speakers plus amps, sound better, are better protected, and easier to use.  There are specific use cases where this may not be the case, but for your purposes, I would strongly suggest some kind of self-powered speaker.

Neither the SRX818sp or ETX-18SP have a output that is crossed over.  All of the DSP options for these and most other similar speakers is for their internal use, as they were designed to be used with the matching main speakers which also have DSP built-in.

I would not let that be a major deterrent.  You can buy a used DBX 223 crossover or similar for $25-$50 that will get the job done in the short term.

[Paul G. OBrien]

the amp that I use to run the Samson’s have a 50hz cut off so is it safe to say that that will be okay?

No... not the same.

Or just go with an active subwoofer so I can use the subwoofer to set the crossover and send let’s say 100hz to the tops and everything lower to the subwoofer?

None of these active subs have a full crossover built-in so you would still need an external crossover to do this correctly, as a result you may be inclined to go with a passive sub and external amp/crossover combo at this time. If you do buy an active sub then it will make most sense to also buy the matching tops when the time comes to upgrade those.

[Frank Caridi]

No... not the same.
 None of these active subs have a full crossover built-in so you would still need an external crossover to do this correctly, as a result you may be inclined to go with a passive sub and external amp/crossover combo at this time. If you do buy an active sub then it will make most sense to also buy the matching tops when the time comes to upgrade those.

My problem is I don’t know how to use a active cross over or how hard it is to set it up. But I have a family members party combing up and they want some music so I figure I give them some sound. I I just buy one of those active subwoofers will it work? I will eventually get power tops but right now I can’t afford to after I get a subwoofer.

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

My problem is I don’t know how to use a active cross over or how hard it is to set it up. But I have a family members party combing up and they want some music so I figure I give them some sound. I I just buy one of those active subwoofers will it work? I will eventually get power tops but right now I can’t afford to after I get a subwoofer.

Frank, there are different degrees of "the right way to do something".  If you keep the volume moderate and turn your 50Hz filter switch on, you'll get through your gig OK; just use your senses to determine if you're close to the redline - listen for distortion, use your nose to smell if the drivers are getting hot, etc. 

That said, a basic active crossover is cheap and pretty simple - they have full-range inputs from your mixer, and they have outputs marked high and low (and sometimes mids) for your mains.  There may be a couple switches to put in the right place and a crossover point knob, but they're not too bad.

[Frank Caridi]

Frank, there are different degrees of "the right way to do something".  If you keep the volume moderate and turn your 50Hz filter switch on, you'll get through your gig OK; just use your senses to determine if you're close to the redline - listen for distortion, use your nose to smell if the drivers are getting hot, etc. 

That said, a basic active crossover is cheap and pretty simple -
they have full-range inputs from your mixer, and they have outputs marked high and low (and sometimes mids) for your mains.  There may be a couple switches to put in the right place and a crossover point knob, but they're not too bad.

Yes when I was testing out the speakers the other day to see how they sound with my amp I used the 50hz cut off and ran my iPhone thru the input on the amp and I was cranking them and they sound great! Played them for about 45 min to hr around 100db and sounded good! I just want to add bass. So let’s say I just suck it up and get powered tops nothing crazy what could you recommend?
And if I do just use my speakers and I buy an active crossover I don’t need to buy an amp for the highs and lows and mids? I would just run out of the mixer into the crossover. Out of the crossover into the amp?

[ProSoundWeb Community]