ProSoundWeb Community

Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => SR Forum Archives => LAB Lounge FUD Forum Archive => Topic started by: david423 on April 16, 2004, 02:37:45 PM

Title: Crest?
Post by: david423 on April 16, 2004, 02:37:45 PM
Ok, i put this on yesterday and now i can't find it due to the changes, so I will just ask it again. What's up with Crest. I heard that they were real crappy stuff, but you guys seem to talk them up. Also Midas vs Allen and Heath, ive used both and they both did everything i needed. I probably liked the midas better because of the more user friendliness that it had. Also what is the low lown on Peavey. I have seen it slammed many times. I live about 30 miles from their home base. Yes, i know that the sound is not like that of JBL or more high end stuff, but are they good for budget offerings? Durability, that is what i like about them the most. You can drop it two stories on to concrete and most likely be able to pick it up and use it that night. I would just like some professional input on my dumb questions. Thanks.
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: Chris McDonald on April 16, 2004, 03:10:31 PM
Midas vs Allen and heath, its like a F1 racer vs a volvo.

Midas are very expensive compared to allen and heath. Allen and Heath consoles are very functional and have all the key features for live sound without the 6 digit price tag. Midas prices start at the top of allen and heath and go way up.

Crest fall right in between the two. Slightly higher quality than allen and heath and offer some neat features.

Peavey is considered to be down with the MI gear, targeted at musicians and not techs and engineers.

Durability vs quailty, usually to make something tougher and more fool proof you have to take a big hit in sound quality. Yorkville and peavey both do this alot. Its a trade off. Usually if your going for quailty sound you will baby your gear, but if your just going at it on the weekends, half asleep or drunk your going to want your gear tough and simple.

Then there is just cheap, like behringer. They make gear that sounds just ok and its not very tough. They trade off sound quality and toughness just to make their products cheap.

As a sound tech(I'm not a musician), sound quailty is #1 then comes duablity. Being a student price also comes into it. But here is the way I look at it. Yes I could go do gigs with crap gear and get an ok sound. Or I could turn those down and only take gigs with budget for great gear and get great sound. Thus improving my image as a sound guy. Yes I could go out and buy a cheap system and grab every little crappy gig I can get to pay it off. Or I can take a few gigs here and there with the budget to rent quality gear. At the same time I'm building up my own rig, buying quality gear as I go. So far I have mics, DI's, cables, a snake, a reverb unit, 4 channels of compression and a cheap little board(which is the only thing I wish I didn't buy).
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: david423 on April 16, 2004, 04:30:43 PM
ok, that clears a lot up with me. I am a musician and a sound guy. I don't have my own rig, but i work for a smaller rig. We use JBL, Allen and Heath, Presonus, Lexicon, QSC, and Shure just to name a few. One of the guys, is very arrogant and thinks that his opinion is the only one that matters. So i was just asking for some more oppinion. Thanks.

Another question, did peavey buy some part of crest or what. I have heard this, I think and was wondering if you could give me some input on this one.
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: Michael Prasuhn on April 16, 2004, 10:53:48 PM
I'm not sure what Crest components you are referring to here.

Crest consoles are quite functional, and most folks have few major complaints about them. They are not the high end consoles that you see dominate the tour reporting section of trade rags, but you will see them from time to time. Among other things, the power supplies for Crest consoles do enjoy a rather good reputation. All in all, my favorite phrase to describe most Crest consoles, is workhorse gear, meaning that it will get the job done reliably and efficiently.

Crest amplifiers on the other hand, especially due to featuring a design that is falling out of favor with most other amp manufacturers, enjoy an excellent reputation, and are even religiously defended by many. There aren't many who would challenge the audio quality of these amps, but many will complain about their weight, which is due to their somewhat unique design in todays marketplace.

-Mikey P
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: Karl P(eterson) on April 16, 2004, 11:08:21 PM
Although Peavy does own Crest (something I am not crazy about.... but crest seems to be as good as ever, so im a little less weary now) they are completely different. Crest is a top of the line manu (IMHO) and makes some very good products at many price ranges.... Take there V-12 console for instance... The V-12 48 channel board in the tour pack clocks in right around 65~70 grand and is of a quality level in all ways (build, sonic, support, service and features) that I would feel confident using it for national touring level work. Compare this to your average Peavy buyer who would fall over in convulsions at that price <g>.

Another word about Peavy.... Peavy isn't as bad as some people have made it out to be, they have long been the musicians PA. It didn't normally work great, but it worked well enough, and was affordable enough that bands were able to nail through the ranks and afford to pay for some real people with real gear.

While I wouldn't suggest anyone spend much money on a peavy rig, and I wont be purchasing one myself.... I would much rather walk into a room and see a peavy system than a Behringer one.

Karl P
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on April 17, 2004, 09:39:56 AM
I'm not sure how to answer what's up or what's the low down. Regarding the one actual question in there... Yes, Peavey did purchase Crest several years ago.

BTW, last time I looked Clinton was more than 30 miles from PV's HQ.

JR
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: david423 on April 17, 2004, 12:41:40 PM
Yes, clinton is more than 30 miles from peavey's home, but hickory isn't and i lived in hickory longer than i lived in clinton. And i plan on getting out of clinton and going back to Hickory.
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: david423 on April 17, 2004, 12:47:00 PM
Would this by any chance be the JR from Middle Cross?
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on April 18, 2004, 12:08:54 AM
No... I'm JR as in short for John Roberts.

Yes, Hickory is much closer.. It was less than 30 miles from my house (in Hickory) to my old office (in PV hdqrs)... So I'll just assume you lived further out.

JR
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: Andy Peters on April 18, 2004, 03:07:17 PM
david423 wrote on Fri, 16 April 2004 11:37

 What's up with Crest. I heard that they were real crappy stuff,


Heard from who?

--a
Title: Crest and Peavey
Post by: Brent Handy on April 18, 2004, 05:34:51 PM
I do not see why people have a thing about Peavey.  When it is used in it's intended market, it is why above the competition.  When it is used outside of it's market, it is found lacking, because of the name thing.

Had Hartley not purchased Crest, Crest would have been done.  Crest had poor management, huge debt, a bunch of marketing BS at shows about products that were in development that never came, etc.  Peavey does not operate Crest.  Crest is better, because Peavey, the largest, privately owned, financially stable manufacturer in the sound/MI business cleaned house and redirected the company.  

Crest and Peavey cannot be in the same markets always.  So Hartley has designed it so that where there can be no Peavey, he has Crest.  Where he cannot have Crest, there is Peavey.  Pretty smart.

It used to be that Crest speakers were designed by people at Peavey, or atleast Crest guys at Peavey.  The Peavey GPS amps (which supposedly did well at the shoot out) were partially designed by a former Crest designer.

Remember, there are only a handful of new-comers to the engineering side of the industry.  The rest are guys that make the rounds from Panasonic to Mackie, from Crest to QSC, from JBL to Peavey, etc, etc.My point is this.  Unless you have an unlimited budget, you have to take what works, regaurdless of the name.  If it does the job and lasts, then it is a good investment.

I would put (and have) Peavey QW cabs against anything in their price-range and smoke them.
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: david423 on April 18, 2004, 07:04:59 PM
I heard from a guy that i trusted to know more about brands than i do. But he also told me about this site which i absolutely love. And since i have started asking my questions here instead of him, i have found him to be very much in his own opinion and not of the professional opinion of people that know. So from now on, i just learn here and ask my questions here and then go and tell him what you guys say.
Title: Re: Crest?
Post by: Mick_LoMauro on April 19, 2004, 10:19:09 AM
As far as consoles are concerned we may be the quiet underdog at the moment.
We still build consoles the way we always have, by hand.
Our legacy includes Kelsey, Gamble, Century consoles, X series, X-rack, and now the Hp-Eight.
our consoles get Spec'ed by some of the most prestigious designers in the world into some of the most demanding invironments.
Our service guys have encountered the oddest malities in consoles.
One very famous Circus had a tiger relieve itself on is monitor console. It still made it to the end of the show.
We Repaired and cleaned it (outside of course)
We have removed salt crust from other boards that live at sea.
So while we may not be touring with your favorite band now,
we are in places that others may not want to go.
The bottom line is we make the best gear we can and we put the best people behind it.

As for the Peavey thing, this is what Hartley had to say about it

 http://www.prosoundweb.com/industrybiz/features/hart/hart.sh tml




Crest Audio
Crest Performance
Title: Crest Anecdotes
Post by: Dave Dermont on April 19, 2004, 11:22:10 AM
Here are some Crest opinions/observations of mine.

As far as poweramps, Crest is on of the "Big 3", the other two being Crown & QSC. I occasionaly use the lower priced CA9 to drive some LA215 monitors (full range) with very good results.

In consoles, Crest is in the highly competitive middle-of-the-road. The X-racks are top of the line rack mount mixers. In my opinion, the XRM is one of the most ingenious things ever conceived/designed/built in small mixers. A dream come true for someone who wants to do in-ear monitors on a budget. I just hope it's not too far ahead of it's time.

I recently did an opener-for-the-opener gig at the local arena with an Electrotec rig, and the support monitor console was a Crest LMX. The LMX is a workhorse console used by many regional providers. Just for reference, the headliner was using a Midas H3000 for monitors and a Paragon at FOH. Support FOH cosole was a Midas XL3, so the Crest was in good company.

I also attended a show where they brought in a V-12 because the installations regular console (a Soundcraft Series 5) was deemed unacceptable.

I hear they make some nice MI type speaker boxes too. Some use the same "Q horn" that Charlie Huges designed while he was at Peavey. PSW had a chat with Charlie a while back. Check it out here:  http://www.prosoundweb.com/chat_psw/transcripts/charliehughe strans.shtml

I really thing that the guy calling Crest "really crappy stuff" needs to get his head out of his ass. That's just my opinion.

I hope this helps give some perspective to the subject.

Dave "someday, I want to tell someone that a Series 5 is unacceptable" Dermont