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[Kenny Deal]

I thought I'd post this for anyone considering buying Mackie Active Speakers. The first Generation SRM 450's made in Italy by EAW/RCF design were really good. For a little 12 inch Main it packs quite a wallop. However I had found in larger venues the amops ran hot when pushed hard . I used to put clamp on fans on the heat sinks to keep them cool. I decided to Upgrade to the SA1521z which wa basically the next size up. well unfortunatly I did not do my homework and did not realize Loud technologies took over Mackie and shipped production to Asia. The stuff in my opinion and current actual experience is that the quality is very poor. So far I have lost 1 amp and 1 drive and now last night the other speaker had some sort of issue which I am still working on figuring out. it went really muddy sounding like I lost the horn or something. These speakers have been barley used and not pushed anywhere near what they should be capable of. I am going to repair it and sell them both and find a set of 1st generation Italian made SRM 450's.
I hope this helps anyone considering Mackie Active Speakers. If it's made in Asia, I would not buy it again.
Ideally I hope to get by for awhile with a used set of SRM 450's but my eventual goal is to save money nd get a set of REAL Eaw Actives. Those things sound unbelievable. I forget the model number but they were an equivalent in size and power rating to the SA1521z.
I may also see if I can get an RCF horn to replace the Mackie chinese made junk.
I like the Active speakers because they give me mre versitlility of what I use where. Like last night for instance it wa a very small venue so I used just one SA1521z and My Mackie 808s for just vox . Med size venues I can get away with using the active subs, mic'ing the vox, gtrs and kick and get a pretty damn good mix with very little equipemnt and a fast setup and breakdown. The monitor amp side of the 808 is pretty powerful. I had more than enough head room for 2 12 inch passive floor monitors and and I used an Active JBL 10 inch for myself and an Active Jbl 15 inch for the drummer.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

I thought I'd post this for anyone considering buying Mackie Active Speakers. The first Generation SRM 450's made in Italy by EAW/RCF design were really good. For a little 12 inch Main it packs quite a wallop. However I had found in larger venues the amops ran hot when pushed hard . I used to put clamp on fans on the heat sinks to keep them cool. I decided to Upgrade to the SA1521z which wa basically the next size up. well unfortunatly I did not do my homework and did not realize Loud technologies took over Mackie and shipped production to Asia. The stuff in my opinion and current actual experience is that the quality is very poor. So far I have lost 1 amp and 1 drive and now last night the other speaker had some sort of issue which I am still working on figuring out. it went really muddy sounding like I lost the horn or something. These speakers have been barley used and not pushed anywhere near what they should be capable of. I am going to repair it and sell them both and find a set of 1st generation Italian made SRM 450's.
I hope this helps anyone considering Mackie Active Speakers. If it's made in Asia, I would not buy it again.
Ideally I hope to get by for awhile with a used set of SRM 450's but my eventual goal is to save money nd get a set of REAL Eaw Actives. Those things sound unbelievable. I forget the model number but they were an equivalent in size and power rating to the SA1521z.
I may also see if I can get an RCF horn to replace the Mackie chinese made junk.
I like the Active speakers because they give me mre versitlility of what I use where. Like last night for instance it wa a very small venue so I used just one SA1521z and My Mackie 808s for just vox . Med size venues I can get away with using the active subs, mic'ing the vox, gtrs and kick and get a pretty damn good mix with very little equipemnt and a fast setup and breakdown. The monitor amp side of the 808 is pretty powerful. I had more than enough head room for 2 12 inch passive floor monitors and and I used an Active JBL 10 inch for myself and an Active Jbl 15 inch for the drummer.

Kenny.....

In most cases such as yours the problem is very likely pushing the product over its design limits or keeping it max'ed out over a period of time.  These "consumer grade" speakers are often bought on limited budgets and are not really a substitute for a pro grade box.

They are what they are.  Don't ask too much of them.

[Tim McCulloch]

Kenny.....

In most cases such as yours the problem is very likely pushing the product over its design limits or keeping it max'ed out over a period of time.  These "consumer grade" speakers are often bought on limited budgets and are not really a substitute for a pro grade box.

They are what they are.  Don't ask too much of them.

+1

[Chuck Simon]

Kenny.....

In most cases such as yours the problem is very likely pushing the product over its design limits or keeping it max'ed out over a period of time.  These "consumer grade" speakers are often bought on limited budgets and are not really a substitute for a pro grade box.

They are what they are.  Don't ask too much of them.

So why are you assuming he changed his practices since going from the original models to the current Asian ones?  Is it not possible(or even likely) that Mackie quality has decreased?  This isn't the first time we have heard of this and it can't all be user error.

[Tim McCulloch]

So why are you assuming he changed his practices since going from the original models to the current Asian ones?  Is it not possible(or even likely) that Mackie quality has decreased?  This isn't the first time we have heard of this and it can't all be user error.

The OP mentioned that he changed the products as well as noticing a change in performance...  I don't think there is a single cause for his difficulties.

The SA1521z is not an Italian SRM450.  Whether or not it is inferior or superior to another Mackie product is ultimately up to the end user to decide, based on the needs of the user.

Our shop has a long history of owning speaker systems that were very big, very heavy, and not particulary small-gig friendly.  We now own a fair number of SRM450 (a couple from Italy, the rest from China).  None of our clients seen to notice a difference but we don't provide systems to corner bar bands that push rigs into the limiters and keep them there.

Making loud music with all the instruments in the mix typically requires more than speakers on sticks over a 1 x 15" sub, even in fairly small spaces for a couple hundred pax.  The Lounge is replete with users/owners who expect more performance than their budget allows, but whatever shortcomings or failures must surely be the fault of the gear, right?

Caveat emptor.

[Chuck Simon]

These speakers have been barley used and not pushed anywhere near what they should be capable of.

I was taking the OP at his word.  I try to assume posters here are being honest with their comments.

[Tim McCulloch]

I was taking the OP at his word.  I try to assume posters here are being honest with their comments.

I think the OP's comment "...not pushed anywhere near what they should be capable of" tells the story.  He had a particular expectation that the product didn't meet for whatever reason.  I don't doubt his honesty but I doubt his pre-use evaluation of the product capabilities.

[Brian Charbobs]

I thought I'd post this for anyone considering buying Mackie Active Speakers. The first Generation SRM 450's made in Italy by EAW/RCF design were really good. For a little 12 inch Main it packs quite a wallop. However I had found in larger venues the amops ran hot when pushed hard . I used to put clamp on fans on the heat sinks to keep them cool. I decided to Upgrade to the SA1521z which wa basically the next size up. well unfortunatly I did not do my homework and did not realize Loud technologies took over Mackie and shipped production to Asia. The stuff in my opinion and current actual experience is that the quality is very poor. So far I have lost 1 amp and 1 drive and now last night the other speaker had some sort of issue which I am still working on figuring out. it went really muddy sounding like I lost the horn or something. These speakers have been barley used and not pushed anywhere near what they should be capable of. I am going to repair it and sell them both and find a set of 1st generation Italian made SRM 450's.
I hope this helps anyone considering Mackie Active Speakers. If it's made in Asia, I would not buy it again.
Ideally I hope to get by for awhile with a used set of SRM 450's but my eventual goal is to save money nd get a set of REAL Eaw Actives. Those things sound unbelievable. I forget the model number but they were an equivalent in size and power rating to the SA1521z.
I may also see if I can get an RCF horn to replace the Mackie chinese made junk.
I like the Active speakers because they give me mre versitlility of what I use where. Like last night for instance it wa a very small venue so I used just one SA1521z and My Mackie 808s for just vox . Med size venues I can get away with using the active subs, mic'ing the vox, gtrs and kick and get a pretty damn good mix with very little equipemnt and a fast setup and breakdown. The monitor amp side of the 808 is pretty powerful. I had more than enough head room for 2 12 inch passive floor monitors and and I used an Active JBL 10 inch for myself and an Active Jbl 15 inch for the drummer.

If their Speakers are like the quality of their mixer, at least the one if have used. piss poor quality.

[John Roberts {JR}]

I may need to add this to my signature.

#1 where a product is made does not define performance or quality. Those are simple design and manufacturing process management issues.


#2 do not confuse value products lacking professional features as low quality.

Performance and quality are pretty much two unrelated characteristics. Quality is how well does the manufacturing process follow the steps as defined by the design. A low performance design can be built to high quality standards, and a high performance design can be poorly built.   

Value brand success is generally dominated by lower cost, so they often trade off performance by design to deliver lower cost..

Expensive products are not automatically high performance or high quality,  but expensive products that are low performance and/or low quality rarely sell well enough to stay in business very long.

JR

[Patrick Tracy]

If their Speakers are like the quality of their mixer, at least the one if have used. piss poor quality.

"Blanket statements are always wrong."

Some of their stuff was pretty good, some sucked. My US built 1604VLZ Pro has been bouncing around in the back of my van for a decade, done a couple hundred gigs, survived subzero to 100°F+ temperatures and my own poking around the insides for mods and it still works fine. I used it last night. But it would be foolish to generalize an entire history of products based on one mixer. If I were to do that based on my experience with one second generation MixWizard I would say all Allen & Heath sucked, but that would be inaccurate.

[ProSoundWeb Community]