Here is an archived post about the EV ZXA1. To read all the replies, click on this link to the archived forums
http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/565118/47/#msg_565118
Hi all,
EV was nice enough to send us a pair of their new ZXA1 compact powered speaker for the Road Test.
I had a chance to play with them in the shop for a while, and used them on a small gig. They are boxed back up and being shipped to the next Road Test participant who is going to have them for a while. But, running the Road test has some perks, and I figured as long as they were here, I might as well open up the boxes and see whats inside!
First impressions is that they are very nice looking and pretty small, and lightweight. Each speaker is about 18" tall, 11" wide and about 10 1/4" deep. They only weigh 19 pounds each, and then includes the built in amplifier! I like the full grill on the box. It looks more corporate to me than boxes with exposed horn flares.
The specs are here on EV's website
http://www.electrovoice.com/product.php?id=1004http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y377/Roadtest/EV%20ZXA1/EVFront1.jpgThe box holds an 8" woofer, and a 1" driver on a rotatable horn (90 deg X 50 deg), plus a built in amplifier. There is a small built in handle on the top rear to lift and carry the cabinet. Because the cabinet is so light and small, the single handle worked fine for me. The box has a built in stand mount, and I had no trouble putting the box on a tripod stand by simply grabbing the sides of the box.
One side of the box is angled so it could be used as a floor wedge.
To start, I took off the grill and looked at the components. The horn is rotatable, and is labeled so you know what side is what.
http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y377/Roadtest/EV%20ZXA1/EVNoGrill1.jpgWith the grill back on, I turned the box over and looked at the amplifier.
http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y377/Roadtest/EV%20ZXA1/EVRear1.jpgNice clean layout. There is a power switch, removable IEC power cord, Master Vol, Limit LED, Microphone input Vol, XLR for Mic input, Combo XLR/1/4" for Line Level input, XLR Master Out to daisy chain, and a recessed switch marked "Fullrange/With Sub". The unit comes with a nice long power cord.
For testing, I set up a small mixer, an Ipod, and a few mics. While I was not expecting a ton of bass from the cabinets, with the switch set to Fullrange, the cabinet put out more low end than I would have guessed. It can't compete with a 15" box, but it will give some 10" and even a few low end 12" cabinets a run for the money.
It gets pretty loud for a little box. I played a lot of different songs, and used a few different mics (SM57, SM58, and a Blue Encore 100 (Look for the Blue Microphone En Core 100 and 200 Road tests coming soon!) The ZXA1 sounds real nice up close, but then the bass drops off quite a bit at distance. This was not very noticeable with speech and singing through the mics. While the box is ported, it just isn't designed to be a bass heavy box. No big deal in the right applications.
I was just going to check out the box and ship it out to the first real Road Tester for it, but liked the boxes so much, I decided to take them to a gig. I had a corporate meeting this morning for about 500 people that ended up being in an L shaped room (after they opened up an airwall for more space) I ended up using 1 ZXA1 on a speaker stand as a delay to cover the L area where they had a breakfast buffet set up.
It performed well, and the walk in/out music, and the presenters sounded great through it. Setting the level was easy, and the
box had tons of power for that application.
After the show, I took the boxes home, and was going to pack them up and ship them out when I decided to see what one sounded like with a guitar. I figured an intended application might be a solo or duo act. I plugged my Godin Acousticaster into a small mixer and sent the dry signal to the ZXA1. It sounded very good, and I spent more than an hour playing and having a great time.
Here are a few things I noticed though.
* No fly points. While I guess the majority of users of a small powered box will never need to fly them, I fly small boxes all the time on corporate gigs, so the lack of fly points is an issue with me.
* Monitor angle not steep enough for tall guy (6'3") like me. Standing in a usual gig position with the box on its side on the floor, the horn is not aimed high enough for me. So I used an Acoustical Aiming Device (AKA Block or wood) under the front to angle the box up higher.
For a small compact powered box, these are great. I could see using them as backstage monitors, podium monitor, mains on small gigs, delays or larger gigs, and even in convention booths.
