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[Tim McCulloch]

Looking for your opinion(s) on the best bang for buck wedge.  I currently have some EV SX250's I'm wanting to knock down to the 'B' rig.  I've been looking at the JBL 712m I know they just came out with the 800 series but from what I've read  they are not quite as good as the 712m.  I may be wrong on this.  In either case what are your recommendations for a good wedge for a medium sized production company 'A' rig.  Oh amp to power it with too?  Thoughts?  Crest Pro 8200, Crown Xti 6002, QSC PL304

Thanks in advance......

L'Acoustics, Meyer, etc... wrong price range at the moment
   

What constitutes "bang for the buck" depends mostly on how much bang you need to match your business needs.

We have EV's xW15 (the originals, not the 15a), powered and processed with Crown XTi 6002.  The sound great, are robust and accepted by most national acts without comment or question, even from acts requesting Clair 12AM.

Right now we're waiting on a pair of VUE a-15 and a-12 for evaluation.  I'll post about those when we've had a chance to work with them.

I'm not a monitor guy so I can't comment on the JBL you mention, but ultimately you need to purchase what your customers expect to use.  If you're doing small fairs, community festivals, fashion shows, etc., you don't need to spend $2k/wedge and the JBLs might be perfect for you.  Also, don't discount Marlow's advice regarding the Radian MicroWedge.  It's a quality product.

[Aaron R. Lee]

What constitutes "bang for the buck" depends mostly on how much bang you need to match your business needs.

We have EV's xW15 (the originals, not the 15a), powered and processed with Crown XTi 6002.  The sound great, are robust and accepted by most national acts without comment or question, even from acts requesting Clair 12AM.

Right now we're waiting on a pair of VUE a-15 and a-12 for evaluation.  I'll post about those when we've had a chance to work with them.

I'm not a monitor guy so I can't comment on the JBL you mention, but ultimately you need to purchase what your customers expect to use.  If you're doing small fairs, community festivals, fashion shows, etc., you don't need to spend $2k/wedge and the JBLs might be perfect for you.  Also, don't discount Marlow's advice regarding the Radian MicroWedge.  It's a quality product.

Great advice.  I mentioned the 712m due to price around 1100 give or take.  The issue I'm having is I have the SX250 and I can' t complain about it about 500W RMS and they get loud and perform well.  Issue is they don't make them any more.  I have 6 I'd like 8 I'm sure I could get some used if I looked.  I have a B Rig right now with 4 Live X 12's I do not care for them.  I used the 6 of their Live X 15 at a gig one weekend and loved them (except for size) so I have several small venues so I got the 12's thinking i'd like them. Not really I can't seem to get anything out of them.  SO I was going to move my SX250 down to the B rig and get the JBLs they seem to be a decent upgrade without going into 2500 a wedge which is a bit much at the moment when I need to buy 6-8.  I'm going to look at the Radian Microwedge now.

[Bob Leonard]

Yes.  On the same event we had 24 Vertec 4888dp's distributed in four corners for one 100x100 tent.  Many of those enclosures went into thermal protect mode and shut down as well (requiring a reset over the network which wasn't set up, so each had to be done individually - PITA).  From then on we only used passive Vertec and have had no more problems.

The comparison between the VP box and the wedge was interesting because the VP by all means a 'real' PA and a step above most SOS.  They were used over a pair of the single 18's per side so the issue wasn't a need for a HPF.  My main point is that there are wedges out there that can make good quality large-format trap boxes seem just okay.  A used Radian Microwedge might not quite be in that category but they are still available for $500 each or so.  If that's too much money then I'm not sure what else can be had that will actually outperform the Sx250 in enough of a way to justify upgrading.

Thanks Marlow for the explaination. My reason for asking is that I have never heard a single bad word about the VP line other than expensive. Now that you add in the Vertecs I'm amazed. Seems to me if you had them in the corners of that tent it's possible there was little or no moving air. It must have been hotter than the hammers of hell.
 

[Nick Pires]

Aaron,
Though they don't advertise them and they are no longer listed in the price book. They may still have some in stock. We were looking to round out our stock of SXa250 (powered version), and they still had MANY left in the warehouse.

[Chuck Fudge]

I have on premise for demo the VUE Audiotechnik a-12, EAW microwedge 12, and Radian Apex neo 1200.  In passive mode, the VUE a-12 sounds excellent...very smooth sounding in the crossover range.  The a-12 seems to be crossed about 2.6K, which I suspect is higher than the other two.  The radian has an unpleasant bump in the high mid region.  The MW-12 sounds pretty smooth out of the box.  efficiency of all three seems to be even; the MW-12 seems to be slightly less efficient.

Test set up is SM58/IPOD - mixer - Crown IT5000HD (no processing) - speaker.   Took some SMAART traces this afternoon.....visually backs up my first impressions.  SMAART set up with monitor on the deck, test mic 6' from center....about ear height. 

Going to dig into bi-amp mode on Monday.

[Marlow Wilson]

Thanks Marlow for the explaination. My reason for asking is that I have never heard a single bad word about the VP line other than expensive. Now that you add in the Vertecs I'm amazed. Seems to me if you had them in the corners of that tent it's possible there was little or no moving air. It must have been hotter than the hammers of hell.

Sides of the tent were open, nothing especially hot.  It's worth noting that this was 16 hours of constant dance music with very little dynamic range.  There's nothing wrong with the powered stuff, but I don't think the cooling on those devices can keep up with the I-techs. 

This wasn't to criticize the VP series so much as to relay my experiences using a compact wedge that, in my view, outperformed a much larger high-end trap box.

[Randall Hyde]

The JBL PRX 12 and 15 monitors both sound good, however you will need to put something under them as the built in angle basically aims at people's shins (which is a real shame cause it is a nice sound speaker at a great price).  But this is a nice option as it's powered and somewhat light.

The EV LIVE X series are probably your best bargain out there.  The 12inch model is light.  and i mean REALLY light.  Upon close inspection you may find it not quite as rugged or durable as the QSC or JBL offerings, but it hold's it's own.  There is a 15 inch model that i think is like $100 more?  Either way the 15 sounds that much better at louder volumes so you may want to look at that.

I thought the PRX 615 was okay, the 612m is definitely a disaster, though. Can't believe they stuck an "m" after the product number.

Then again, I'd suggest that a PRX monitor is a step down in this case.

Keep in mind that SRX 712m cabinets want lots of power. 1,600W is a good number to use (passive, add a couple hundred more for biamp). I run 712m cabinets off ITech 8000 amps (with limiters), and they sound good. I value their size and weight; they could use a little more low end (probably will get VRX 915m for that purpose).
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

[Anthony Forchielli]

I thought the PRX 615 was okay, the 612m is definitely a disaster, though. Can't believe they stuck an "m" after the product number.

Then again, I'd suggest that a PRX monitor is a step down in this case.

Keep in mind that SRX 712m cabinets want lots of power. 1,600W is a good number to use (passive, add a couple hundred more for biamp). I run 712m cabinets off ITech 8000 amps (with limiters), and they sound good. I value their size and weight; they could use a little more low end (probably will get VRX 915m for that purpose).
Cheers,
Randy Hyde

oh most definetley a step down.  I just took the 'bang for the buck' comment too seriously i guess.  I do think the JBL STX 800 series are good though, and the VRX 915m as well.  course all of this is just talk and it really depends on what his market supports.

[Spenser Hamilton]

+1 on the JBL 700 series, I'm sure the 800 series will match or exceed them. We run our 712 biamp off of xti4000, one amp per mix, we regularly get compliments from touring acts on the clarity of our monitor rig.


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