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[Brian Jojade]

+1 with Richard's comments about staying passive for monitors.

On the road, not having an amp rack to deal with may be a convenience, but for a house gig, the amp can be positioned and not moved.  Running a single cable for speakers instead of power and signal is a benefit.  Also, not having controls on the speaker that can (and will) get messed up is a huge plus as well.

For stage monitors, my personal favorite is the JBL SRX712M's.  Every time I use them, the artists give rave reviews of how they sound.

[Matt Vivlamore]

Does Power matter?

Power Con or IEC?
Do you need Power Out option?

[Douglas R. Allen]

I have the Peavey 15pm and also use the EV SXA250 active speakers as monitors. I like them both. With the edge going to the EV's. The Peavey monitors are quite loud even with their somewhat modest power rating and have held up to 5 string bass on more than a few nights where the bass player forgot his rig... The EV's have the same rms rating but are a few db's louder and take less eq. You can still find some new/used EVsxa250's around at a good price. I don't mind active monitors at all and find them simple when a bi-amped monitor is called for. In the picture is Adam Ezra at a show I did a while back with the Ev and Peavey monitors being used.
Douglas R. Allen

[John Rutirasiri]

If I could I would get rid of my collection of JBL PRX612m powered "wedges" they pretend to be -- just haven't recouped enough money from them.  At $550 or so each, they were a bargain.

I'd definitely do 12" coax like the Microwedge, RCF NX12 SMA, or FBT Stagemaxx next time.

Having gone the powered route for wedges, I'd definitely go back to passive.  The power cables make it a bit cumbersome during band changeover, and rain covers are a pain because the built-in amp needs air flow.  With passive, I can have 4 wedges on a single NL8 (using internal crossover).

[duane massey]

Thanks for the responses, BUT please note the following:
(1) these will be used for vocals ONLY. No drums, bass, etc
(2) they will not be moved at all, house band with no other acts or change-overs.
(3) client WANTS powered monitors; he currently has passive and is convinced he wants powered instead.
(4) cabling is not an issue. He has plenty of cables of all sorts.
(5) there are no rider issues or standards, other than to be an improvement over the current Yamaha 15" wedges (or at least a perceived improvement from his perspective)
I am not suggesting that he needs these, only that he wants them. At this point in time he has mentioned an interest in some Yamaha powered wedges (not the plastic ones). Again, thanks for the responses, they have been helpful.

[Colin Miller]

DSR112.  Sound good, play loud.

[Richard Penrose]

I'm using Alto TS112a and TS110a's as stage monitors and they work great. I much prefer them to the EV ZLX range. I've also tried the Alto SXM112a and prefer the Truesonic range. There is a 15" version should you feel the need but to be honest the TS112a's should be plenty!
I've also heard the EV ELX112p's as stage monitors and they were very impressive but I've not compared them directly to the Alto's (though I suspect they will be a step up). In this price range I prefer the Yamaha DXR range but don't think the finish on the cabinet is good for stage monitor purposes!

[John Chiara]

Before you jump on the powered band wagon consider this. you will also want to purchase cover for those shiney new boxes, you will likely also have to buy more signal and power cables to wire them up as well. If its a bar gig you will also be putting electronics in harms way.

Consider a new multi channel power amp, new amps are light weight.

 If you are using cheap, consider the behringer inuke nu4-6000, street price ~$350  4 channels x 440 watt 8 ohm, weighs under 15 lbs

for good consider PLD4.2 from qsc which is about same output but has DSP and is about 20 lbs street ~$1000

also consider this would keep the electronics out of harms way and you could conceivable hook up 4 mixes with 2 cable runs if you had some of the wedges set to pinset 2 on speakon connectors.


$600 per box would still leave you shopping in the basment bargain bin. after factoring in assc to do the job right

I tend to agree on this. If I have amplification and decent boxes, I don't need twice as many cables running all over the stage. I did a gymnasium show once with all powered gear and it was a royal PITA. Spent more time setting up and running power than anything else.

[walter potter]

I love my ELX112ps as monitors. 45 lbs each, get very loud and stay clear. Excellent for vocals in a situation where vocalists are going to be relatively stationary. They point at your ears, not your knees.

Can definitely be had for your price range even with necessary additional cabling.  Shop around, I picked up 4 of them brand new for less than $1900.

I have a like new pair available for $750.....elx112p

[Tim McCulloch]

I tend to agree on this. If I have amplification and decent boxes, I don't need twice as many cables running all over the stage. I did a gymnasium show once with all powered gear and it was a royal PITA. Spent more time setting up and running power than anything else.

Kind of a swerve from the OP, but instructive to note John's experience.  The OP's situation is a club where the drummer is the owner of the business and once these monitors are placed, probably won't move more than a foot in any direction... but if you're doing 3 bands a night or even just a different band every night, you need a cabling system to support your product choice or it's going to suck.

Siamese cables are cool, fairly expensive, but the "neat" way to run to the boxes, but what about on the other end?  How you choose to deal with getting signal and power down the cable determines if this saves time or makes more work.

Likewise is the NL8 scheme that John Rutirasiri proposes.  If you do an entire "system" of termination - say a pair of NL8 on the back of the amp rack, and a couple of NL8 to NL4 breakout boxes - you can save a fair bit of time and carry less long length NL4 inventory.  The downside for many Lounge level folks is the cost - probably around $400 or more if you order a custom panel for the rack end of things, $300 or so if you DIY.  $400 buys some mics or another monitor, or replaces the iPad that got dropped last month so it's a low priority item.  Cable ain't sexy but creating consistent and robust cabling systems can make for fast and more fool proof setups, and cables are the one thing you can count on using every time.

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