Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jesseweiss]

Damn you Sweetwater and you're 48 mos no interest financing!

My band's FOH system is 2 Mackie SRM550's and an SRM1850 sub run from an XR18.  Works fine for our needs since we are just weekend warriors (in fact it's a big upgrade from the Behringer stuff we were using before).

Band is 4 piece, 2 guitars, bass, drums (all sing).  Monitors usually run some guitars and bass and then strong vocals.

Our monitors have remained a mish mash.  I moved our older Behringer Eurolive B312D speakers to monitor duty, plus we have to used Alto TS112's. I recently picked up a EV zlx12p as a monitor for my E-kit at practice (and on the occasion where I use it in a very small pub setting).  The Alto's are starting to crap out and I'm not sure it's worth spending $100 to repair them since I got them used pretty cheap.

Sooooo.... here's what I'm looking at.   Trying to stay under $1k for both speakers. If I were to go higher I would probably move the SRM550's to monitor duty (got them used for like $450 each) and maybe upgrade our FOH tops.

2 more zlx12p's for $700 but no financing deal. The one I have is much better than the Behringer or Alto's we have (and I compared it side by side to the new Alto TS212 (same price) and liked it better.

2 Turbosound speakers: (IQ's as mains with Ultranet might be cool but not really necessary)
IX12 would be $700 - figuring they are similar to zlx12p (but would get 4 years no interest) in terms of specs and DSP
M12 - $900 - well reviewed but older model.  No built in DSP I believe.

2 Mackie SRM450's for $800 4 years no interest (not hearing the best reviews per se)

2 Yamaha DBR10 for $800 4 years no interest (or DB12 for $1000).  These seem to be the best reviewed of all the one's I've listed.

No interest in JBL Eon's (I liked the zlx better when I compared them in person).

Thoughts from those that might have used a variety of these as I've only used the zlx.

Not going to be able to compare most of these speakers since GC's near me don't have many, especially Turbosound.

[David Winners]

I recently bought a pair of iQ10 for monitor duty and small SOS stuff. I've had them out 6-8 times now and I'm pretty impressed. I'm also an XR18 user, and the ultra net is nice. It frees up aux outputs. They sound very good for the money IMO. Better than the Mackie stuff I've heard, but I haven't owned any Mackie speakers personally.

[Gordon Brinton]

The Yamaha stuff sounds really nice. I own DXR and DSR and love them. I also hear that the Peavey stuff still sounds pretty good now-a-days as well. The DM112 and PR12 would both be within your budget.

You DO know that if you call most retailers and sweet talk the sales rep, you can almost always get discounts well below their advertised retail price. You could probably get DBR12's for the advertised price of DBR10's. (I don't know. I am just guessing.) I would call Mike at Audiopyle Sound and ask what his price would be.

Good luck.

[Stephen Kirby]

I have a DBR 10 and it's very good for the price.  Better than the similarly priced Eon IMHO.  I use it for a drum monitor on top of a DXS12.

But the all time budget monitor would be the coax Alto SXM12.  Completely different than the DJ speaker.  I've had mine on stage along with a friends ZLX12s and there's no contest in intelligibility and being able to hear over the band.  Especially when you have a shallow stage and have to stand near them.  I've used them outdoors in larger areas and they still carry really well.

[jesseweiss]

I have a DBR 10 and it's very good for the price.  Better than the similarly priced Eon IMHO.  I use it for a drum monitor on top of a DXS12.

But the all time budget monitor would be the coax Alto SXM12.  Completely different than the DJ speaker.  I've had mine on stage along with a friends ZLX12s and there's no contest in intelligibility and being able to hear over the band.  Especially when you have a shallow stage and have to stand near them.  I've used them outdoors in larger areas and they still carry really well.

I've heard awesome reviews of them but also that they may not be great for a rock band. We're not super loud (pop/rock and we're 48 years old) but we're also not an acoustic setup.

I guess at 299 each they are worth a try. Just can't get no interest financing but at that price it's not really necessary.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[jesseweiss]

The Yamaha stuff sounds really nice. I own DXR and DSR and love them. I also hear that the Peavey stuff still sounds pretty good now-a-days as well. The DM112 and PR12 would both be within your budget.

You DO know that if you call most retailers and sweet talk the sales rep, you can almost always get discounts well below their advertised retail price. You could probably get DBR12's for the advertised price of DBR10's. (I don't know. I am just guessing.) I would call Mike at Audiopyle Sound and ask what his price would be.

Good luck.

Got my XR18 from Mike so definitely will be contacting him if he has what I want.

[Douglas R. Allen]

I've had really good luck with a pair of Peavey 15pm speakers for a low cost monitor.

https://peavey.com/products/index.cfm/item/665/116927

Used them for anything and everything. From side fills to a bass guitar monitor. Although not in the same league as as my EV SXA250's the output and sound with a little eq is pretty close.
Around $400 at most places.

Douglas R. Allen

Edit: I purchased them more than 7 years ago. When they first came out they were called 115pm.  http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php?topic=121109.0
( You may want to put a space in your full name...)

[Lyle Williams]

I got DBR12s when I urgently needed another pair of speakers and that was what was in the shop.

Can't say I like them.

[Luke Geis]

I would stay away from the Mackie SRM500 series for monitor duty. They seem to have an ever slight amount of latency that I and others have noticed. They sound fine, but when in monitor duty they just have too much latency that drives some people nuts.

While my idea of what a monitor should be is different than others, I can say that the answer is truly: Less is more.....

What I mean by that is simply, what is put into it and how much of that little bit. The less you put in and the less of it, the better. The monitor is meant to support the things that cannot be heard, not make the band have a studio like sound for every member at 110db! This is what will lend me to my suggestion to you.

I would keep the speaker size to either a 10" or 12" model. 12" will acquire more peak volume, but it will also have a little more mud with it. The smaller speakers sound a little better out of the box for monitor duty, but may not be up to the task of being pounded hard for very long. Something to consider is how much you are asking of your current monitors. If you are asking for every bit they have to give, then smaller may not be better.

I would suggest the EV Live X series such as the ELX112P. They are great affordable speakers and you can get them for around the $500 mark. As a smaller option the EV ZXA1 is hard to beat, but costs the same $500. For other brand options you could go with the JBL PRX-710 which is a little more expensive ( and discontinued ), but sounds great and performs well. I would not overlook the new JBL EON 600 series. They actually sound and perform quite nice for the price. The new EON-612 can be had for around $400 at just about any major online retail store. These three options will be hard to beat at the price range you are looking at. The Yamaha DXR is a little more expensive like the JBL PRX, but is not discontinued and works great as well. The QSC options I think are too expensive for the level of performance and I don't recommend them, but wouldn't say no if it was the only option.

[Stephen Kirby]

I've heard awesome reviews of them but also that they may not be great for a rock band. We're not super loud (pop/rock and we're 48 years old) but we're also not an acoustic setup.

I guess at 299 each they are worth a try. Just can't get no interest financing but at that price it's not really necessary.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

For hearing vocals over a loud stage they beat any of the low end contenders like Eons or ZLX and quite a few mid range speakers.  The seem to also be popular with the guitar amp modeler crowd although they won't simulate a 4-12 thump like a DJ speaker will.

Here's four of them spread across a patio for a civic show with a strong R&B band (drummer is from Tower of Power and not a light hitter  )  No problem hearing the vocals any where in the "stage" area.  I ran a pair of K10s as side fills with just a bit guitar and keys in them for each guy to hear the other.  The DBR10 over DXS12 sub is next to the drummer but it's mostly for him to hear the bass guitar.  He didn't want his vox blasting next to him.  When I walked over by him you could hear the vocals from the front line of Altos just fine, even though they are pointing up.

[ProSoundWeb Community]