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[Bob Stone]

Well the question is now moot and this is more of a rant than anything else.  The bar owner bought the speakers from the guy that owned them. After reading the comments here I was going to take a pass on them as I was thinking of buying them more fore the reason of "helping out a friend" and letting people "rent/borrow" them.  Short story is, the guy is an older musician who ran her weekly jam for years and left his gear there each week.  He is now sick (cancer) and can no longer  keep up with any kind of set gig schedule.  I have taken over the jam and the owner had asked me about doing a small house system for her. She bought the speakers to "help him out."  She does have a big heart but now I am stuck using them in the "house build."  I was leaning towards the Altos but now she has shot a portion of her already small budget on the JBL's.  At this point what I had imagined, pair of 12" Altos with a single sub (small venue) with a Soundcraft 12 channel board with Lexicon effects onboard that I already own and is in great condition, has been shot down the drain.  At this point I am thinking of just throwing a 1000 watt (advertised so actually 250 real watts/channel) 12 Channel Yamaha powered mixer (think knobs not pots) at it and calling it a day.  Honestly the mixer/amp will most likely only be used for vox with bands and karaoke the other nights. Gonna sleep on it for a few days.  Maybe I can find someone to buy the Sound Factors from her and put the Altos back on track.

Don't worry about it, the people here are just gear snobs and unless you spend $2k+/box they won't be happy. Granted the SF15's aren't that great but they aren't the absolute worst either. I've used a set of JRX125's a few times before and with a bit of EQ can be made to sound acceptable. Compared to some of the bar systems I've seen in the past, I'd be happy to show up to mix and see some sort of semi-modern JBL even if it's their value series.

[duane massey]

Actually, the Yamaha powered mixer is not a bad choice. As long as you don't overdrive the mic inputs they work quite well.

[Geert Friedhof]

Don't worry about it, the people here are just gear snobs and unless you spend $2k+/box they won't be happy. Granted the SF15's aren't that great but they aren't the absolute worst either. I've used a set of JRX125's a few times before and with a bit of EQ can be made to sound acceptable. Compared to some of the bar systems I've seen in the past, I'd be happy to show up to mix and see some sort of semi-modern JBL even if it's their value series.

Depends on what they are used for. If pushed hard(ish) it gets ugly, as with all modest budget speakers.

[Kemper Watson]

Looking at picking up a pair of JBL sound Factor 15 inch speakers for a backup set of speakers. I have been playing on this pair of speakers in a club for the last year-and-a-half never had an issue with them and they sound great. What is the overall opinion of this line of JBL speakers, I know they are older. Also what would be a good ballpark price range for a pair in good condition I am thinking between 300 and 500 Max for the pair

For a duo these would do OK. I wouldn't try to use them in a full band setting. Ever. I owned a pair

Edit. A pair of Yamaha Clubs will do a much better job..

[Debbie Dunkley]

Don't worry about it, the people here are just gear snobs and unless you spend $2k+/box they won't be happy. Granted the SF15's aren't that great but they aren't the absolute worst either. I've used a set of JRX125's a few times before and with a bit of EQ can be made to sound acceptable. Compared to some of the bar systems I've seen in the past, I'd be happy to show up to mix and see some sort of semi-modern JBL even if it's their value series.

Your statement is very unfair and untrue in my experience this forum.
Personally I do not even own a $2k box.
Many times on this forum the likes of Alto, DXR and ZLX are highly recommended - all budget boxes but still decent sounding.
The SF15's were considered a cheap and nasty sounding box by many here so you won't find them being  endorsed. It is possible to be frugal yet still choose wisely.

[Geert Friedhof]

These are all tools.

An experienced mechanic won't touch cheap spanners because from experience he knows they can/will snap or strip the bolthead when used in anger. So he buys decent, more expensive tools. If asked which tools to buy he will name the better, more expensive tools. What a snob...

[Tim McCulloch]

Don't worry about it, the people here are just gear snobs and unless you spend $2k+/box they won't be happy. Granted the SF15's aren't that great but they aren't the absolute worst either. I've used a set of JRX125's a few times before and with a bit of EQ can be made to sound acceptable. Compared to some of the bar systems I've seen in the past, I'd be happy to show up to mix and see some sort of semi-modern JBL even if it's their value series.

Most of the folks here take audio as a second vocation, but it's still a business to them.  Services are not like retail/resale business where the profit potential is set at the time the inventory is purchased - over 10 years (the minimum commercial life span of a wedge), the cost difference between a shitty $350 monitor and a decent wedge will evaporate especially if having better gear gets you a few more gigs a year.

We're not snobs - quite to the contrary - but we've learned the 2 most important lessons of asset purchasing:

1)  The wrong product at the 'right price' is still the wrong product
2)  Buy once, cry once.

[Dave Garoutte]

I have NEVER been sorry for buying something more/better than I needed at the time.  You will always grow into it.
If you buy cheap/worse, you will always grow out of it.

[Caleb Dueck]

I have NEVER been sorry for buying something more/better than I needed at the time.  You will always grow into it.
If you buy cheap/worse, you will always grow out of it.

So very true! 

If the difference between "barely passable if you lower your standards far enough" and "wise investment" is a couple years of revenue - it's worth a second look.  When the difference is between a pair of great speakers and a pair of cheap speakers - make the wise buy. 

Marketing - do you want to be just another bush league system/person for rent, or a company that provides expert service and a Pro level system?  If the latter - why lock yourself into the former? 

When I was looking for speakers to rent for my wedding, I ignored the guys with old JBL/Peavey/SoundBridge/etc level gear, and called the company with Nexo.  Doesn't matter how cheap their rate was, their gear said "amateur" and took them out of contention. 

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

[Bob Stone]

Thanks for proving my point. Per the mechanic analogy...even a cheap walmart brand socket (jbl sf) is better than using an adjustable wrench which is still better than using a pair of pliers which is still better than having nothing. You don't need snap on, or even craftsman to be able to do most jobs. Obviously the JBL's won't do an A list act for 10,000 people...but 100 people in a little bar? Sure they'll suffice.

[ProSoundWeb Community]