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[Ron Roberts]

any advice on what is the best powered full-range 15" speaker around $1000 ?

Venue is small to medium sized; configuration is one on each side on a sub pole on top of a JBL PRX818XLFW

[Tim Weaver]

any advice on what is the best powered full-range 15" speaker around $1000 ?

Venue is small to medium sized; configuration is one on each side on a sub pole on top of a JBL PRX818XLFW

Best is subjective, but the "best" pole mounted, powered top cabinet would likely not be a 15".

Why do you want a 15"?


And most importantly what is "medium sized" and for what purpose? Rock music? EDM? Spoken word?

[Ron Roberts]

Best is subjective, but the "best" pole mounted, powered top cabinet would likely not be a 15".

Why do you want a 15"?


And most importantly what is "medium sized" and for what purpose? Rock music? EDM? Spoken word?

My apologies for omitting pertinent details.  Purpose is classic rock/pop rock/folk rock/southern rock.
The reason I prefer 15"-based cab is I am a lead singer and so the P.A. is my instrument like a Les Paul is to a guitar player and I have found over the years - at least its my *feeling* that vocals come through richer, deeper and purer through 15" speakers (as opposed to 12").

small to medium sized meaning club or restaurant with 100 to 200 people.

[MikeHarris]

If you have a sub you don’t need the extra lows that a 15 brings over a 12...and the 12 will usually sound better on vocals.
DXR 12 mkll is under budget..add the SPCVR DXR12 and you’re set

[Scott Holtzman]

My apologies for omitting pertinent details.  Purpose is classic rock/pop rock/folk rock/southern rock.
The reason I prefer 15"-based cab is I am a lead singer and so the P.A. is my instrument like a Les Paul is to a guitar player and I have found over the years - at least its my *feeling* that vocals come through richer, deeper and purer through 15" speakers (as opposed to 12").

small to medium sized meaning club or restaurant with 100 to 200 people.

Vocals do not come through richer or deeper and pure not sure what that means through a 15 over a 12.  15" doesn't do as good of a job in the critical vocal frequencies and the speaker gets directional at higher frequencies.  12" is the sweet spot in performance over a sub. 

If good reproduction is important to you why straddle yourself to that budget.  You are at the very top end of that price range and within a couple hundred bucks of the Yamaha DSR12's.  Widely regarded (I own a pair so count me in the widely) as the the best 12" in the under 3k a box category.  Find the speaker you like then try and make it worth your while. 

[Scott Olewiler]

If good reproduction is important to you why straddle yourself to that budget.  You are at the very top end of that price range and within a couple hundred bucks of the Yamaha DSR12's. 

DSR12s can be bought for well under $1000 ea. from any dealer.  Looks like OP's budget is up to $1000/speaker, not $1000 total.

[Douglas R. Allen]

any advice on what is the best powered full-range 15" speaker around $1000 ?

Venue is small to medium sized; configuration is one on each side on a sub pole on top of a JBL PRX818XLFW

First I realize these are above you budget but if you think long term and view these as a business investment they may be right for you. Also I have as yet not heard them in person but I hear very good reports on them.  With a 4 inch Horn voice coil and a lower than average 650hz woofer to horn crossover point these are reported to give a great vocal reproduction as the horn does the lions share of the vocal range. Fir Filters in the crossover and even a manageable 52lbs they may be what your looking for. Again with whatever you purchase try to look long term and weigh the business plan in the purchase.

 https://www.amazon.com/RCF-Two-Way-Speaker-Powered-Monitor/dp/B074P9XWGW/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=rcf+15+inch+speakers&qid=1571308251&sr=8-8

Douglas R. Allen

EDIT:  A good look at the horn driver here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ireX_kcQbkk

[MikeHarris]

I do believe the DSR12 has been discontinued and replaced with DZR12 above..DXR12mkll below.

[Jonathan Hole]

any advice on what is the best powered full-range 15" speaker around $1000 ?

Venue is small to medium sized; configuration is one on each side on a sub pole on top of a JBL PRX818XLFW

If you stretch your budget up to the Yamaha DZR112 you will have better horizontal coverage than a 15" and a top speaker that you can build on.  What I mean by that is you can build quite a sub compliment under them and not outrun the tops as it's hard to beat the DZR output for up to double the price and even more.  DSR is discontinued but you can still find them and a gently used pair wouldn't be a bad option at the right price, but the new warranty is nice and the DZR elevated the DSR incrementally, so you'd be getting the best. 

RCF also a good option but higher still, perhaps harder to find service than Yamaha depending on where you live, no louder, and frankly I prefer the DZR (or RCF NX) to the Art series as the Art's are so dang ugly...  BTW: You'll find there is a DZR112-D which means the same speaker with Dante' onboard - you will likely never need that so just get the regular model. 

[Dave Batistig]

any advice on what is the best powered full-range 15" speaker around $1000 ?

Venue is small to medium sized; configuration is one on each side on a sub pole on top of a JBL PRX818XLFW

RCF-HD12 or HD32 are both excellent boxes and close to your price range. THE NX series is the next step up and are also VERY good boxes.

[Scott Holtzman]

First I realize these are above you budget but if you think long term and view these as a business investment they may be right for you. Also I have as yet not heard them in person but I hear very good reports on them.  With a 4 inch Horn voice coil and a lower than average 650hz woofer to horn crossover point these are reported to give a great vocal reproduction as the horn does the lions share of the vocal range. Fir Filters in the crossover and even a manageable 52lbs they may be what your looking for. Again with whatever you purchase try to look long term and weigh the business plan in the purchase.

 https://www.amazon.com/RCF-Two-Way-Speaker-Powered-Monitor/dp/B074P9XWGW/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=rcf+15+inch+speakers&qid=1571308251&sr=8-8

Douglas R. Allen

EDIT:  A good look at the horn driver here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ireX_kcQbkk

The DZR12 (I have commented on it a few threads) is a step up in clarity from the DSR.  Frankly I had forgotten but I have a set of DZR's, with the boxes and packing material and 2 factory covers that you could have for $2200 for the set.  They have never been rented out, only run by me, maybe 4 times.   

[Paul G. OBrien]

The reason I prefer 15"-based cab is I am a lead singer and so the P.A. is my instrument like a Les Paul is to a guitar player and I have found over the years - at least its my *feeling* that vocals come through richer, deeper and purer through 15" speakers (as opposed to 12").

The MOST important component inside a traditional 2-way PA box for this type of application is the compression driver and in this case bigger is better, and when it comes to a powered box the processing applied is also a significant factor. It may be that just by coincidence the 15" boxes you have used in the past contained larger compression drivers and this has inadvertantly skewed your preference, but facts are once high passed over subs just about any size mid-bass driver will do the job. A 12' will be indistinguishable from a 15', a pair of 10's or even a stack of 6" drivers would provide the same performance and in terms of off axis response the smaller drivers produce much better results. The dB Technologies Ingenia IG4T has become popular recently around here for delivering outstanding performance in a very light easy to use package. https://www.dbtechnologies.com/en/products/ingenia/ingenia-ig4t/
All the boxes the others have suggested contain larger comps, the Yamahas have the largest in class 1" exit comps and also contain exceptionally good DSP processing, the RCFs suggested contain even larger 1.4" or 2" exit drivers which in my experience are another step up again for vocal reproduction, the difference with these is not subtle and is immediately noticable.

[Douglas R. Allen]

The MOST important component inside a traditional 2-way PA box for this type of application is the compression driver and in this case bigger is better, and when it comes to a powered box the processing applied is also a significant factor. It may be that just by coincidence the 15" boxes you have used in the past contained larger compression drivers and this has inadvertantly skewed your preference, but facts are once high passed over subs just about any size mid-bass driver will do the job. A 12' will be indistinguishable from a 15', a pair of 10's or even a stack of 6" drivers would provide the same performance and in terms of off axis response the smaller drivers produce much better results. The dB Technologies Ingenia IG4T has become popular recently around here for delivering outstanding performance in a very light easy to use package. https://www.dbtechnologies.com/en/products/ingenia/ingenia-ig4t/
All the boxes the others have suggested contain larger comps, the Yamahas have the largest in class 1" exit comps and also contain exceptionally good DSP processing, the RCFs suggested contain even larger 1.4" or 2" exit drivers which in my experience are another step up again for vocal reproduction, the difference with these is not subtle and is immediately noticable.

I have the IG4T's as well as the IG2T's. The IG4T with a 3 inch voice coil horn / 1.4 inch exit and its 4 - 6.5 inch woofers have been the best vocal speaker I've used and it does great with other inputs as well. Strangely the 4 woofers can and do compete with all the 15 inch woofer boxes I've used above a normal sub/top box crossover system setup. The IG2T has a smaller horn , 1.4 inch coil with 1 inch exit buts does a great job with vocals also. I wonder but don't know if the transient response of the smaller drivers has something to do with it but can't say for sure.  Overall I like them enough that another 15/horn box has no future for me.  I didn't mention them as I've posted a lot on them and the OP was looking for a 15/horn box.  For the OP if you'd like search IG4T here and you'll find a lot of post from me and a few others.

Douglas R. Allen

[Geert Friedhof]

4 6.5" drivers have a theoretical surface area of 42"sq.
1 15"driver has a theoretical surface area of 56"sq.

The 15" will most probably have a larger xmax and efficiency though.
The four 6.5"s will have a smaller beam in the vertical axis down to 500Hz or so, as can be seen in the .gll file.

[Luke Geis]

I think the whole " fuller, richer, purer, deeper, bigger " thing with vocals and 15" speakers is simply because 15" speakers do produce more low-end content. I have seen a trend for many musicians ( typically ) to desire the fatter, rounder added low end on their vocals that 15" speaker lend. Why... I am not certain? To me, it just muddies the mix up and getting any real clarity from the vocals more difficult to achieve. I prefer vocals to sound natural, not bigger than life and certainly not unrealistically huge sounding. Speakers that produce more low end tend to create that type of sound.

Now if using 15" speakers alone, I don't find much fault in desiring them, especially if you need to get the whole band in them. In any instance where you are using subs, my rule is to go with as small a main speaker as you can get away with. In most cases, 10" is about as small as you can practically go with making 12" the best compromise between power and quality of sound.

In general, the smaller the speaker the more accurate and true it will sound within its usable frequency range. Most 10" speakers are good down to 60hz or so and when used with a sub will work great provided you don't need more SPL than it can provide. Smaller speakers move less air and therefore tend to produce less peak SPL than larger drivers. This is why 12" speakers tend to be the more popular option as mains. They get plenty loud and go more than low enough to integrate with a subwoofer.

Smaller speakers sound better for a few reasons. The predominant reason is that the driver mass is very low and this allows the speaker to more accurately react to the incoming signal. The second reason is that the smaller speakers' acoustic center is closer to the center of the horn. This reduces phase issues or at the very least reduces the range where issues exist. The third reason is that smaller speakers have less intermodulation distortion. The driver will rattle, distort and create ripples in the cone that interact with the electrical signal that the speaker is actually getting. This causes intermodulation distortion that causes beaming and other phase related issues. Because smaller speakers are less affected by this, they tend to sound better or at least more linear.

Larger speakers have more intermodulation distortion, more beaming and because of the mass of the driver, tend to be less accurate or true to the actual electrical signal being sent to them. 15" speakers are the biggest offender in this regard. They have audible effects of this phenomenon and while they can sound great on-axis, the issues really become noticeable off-axis. There are workarounds to this though!

RCF offers many speakers with astonishingly low crossover points from the horn. Getting the crossover point low on the horn reduces phase issues between it and the driver, and it can be low enough that the beaming and intermodulation distortion area of the driver is now out of band. 15" drivers start beaming around 1000hz, which is well below most crossover points. If you can get the crossover point down to 750hz for instance, you get out of the drivers beaming area and performance will greatly improve on and off axis. Again, smaller speakers will still benefit more from this ability. A 12" speaker beams at around 1,300hz which is just around the point where many crossovers start ( usually between 1.2khz - 2.1khz ), so if you are crossing a 12" speaker over at nearly 700hz, it will greatly improve the performance. Just for reference the beaming point for a 10" speaker is roughly 1,600hz, and an 8" speaker is  2,100hz. An 8" speaker would be the best all-around with the most common horn crossover points, as it's beaming point is right in that range.

The long and short is this, if you use a subwoofer, go with the smallest practical speaker that meets your performance needs. 12" options tend to be the most practical for most needs. YMMV of course. If you really want a 15" speaker, that is, of course, up to you.

[Chris Grimshaw]

Some of what Luke said above is true. Other parts, I'm afraid, aren't.

Here goes:

- Smaller speakers aren't automatically better. If anything, you could argue they're worse: for a given SPL, the smaller cone must move further. Cone excursion = distortion. What sounds better - a single 12" working itself to death, or 4x 18"s cruising along?
- "Better react to the incoming signal" is just a function of high-frequency response (see Fourier Transforms and what happens when you put a lowpass filter on them). When used within a sensible frequency range, a 15" cone can follow the incoming signal just fine.


At the budget end of the market, smaller speakers do tend to sound better. That's because they've used the same 1" compression driver for the range of products, while that HF unit only gets down to 2kHz. A 10" driver can make it to 2kHz okay, and a 12" can be okay up there. Cheap 15" drivers will be in severe cone breakup (where the cone is bending in resonant modes - see Bell modes for an example, but you can also get standing waves between the dustcap and cone edge) at those sort of frequencies. There are a couple of 15"s that do get to 2kHz okay, but they're not cheap - the Beyma 15P80Nd is one such example.

So, the 15" driver will be getting quite rough in the 1-2kHz region, plus there's the beaming that Luke talked about. RCF bypass those with a large compression driver running nice and low. IME, that's the only way to get a 15"+HF box sounding decent.

Chris

[Steve Garris]

any advice on what is the best powered full-range 15" speaker around $1000 ?

Venue is small to medium sized; configuration is one on each side on a sub pole on top of a JBL PRX818XLFW

Hi Ron, unlike many here I too prefer the sound of 15's in a two-way. My best sounding box for this application is the SRX815p. This speaker is a little over you budget though. I would look for a dealer (Mike Pyle on this forum) to get a better price.

I use my 815's over the SRX sub's for small clubs and park concerts with up to 800 people. I've also used the DSR's and PRX two-way speakers. One negative on the SRX is the weight - 63 lb.

I work at a club that has a nice JBL install - AM6212/95 mains (flown). One night I showed up and the left main woofer was blown. I drove home and retrieved my SRX815p and threw it up. The clarity and detail was noticeable better coming out of that speaker!

[Jamin Lynch]

One advantage for 15's is you tend to get a little more low end if you're doing a real small gig without subs.

+1 for the SRX815P

[Richard Penrose]

I use 15”s because I often use them without subs but still want a full range sound. I can’t say I’ve experienced any issues with muddy vocals through my DXR15’s!? In fact one of the most regular compliments I get is how clear the vocals sound. I also often run quite busy mixes solely through the DXR15’s without any backline (5x vocals, 2x keys, electric/upright bass and full drum kit 8mics). Admittedly this tends to be in great sounding venues such as outdoor amphitheater’s with very seasoned pros with great technique, instruments and mics. However, I had a lot of compliments on how clear the sound was and were shocked that there wasn’t any subs or backline. For bigger gigs I use a pair of QSC KW181 subs.
I have tried the Yamaha DZR12’s which did sound good. However, I ended up sticking with the DXR15’s.
The new DXR15 mk2’s have a slightly larger compression and apparently Nexo has retuned the DSP to add more clarity to the high mids so vocals should have greater clarity than the mk1’s. I haven’t heard the new mk2’s personally but I am keen to hear them at some point.
Another 15” speaker that I’ve hear on small festivals is the RCF 735a and 8003 subs. The RCF 735’s use a 3” compression driver which allows for a much lower crossover point which apparently adds greater. Vocals sounded great from FOH over loud bands. One band was a 12 piece soul band and the entire band was fully miked and you could hear everything really clearly and vocals sounded very articulate. RCF make a couple of other options worth checking out including the NX45A and HDP45A which both have an even larger 4” compression driver. However, I’ve not hear those in person. I know one person who has used both the RCF 745mk4 and the new Yamaha DXR15’s mk2 and thought they were on a par with each other but again I’ve not heard them personally.

[Roland Clarke]

The RCF stuff is some of the best speakers in the midrange market, but these are going to be more than your $1000 budget.  Yamaha, and JBL are really dominant at this price range.  Personally I think that pushing your budget would be worth it, see elsewhere on the forums for Debbie Dunkley's comments about finally taking the plunge on a Danley system having owned a decent JBL SRX system, I think that says it all.

[Caleb Dueck]

The RCF stuff is some of the best speakers in the midrange market, but these are going to be more than your $1000 budget.  Yamaha, and JBL are really dominant at this price range.  Personally I think that pushing your budget would be worth it, see elsewhere on the forums for Debbie Dunkley's comments about finally taking the plunge on a Danley system having owned a decent JBL SRX system, I think that says it all.

Agree that RCF does great in the mid-range market.  The TT25A Mk II, and TT5A, are two of the few 15" two-way speakers that don't have that typical indistinct mid-range.  Meyer, Nexo, L'Acoustics all have good 15" two-way, even the Martin CDD 15 is pretty good.  When you get into that price bracket though - why not go 3-way?  I've never heard any 12" or 15" 2-way sound as articulate as a 3-way speaker. 

12" vs 15" two way - they're both compromised.  Either the mid-range is weak with 15" (right in the vocal range) or the low-mids are weak with 12" (about where the subs start taking over).  If there is bass to be reproduced - there's subs for that.  Thus the only argument I've heard for 15" 2 way that makes sense is they typically have slightly higher output.

[ProSoundWeb Community]