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[Drew Shaw]

Hi everyone - id be grateful for any input re the following:

Currently mainly do this as a hobby altho i have some limited exoerience of playing on other systems
at free parties and small bars a handful of times
The music played is predominantly reggae/dub which cab bleed over to experimental/dancehall/techno so clear bass is an important factor
Due to change in circumstances i plan to upgrade n have my eye on xprs range
Budget is 6K but i want to incl a dbx 260 (is it advisable to buy this as a used item?) in price wch leaves about
5+K

So i plan fr this - 2x xprs 10"; 2x 12"; 2 x 115 sub = iv managed to source these new fr total of £4,7k brand new
which is pretty good compared to RRP
How do forum members rate this range?

There is an option of buying the xprs 215 for only £100 more expensive than a 115 - That would potentially save me
about £700 but it migtht limit my future options of running a couple of spk+sub's - the 215 can run 2 speakers each one with a dedicated sub
but why is it so cheap compared to the 115?

Also the !2s are on offer cheaperthan the 10s (150Eurios cheaper each)- does any1 have any suggestions why this could be?

Any input (incl should i considder other brands - the budget can incr a little but i dont want it going to
obscene levels - i do this for love not money and i dont want to be pushung to 8k or over) would be appreciated

Drew

[Rob Spence]

I would skip the DR260 and get a Venu360 instead. The 260 is showing its age and I think the 360 is easier to set up and sounds better. A used one won’t break the bank.

As far as speakers, I have never heard of any of the ones you mentioned. A question though... Why a pair of 10s and a pair of 12s?

[Drew Shaw]

Well firstly since they’d b used more at hme than out and I want to hve option of placing one of 12s in a 2nd room and another in a third and I was thinking that a 12 might deal with the bass adequately enough so I dnt have to get 2 more subs...are u suggesting 2 x15 instead

The reason for the 10s is I thought that if it’s 1+1 then a 10” would be better than a 12/15 bec it’s more suited to high freq

But I dnt have the tech knowledge at the level of this forums members - that’s why I’m here

[Dave Garoutte]

Also never heard of XPRS.
Go with Yamaha DXR series or QSC k.2.
Those are probably as good as you can get in your price range.
Solid products with solid warranties.

[Corey Scogin]

Well firstly since they’d b used more at hme than out and I want to hve option of placing one of 12s in a 2nd room and another in a third and I was thinking that a 12 might deal with the bass adequately enough so I dnt have to get 2 more subs...are u suggesting 2 x15 instead

The reason for the 10s is I thought that if it’s 1+1 then a 10” would be better than a 12/15 bec it’s more suited to high freq

But I dnt have the tech knowledge at the level of this forums members - that’s why I’m here

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

- You never want the listener hearing the same audio content from two different sources. For your situation, you'd never want to set two full range speakers next to one another on one side of a "stereo" arrangement where the listener can hear two speakers reproducing the "left" side or the "right" side at the same time. It will create comb filtering effects, negatively impacting your sound quality.

- Larger speakers generally reproduce lower frequencies better than smaller speakers. The 12s should play lower. Smaller speakers can sound better for certain applications. For DJ work, I'd suggest 12s with subs. They're a good compromise of size and weight and can be used on their own if necessary.

- Different speaker models (10s vs 12s) will sound different requiring separate processing to get similar sounding results. In your multi-room scenario, this might apply. I'd recommend getting as many matching tops as you need and don't complicate it with different sized tops.

- Pioneer isn't known for professional audio. It's unlikely anyone here has heard these boxes. They might be great or they might be crap. It's hard to tell.

- Look around for similarly priced options and, if possible, go listen for yourself. I don't know what's available in your area but nearly every pro audio manufacturer builds a 12" full range powered speaker and sub. RCF, Yamaha, QSC, EV, JBL, DB Technologies, FBT, the list goes on.

- Regarding the subs, you can always add more later if you stick with the same model. Subs combine nicely as long as they are placed relatively close to each other (within a few feet).

- You shouldn't need the complexity of an external processor (DR260 or Venue360) unless doing more complicated setups such as delays. Powered boxes, when deployed as intended, are built to complement each other and have a relatively balanced sound out of the box.

[Dave Garoutte]

- You shouldn't need the complexity of an external processor (DR260 or Venue360) unless doing more complicated setups such as delays. Powered boxes, when deployed as intended, are built to complement each other and have a relatively balanced sound out of the box.

Plus if you don't get the not-so-necessary crossover, you can spend the money on better speakers.
The speaker quality will make more difference than almost anything else in your signal chain.

[Mike Caldwell]

The Pioneer XPRS speakers may have something going on. I looked them up and they seem to use Powersoft amp modules and have a 7 year warranty.

http://www.pioneerproaudio.com/en/sound/xprs/xprs_10.html

The external DSP would not be needed unless you wanted to use it for system EQ, zone routing, delay fills, ect.
As Rob mentioned the DBX 360 is much better and you can walk around with an iPad and make adjustments.

[Paul G. OBrien]

Drew. Don't run out and buy these things just because they come from a recognized DJ brand, they don't appear to be doing anything exceptional with these boxes so they don't have any more value than a speaker from a recognized pro audio manufacturer, and less in quite a few cases.
You don't need a Driverack with these or most modern powered speakers so save your money, and pick 1 model of top and sub and buy as many as you think you will need.  In general 12's are a good compromise size.. nearly the same output and lowend extension the 15" model but substantially smaller and lighter.

[Drew Shaw]

thanks for info guys - i need to go away aand give this a bit more thought

Before i do: 1) Mike - you say 'something mightbe going on with the Pioneers' What do you mean?

2) My mixer only has 2 outs (booth and master) which can only power sub +1 - i might be overlooking something simple here but how can i power 4 or 6 speakers individually w/out a management
sys

[Drew Shaw]

I’m only including this link because a few members say they haven’t heard of these and those who have heard them report nothing but good things - a quick scroll down first page shows you this. However I do know that djs may not be as critical of their sound as pro audio people.
Apart from mic work (reggae can involve sme live input backd wiv dubs) I wouldn’t need them for live performance (as in real instr’s)

https://ourdjtalk.com/djchat/im-in-the-market-for-a-new-set-of-speakers.46486/

[Corey Scogin]

2) My mixer only has 2 outs (booth and master) which can only power sub +1 - i might be overlooking something simple here but how can i power 4 or 6 speakers individually w/out a management
sys

What's your mixer? Does it not have stereo (left/right) outputs on the master?

Don't think of it as "powering" the speakers as it's just sending a signal to them, not providing the driving force to move the speaker cones.
You can link from one speaker to another. That's what the "Link" output on the Pioneer speakers is for. On others that might be labeled "Out" or "Link Out". In a 1 top over 1 sub configuration, you'd connect from your mixer to the sub then link out to the top.

Here's where buying subs & tops in the same series makes sense. The subs have a crossover setting that filters high frequencies out. The tops have an "external sub" switch that filters out low frequencies. A set of subs & tops in the same series should be designed to work together coherently using these switches without external processing.

Sometimes, with other models, the sub in a series will have a "high-pass output" that is used to feed the top speaker. In that case, the sub crossover is doing what the "external sub" switch does on the XPRS series top - filtering out low frequencies.

[Drew Shaw]

yea - im using a Mastersounds 4 channel linear fadere - it has master L +R wch is fine for the subs with tops byut i need the booth outputs for monitors
How would i power an xtra 2 speakers from it w/ourt  managemt sys and w/out losing quality (which i thought u would if set up in series config )

[Corey Scogin]

yea - im using a Mastersounds 4 channel linear fadere - it has master L +R wch is fine for the subs with tops byut i need the booth outputs for monitors
How would i power an xtra 2 speakers from it w/ourt  managemt sys and w/out losing quality (which i thought u would if set up in series config )

You will not lose quality by linking powered speakers until you reach 15+ and even then, it probably won't be noticeable.

If you need tops in another room, it's fine to link or split the XLR outputs to feed those. A processor will only complicate things. It will not improve your sound. The speakers you're looking at already have optimized processing and protection built in.

Where you might want a processor is if you're deploying different models of speaker, passive speakers, or delays.

[Mike Caldwell]

Before i do: 1) Mike - you say 'something mightbe going on with the Pioneers' What do you mean?

Meaning they may be a good speaker based on what I read about them and the components used in them.

That said I have never actually heard any Pioneer XPRS speakers, short of a few TAD drivers the last Pioneer speakers I listened to were some mid 70's stereo speakers.

[Helge A Bentsen]

XPRS is decent. Not the greatest active speaker there ever was, but decent enough to make useable noise and survive the night. Used them a few times, they didn't impress me but they didn't suck either.

I'm using a rig tomorrow for some corporate stuff, I'll report back if there is anything to report.

[Helge A Bentsen]

XPRS12 decent.
XPRS 115s impressive little single 15» sub.

Had a 12» top over a 15» sub a side with QSCK12.2 as delays.
I’d say the Pioneer rig held it’s own against the QSC, especially towards the rear. A lot less spill in the back of them compared to the QSC. I had a vocalist commenting on that, he noticed that the Pioneers were quieter behind than what he was used to from similar sized speakers.
The sub impesssed me.

[ProSoundWeb Community]