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[Debbie Dunkley]

Although you are probably already set with those RCF’s (nice), I just wanted to mention that I picked up a pair of the Alto TS310’s ( the TS312’s were mentioned earlier) and they are surprisingly good. I was able to test them against my DXR8 which of course is only an 8” compared to a 10” BUT the Alto holds up and even sounds better on some sources IMHO.
I used MP3 music of various styles to test and both Chris and I agreed that the Altos have a slightly clearer and punchier upper mid yet provide a beefy low end too. The build isn’t as good perhaps and the finish - well that won’t remain unscated for very long but when it comes down to pure sound quality, they are pretty amazing for what I paid.
One of them went out on their maiden voyage last week as monitor and the guitar player LOVED it. We were all shocked how much we could push it and it still performed admirably...

OH and it is REALLY lightweight!!!

[Richard Penrose]

Yep those 10” Alto’s are really surprising little boxes. I have 3 of the older TS210’s and they have been used several times a week as wedge monitors, keyboard/bass amps and foh for small acoustic events and they have been a great workhorse that has paid for themselves over and over on a weekly basis! The TS310’s are said to be an improvement over the TS210’s.
A while back I saw a post on Facebook advertising a new Alto TS4 series with improved driver and amp module but this has since been taken down!
My only complaint with the Alto TS series is the finish on the cabinets. This finish scratches easier than any other speaker I’ve used by far! I really wish Alto updated these cabinets to something much more durable!

[Debbie Dunkley]

Yep those 10” Alto’s are really surprising little boxes. I have 3 of the older TS210’s and they have been used several times a week as wedge monitors, keyboard/bass amps and foh for small acoustic events and they have been a great workhorse that has paid for themselves over and over on a weekly basis! The TS310’s are said to be an improvement over the TS210’s.
A while back I saw a post on Facebook advertising a new Alto TS4 series with improved driver and amp module but this has since been taken down!
My only complaint with the Alto TS series is the finish on the cabinets. This finish scratches easier than any other speaker I’ve used by far! I really wish Alto updated these cabinets to something much more durable!

Yes that was/is my concern too especially as I am quite fussy about how I look after my gear. I had a pair of the EV ELX speakers a few years ago and the finish was pretty poor - easily chipped and marked BUT at least any marks could be easily painted over and any dings could be filled and then painted because they were wood.

I have covers for the Altos but I know that even looking at them will cause marks over time.

[Scott Bolt]

I wonder if a nice thick clear coat wouldn't keep the cabs looking good?

[Heath Eldridge]

I have 6 of the RCF art 310a that I use as monitors. The NX won’t go wrong.

[Debbie Dunkley]

I wonder if a nice thick clear coat wouldn't keep the cabs looking good?

I could see that being a possibility with wood  - but they are plastic.

BTW - We used one of them again last night for a different band and once again I got the thumbs up!

[Kemper Watson]

Well, after I posted something on FB asking if someone was selling some speakers.  I am picking up some lightly used RCF NX12SMA within my 'high' budget.

You will be happy with this purchase.

[Bill Hornibrook]

FWIW - an associate up in Seattle just fixed his alto inventory.  by pulling the amps, installing passive crossovers and sealing the box up again...

Mal do you know why he did this? Did he have amp modules that were failing? If so, do you know which speakers?

[Richard Penrose]

I used my Alto TS210’s for an outdoor choir rehearsal in a park yesterday. I had 1 vocal mic, keys and bass. The bass player used one of the TS210’s as a bass amp. I was really surprised at how well these little budget speakers performed. You could hear the vocal and keys clearly across the park and the bass sounded surprisingly good!
I’m not claiming these are better than other budget alternatives by RCF, EV and Yamaha etc, they have possibly been my biggest earners as they get used several times a week, most weeks of the year. They have also been very reliable and the limiter did a great job protecting the drivers when I made a big mistake. One of my TS210’s was being used to plug a vocal mic into it for a choir director and the input was turned well up into the mic gain at around 80%. Later that evening that same TS210 was being used as a monitor for a drummer who wanted to hear a lot of bass, keys, 4x vocals and I forgot to turn the input down into the line level area. When the band started the sound check, the sound was absolutely screaming through this little budget speaker. The bass was practically shaking the box and the sound was pretty distorted. At first I didn’t work out where this was coming from so the TS210 took a hammering for a good minute or two. Amazingly though, when I turned the level down to line level and not mic level the speaker was still working perfectly. The speakers is still working perfectly 3-4 years later. I’ve had similar speakers blow for a lot less than this!
I just wish the cabinets were more durable as these are somewhat a bargain (I paid less than £200 each)!

I’m now getting to the point where my TS210’s are looking quite tatty and could do with being replaced. I am seriously considering the TS310’s based on my experience with the TS210’s but am slightly put off with the poor cabinet. I will probably wait a little longer fo the TS4 range as from memory, the brochure I saw said the cabinet will be more durable along with upgraded drivers and amps!

[Richard Penrose]

Thought I’d post another shout out for the Alto TS range. I’ve been using my TS210’s as FOH for a few events recently. The first was at the hotel of a high end championship golf club for an awards ceremony where I need something discrete. I ran vocals, keys and upright/electric 5string bass through them for a wine reception. I was very impressed with how well they handled the basses whilst providing very clear vocal and keys. For a small budget 10” speaker, the TS210’s really hand a surprising amount of depth of bass. They really covered and filled the large room no problem.
Today I was just using them for a schools sports day where the staff wanted them for announcements etc. It was the hottest day of the year so far and the speakers were on tripods in direct sunlight for almost 6 hours working flat out! I couldn’t quite believe at how well a single pair managed to project the sound so far! The announcements could clearly be heard from the opposite side of the school field using my EV RE3 radio mic. Also, despite the cabinets of the speakers getting hot, the TS210’s worked perfectly throughout.

The Alto TS3 range are said to be an improvement over my old TS2’s which is a bargain given their performance. I have heard the Alto TS310 at an event but only as a wedge monitor. The stage area was very wide and the drums were on the opposite side so I had some drums running through the TS310. I have to say I was very happy with what I was hearing and wasn’t really expecting this small budget speaker to really be able to handle this. However, it did a perfectly respectable job. I would be very interested to hear how the TS310 compares to the TS210 at some point.

Also, I’ve recently seen some manuals for an Alto TS4 range along with the original post I found on Facebook though there has been nothing regarding this from Alto themselves.

https://manuals.plus/alto-professional/ts408-2000w-8-inch-2-way-powered-loudspeaker-manual#technical_specifications

https://m.facebook.com/501898166639891/posts/1487159604780404/?refsrc=deprecated&_rdr

If these actually materialise the TS4 will have a few new features including :-

New Amp module
Proper mic/line input switch
High Pass Filter
Updated filters/limiters
“Improved” sound quality

Could be interesting if Alto do release these though I would really like a wood cabinet version.

[ProSoundWeb Community]