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Author Topic: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college  (Read 5382 times)

Paul Mayer

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Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« on: July 08, 2022, 10:59:24 PM »

My university was asking for some advice on upgrading their speakers.  Right now, they are using two JRX125s or JRX225's, with one of them having a blown tweeter, along with a QSC amp and a harbinger mixer.  They are debating whether to replace the JRX or, on my recommendation, move to active speakers which would make it much easier for bands and groups that don't know much about sound to set up.  What I am looking for is advice on active 3-way speakers that can take some serious abuse (i.e. be driven into clipping for long periods of time by carless users and still be fine).  I'd prefer to keep the cost below $1500 each.

If it was me buying these speakers for myself, I'd choose the SRX835Ps or maybe the Yamaha DZR315, however I'd be picking these more on sound, performance, and expandability rather than reliability.  The main speaker I was recommending were the QSC KW153s, as I've had a good experience with QSC installs for their reliability.  To put things in perspective, other groups I've worked with on campus have somehow caused faults in the amps of PRX735s, torn cones on QSC HPR153i's (granted, these lasted for years before needing to be replaced), clipped and burned out all sorts of amps, gone through plenty of Berhinger products, etc.

What active 3-way speakers have you had a good experience on rentals and gigs of this sort?
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2022, 12:03:49 AM »

My university was asking for some advice on upgrading their speakers.  Right now, they are using two JRX125s or JRX225's, with one of them having a blown tweeter, along with a QSC amp and a harbinger mixer.  They are debating whether to replace the JRX or, on my recommendation, move to active speakers which would make it much easier for bands and groups that don't know much about sound to set up.  What I am looking for is advice on active 3-way speakers that can take some serious abuse (i.e. be driven into clipping for long periods of time by carless users and still be fine).  I'd prefer to keep the cost below $1500 each.

If it was me buying these speakers for myself, I'd choose the SRX835Ps or maybe the Yamaha DZR315, however I'd be picking these more on sound, performance, and expandability rather than reliability.  The main speaker I was recommending were the QSC KW153s, as I've had a good experience with QSC installs for their reliability.  To put things in perspective, other groups I've worked with on campus have somehow caused faults in the amps of PRX735s, torn cones on QSC HPR153i's (granted, these lasted for years before needing to be replaced), clipped and burned out all sorts of amps, gone through plenty of Berhinger products, etc.

What active 3-way speakers have you had a good experience on rentals and gigs of this sort?

Hi Paul-

I've a bit of bias, I manage a good sized JBL-based shop (most of it line array).  We've got some SRX835P and SRX828P for side stages and similar uses.  I'm rather taken with them especially for their size, weight, and price we paid (in the pre-Covid days).  The 835 on my list of things I'd like another pair of, eventually.

I've also used a client's QSC KW153 for side fills and did not find them lacking (80's/90's "era tribute" act).  I don't think you'd go wrong with either, other than the KW getting a little long in the tooth now.  I've not heard the DZR315 but it has come recommended to me.  Based on my other experiences with Yamaha speakers I believe my friends are giving me honest recommendations.

Of these I'm not sure there's a bad choice.  Part of my consideration for Yamaha would be the 7 year warranty...
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Mal Brown

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2022, 02:40:29 AM »

Last year I replaced my kw-153 with dZR315.   then sold them.  The DZR315"s rock but are too large for a one guy deployment and lacking a pole cup won't fit on a heavey duty stand.  Performance wise, tremendous but maybe more fixed installation and less mobile live sound.

I ended up with db Tech IG3Ts and want another set plus fly hardware....
« Last Edit: July 15, 2022, 01:15:50 PM by Mal Brown »
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Scott Slater

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2022, 06:46:17 AM »

What active 3-way speakers have you had a good experience on rentals and gigs of this sort?
Like Tim,  we also have a pair of JBL SRX835P that we use with (2 or 4) SRX828Ps.  This system packs a lot of punch for it's overall size/weight.  I am considering selling one of our bigger systems to buy another 835/828 system, since our gigs have gotten a little smaller overall post-COVID.
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Brian Jojade

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2022, 03:36:32 PM »

What I am looking for is advice on active 3-way speakers that can take some serious abuse (i.e. be driven into clipping for long periods of time by carless users and still be fine).

A very common misconception is that powered speakers are designed in such a way that you can be stupid with them and not cause problems.  While many do offer some protections, this concept is FAR from true.  In fact, many powered speakers can be more easily destroyed by idiots.  They are designed in a way to be able to achieve peak performance but require at least 3 working brain cells to not destroy them.

If you really want fool proof capability, you need to severely undersize the amps to the rating of the components in your speakers.  Use separate amps for each driver and size/limit appropriately.  This gives you the ability to control how stupid you can run the system and still be in the safe zone.
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Scott Bolt

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2022, 05:06:41 PM »

While none of the 3 (DZR, SRX, KW) three way speakers are a bad choice, I would also recommend the DZR's for their 7 year warranty. 

Unlike Brian, I have found that my Yamaha powered speakers have been pretty much idiot proof.  I had one of my DSR112's hard pegged for an entire set and it came through without a hitch (in fact it actually sounded pretty good while in hard limit).

When I finally did have a woofer start making a tiny bit of distortion at one specific resonant frequency, Yamaha replaced the driver no questions asked (this was 6 years into my 7 year warranty).

I believe that all other things being about even (although I also suspect that the KW153 may be old enough that it would not quite hang with the SRX and DZR in a head to head matchup), the warranty should be your #1 consideration if others will be using the system and therefore exposing your speakers to higher levels of idiocy than normal ;)
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Scott Helmke

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2022, 08:36:08 AM »

A very common misconception is that powered speakers are designed in such a way that you can be stupid with them and not cause problems.  While many do offer some protections, this concept is FAR from true.

Agreed.  The protection is there to survive accidents, not sustained abuse.
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Matt Vivlamore

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2022, 12:22:05 PM »

Agreed.  The protection is there to survive accidents, not sustained abuse.

The SRX powered line doesn't have enough power to blow up and the amps limit way too early. 
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Mal Brown

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2022, 01:32:13 PM »

The DZR's will walk away from KW-153's...  That said, I ran my old 153's hard and put them away wet many times and they hung in there really well.

(Actually I had rain covers so figuratively 'wet')  :-)
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Don T. Williams

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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2022, 04:36:02 PM »

Matt, the powered SRX may or may not have enough power to blow up the drivers, but they can fail. I rented a pair to a band that apparently plugged everything they rented and owned into a single outlet.  They told me the 5th time the circuit breaker blew it took out the HF of one of my SRX835P's.  Yes, they were that stupid!  They didn't think they should have to pay for the rental. The driver survived, but the amp section didn't.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2022, 08:13:05 PM by Don T. Williams »
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Re: Reliable 3-way speakers for a college
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2022, 04:36:02 PM »


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