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[Alex Gribatsch]

Hello. New to this forum. I was curious about older pa speakers vs the newer ones. I have 4 peavey 115 international speakers. Is it worth replacing these speakers with newer ones. I'm looking at jbl srx835's or equivalent. Thanks for any opinions.

[Scott Holtzman]

Hello. New to this forum. I was curious about older pa speakers vs the newer ones. I have 4 peavey 115 international speakers. Is it worth replacing these speakers with newer ones. I'm looking at jbl srx835's or equivalent. Thanks for any opinions.

Per the signup page and the top of every other page your display name must be your real name to participate.  thank you.

[Brian Jojade]

Don't read this response until your name gets fixed...

The 115 international had quite a few different iterations, starting in the early 80's or even sooner. Knowing exactly which ones you might have would tell a little more about what they can do.  However, the Peavey 115 international and the JBL SRX835 are wildly different classes of speakers.  The JBLs aren't just better because they are newer.  Just like JBLs newer entry level line can't compete against their higher end lines.

Back in the day when I had 115's, I was able to make them sound pretty darned good.  Back in the 90's, price per dollar Peavey was a heck of a deal.  Rock solid speakers that you could drive into stupid and they just took the abuse.

Of course, they got a bad rep because inexperienced users would drive them into stupid and as such make them sound like crap.  More expensive cabs would have just fried and stop making sound.  But, driven appropriately, I've not been disappointed with the older Peavey offerings.

[Mac Kerr]

Hello. New to this forum.  Thanks for any opinions.

Please go to your profile and change the "Name" field to your real first and last name as required by the posting rules displayed in the header at the top of the section, and in the Site Rules and Suggestions in the Forum Announcements section, and on the registration page when you registered.

Mac
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[Alex Gribatsch]

Please go to your profile and change the "Name" field to your real first and last name as required by the posting rules displayed in the header at the top of the section, and in the Site Rules and Suggestions in the Forum Announcements section, and on the registration page when you registered.

Mac
admin

[Alex Gribatsch]

Thanks for your reply. I believe they are series III.
3-WAY with horn mids and highs. Purchased the first set in 88 and the other set about 10 years ago.

[Caleb Dueck]

Thanks for your reply. I believe they are series III.
3-WAY with horn mids and highs. Purchased the first set in 88 and the other set about 10 years ago.

I'd go with new without thinking twice, regardless of brand.  You have nearly end of life mixed with extremely past end of life; not worth fixing unless your time is free, components are nearly so, you have a large quantity of speakers, and you're fine with outdated sound quality. 

[Brian Jojade]

I'd go with new without thinking twice, regardless of brand.  You have nearly end of life mixed with extremely past end of life; not worth fixing unless your time is free, components are nearly so, you have a large quantity of speakers, and you're fine with outdated sound quality.

If you already HAVE the speakers and they're still doing their job acceptably, there's no immediate need to replace them.  "Outdated sound quality" is kind of silly.  Older speakers can sound just fine.

If you've got the money for new, then yeah, newer is probably a better choice for a lot of reasons, but that doesn't mean old cabinets can't sound fine.

[Paul G. OBrien]

Older speakers can sound just fine.

Certainly, but there are many layers of "it depends" and " your milage will vary" that can apply here.

Driver technology has improved as of late but the best of that remains up at the Pro/touring level, down at the consumer level it could be argued that driver tech has taken a step back as most speakers in this bracket now contain made-to-order chinese drivers that are only just robust enough to do the job. But what has changed in a big way as a result of the consumer PA market moving to self powered speakers is the amount and sophistocation of processing included, this results in speakers that are capable of higher overall performance out of the box... more SPL in many cases but also a flatter response, nearly bullet proof protection built in, and a simplified setup with no outboard gear required.

So how something like an SRX835p compares to those classic Peavey's depends in large part on how the OP is powering and processing them.  If it's just a basic power amp and maybe a graphic EQ then the difference is going to be quite dramatic, but if he's got them bi-amped with some custom DSP tuning then not so much.

[Tim McCulloch]

Peavey.  Lots of things I'd like to say (most of the good) but I think it comes down to building competitive products, too often operated by less than stellar customers with mediocre results, for which the brand would be blamed.

In my rose-colored rear view mirror, I see some good memories of mixing on various versions of the SP series, beating them hard and learning how to replace LF baskets and HF diaphragms when it was too much.

The biggest impediment to good sound is the operator and/or the source.

[Brian Jojade]

The biggest impediment to good sound is the operator and/or the source.

Exactly.  A good operator with a good source can generally make most speaker systems sound pretty darned good.  Of course, you'll always have the limitations of maximum output, but a good operator would know how much a system can be pushed to stay in good sounding range.

[Alex Gribatsch]

Some great advice.  I appreciate all the imput. I run from my mixer to a bss equalizer then to a dbx crossover.
The peavey are driven by a crest cc5500. 4 Yorkville ls1208 subs for the low end driven by qsc plx3602 amps bridged..
2 per amp. That's my setup.

[Caleb Dueck]

4 Yorkville ls1208 subs for the low end driven by qsc plx3602 amps bridged..
2 per amp.

Fringe comment; I've used those subs multiple times in the past, and really liked them for the era and cost.  Try running them in 8 ohm stereo rather than 2 ohm (4 ohm bridged).  You'll likely only give up about 1 dB, but gain better 'tighter' sound. 

Old speakers and sound quality - old drivers, even if they are still mostly working, tend to sound  mushy to me.  This isn't something that can be EQed out, nor does it show up on an RTA or Smaart, but it is real.  If they are making money, and repair will make a good deal more money than replace - that's the route.  If not, or if it's close - I would still go with newer/better. 

If I'm with a band, and company A has 20 year old Peavey speakers, while company B has nearly new JBL/RCF/EV/etc - even though I'm not a Peavey hater, I'd almost certainly go with B.  The LS1208s might tip the scales, but that would be to hear those subs again for nostalgia and put up with the speakers!

[Tim McCulloch]

Fringe comment; I've used those subs multiple times in the past, and really liked them for the era and cost.  Try running them in 8 ohm stereo rather than 2 ohm (4 ohm bridged).  You'll likely only give up about 1 dB, but gain better 'tighter' sound. 

Old speakers and sound quality - old drivers, even if they are still mostly working, tend to sound  mushy to me.  This isn't something that can be EQed out, nor does it show up on an RTA or Smaart, but it is real.  If they are making money, and repair will make a good deal more money than replace - that's the route.  If not, or if it's close - I would still go with newer/better. 

If I'm with a band, and company A has 20 year old Peavey speakers, while company B has nearly new JBL/RCF/EV/etc - even though I'm not a Peavey hater, I'd almost certainly go with B.  The LS1208s might tip the scales, but that would be to hear those subs again for nostalgia and put up with the speakers!

If in a competitive market, the bold text is classic business school.  And customers have this 'thing' for new/bright/shiny objects.  Years ago I lost an account to a new firm with new hardware, zero track record.  When the client was disappointed they went to the next shiny object purveyor, and when those folks failed, came back to my shop which now had its own new/bright/shiny objects.

[David Morison]

If in a competitive market, the bold text is classic business school.  And customers have this 'thing' for new/bright/shiny objects.  Years ago I lost an account to a new firm with new hardware, zero track record.  When the client was disappointed they went to the next shiny object purveyor, and when those folks failed, came back to my shop which now had its own new/bright/shiny objects.

I hope you still had the old/worn objects in the back of the warehouse to drag out for their jobs just to make the point... 

[Alex Gribatsch]

I hope you still had the old/worn objects in the back of the warehouse to drag out for their jobs just to make the point... 

indeed. To be honest I'm rather interested in bassboss 
GO BIG!..

[Chris Grimshaw]

Old speakers and sound quality - old drivers, even if they are still mostly working, tend to sound  mushy to me.  This isn't something that can be EQed out, nor does it show up on an RTA or Smaart, but it is real.

Sounds like cones going soft from moisture absorption. Harmonic distortion curves might show it, but only if you've got a known "good" to compare to.

Chris

[Brian Jojade]

Sounds like cones going soft from moisture absorption. Harmonic distortion curves might show it, but only if you've got a known "good" to compare to.

Chris

Yeah, how products are cared for and maintained certainly can make a difference.  Old equipment in GOOD condition is capable of quality sound.  If the drivers are damaged, re-coning them will make them sound like new again.

[ProSoundWeb Community]