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EV ZXA1 Sub

DonaldR

DonaldR

Mar 26, 2012
2,220
2,209
#1
I recently bought one EV ZLX12P mainly for monitoring and making patches for my Avid Eleven Rack (when playing guitar). The ZLX12P is doing good also when I play bass direct, not too loud.

All members in our 3-piece band are going direct: 11R for guitar, tube preamp for bass and Roland drums. For band practice at home the single ZLX12P is a bit on the limit even if we are not playing very loud and was considering adding a sub. I'm looking at the EV ZXA1P sub mainly for the size and weight. I don't want a big sub in case I have to go out practice at other member place (size: will not fit in my car; weight: don't want to lift a 75+ lbs sub).

Do you thing the ZXA1P sub can work for band practice and for small party places (50 people)? Will it have enough bass? I usually prefer tight and defined bass over deep low bass. As a reference I played couple of times on Yorkville NX55P and LS701 sub PA and really like the overall sound and how the bass sounded.
 
#2
DonaldR said:
I recently bought one EV ZLX12P mainly for monitoring and making patches for my Avid Eleven Rack (when playing guitar). The ZLX12P is doing good also when I play bass direct, not too loud.

All members in our 3-piece band are going direct: 11R for guitar, tube preamp for bass and Roland drums. For band practice at home the single ZLX12P is a bit on the limit even if we are not playing very loud and was considering adding a sub. I'm looking at the EV ZXA1P sub mainly for the size and weight. I don't want a big sub in case I have to go out practice at other member place (size: will not fit in my car; weight: don't want to lift a 75+ lbs sub).

Do you thing the ZXA1P sub can work for band practice and for small party places (50 people)? Will it have enough bass? I usually prefer tight and defined bass over deep low bass. As a reference I played couple of times on Yorkville NX55P and LS701 sub PA and really like the overall sound and how the bass sounded.
Click to expand...

You can do that, but will end up with a mono system from the get go. Looking at the data sheets and frequency response curves, the ZLX-15P comes close in low end performance to the ZXA1-SUB. I'd consider trading in the ZLX-12P and getting 2 ZLX-15P before I'd add a sub.
 
#3
I don't really want stereo for now, if ever.
ZLX15P was not an option for me as I don't really like 15" speakers for PA, it is much bigger and heavier than my ZLX12P and will take to much space as a monitor on stage.
IMO a 12" top plus a sub sounds better than a single 15" top.
Thanks
 
#5
I viewed that thread before. Thanks.
A pair will be too much for now but, is 1 having enough bass to not regret having your bass amp?
I currently play small gigs with 2x Yorkville NX55P and a LS701P sub (either my 11R or my Peavey tube preamp) and I digging that sound more than my amp.
 
#6
The fun thing with a setup like this is that you take your small sub , pole mount a top on it and use it as your bass monitor on bigger gigs. That's what I do.

I have a small RCF kit that I use on small jazzy/loungy gig and use that (mono) with my (very) hard rock band.

I just use different preamp/processor depending on the gig.
 
#7
Really like that :-)
I'm using the ZLX12P as my monitor in front of me right now, a play ampless and really like it.
What RCF kit do you have? I imagine you small RCF sub is better than the ZXA1P sub.
 
#8
DonaldR said:
A pair will be too much for now but, is 1 having enough bass to not regret having your bass amp?
Click to expand...
It depends. I've done several gigs with one. Up until recently I've only been in bands that play low to moderate volumes. I have clips in the other thread in a small restaurant/bar that seats about 80. The clips are with two but we always use 1 now with one k10 forward and one toward us, no floor monitors.

Full band direct (bass through zoom b3 or a new tube DI I recently purchased, EG through a boss pedal, keys and acoustic DI, vdrums, vocals and mic'd sax. Rather than run a separate aux to the sub I high pass everything above 100hz except drums and bass so nothing else gets to the sub. Using internal filters, the k10s handle everything above 100, the sub below.

Plenty of low end for me. Often, in small rooms, too much low end is the problem. Also the mains are producing a large amount of the sound at that crossover point so they're more of the limiting factor. The drummer's k12s handle bass better than the 10s, IMO.

Since I wasn't really using my bass rig I sold it to buy PA stuff and it's worked well, using the drummer's kw sub for bigger gigs but for the most part the pair of ev's could handle anything we do.

But...I recently joined an original group. Couple of young bucks that play loud. My plan was to use a sub and 1 or 2 k10's as a bass rig. Wasn't enough. Might have done more but I was afraid I might blow up my PA. I didn't really want to carry 2 subs and 2 tops so I never tried the full outfit. Ended up getting a legit bass rig.

DonaldR said:
I imagine you small RCF sub is better than the ZXA1P sub.
Click to expand...

The RCF stuff is probably very nice. The 12 active sub about 40% heavier and 3x the cost so I hope it is much better. There is really nothing I've found in the zxa1 sub category/price to compete. Go bigger and/or more expensive are the other options.
 
#9
DonaldR said:
What RCF kit do you have? I imagine you small RCF sub is better than the ZXA1P sub.
Click to expand...

Like Nutdog said , my [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] is a lot more expensive , a little heavier but more power.

Check out Invalid Link Removed from RCF with is in the same ballpark as that EV :

Invalid Link Removed
 
#10
nutdog said:
But...I recently joined an original group. Couple of young bucks that play loud. My plan was to use a sub and 1 or 2 k10's as a bass rig. Wasn't enough. Might have done more but I was afraid I might blow up my PA. I didn't really want to carry 2 subs and 2 tops so I never tried the full outfit. Ended up getting a legit bass rig.
Click to expand...
OMG, will never join like this!!!!! I too much enjoy playing at moderate level. And when everybody's direct it is so well balanced.
Thanks a lot for your information, I think one ZXA1P sub will be enough for me as we will use bigger PA for bigger places.
 
#12
Just to update that dead thread. I bought an EV ZXA1 sub yesterday. A lot a bass from that small sub, very small and very lightweight. I will not use it as main PA as we have a better one, but enough for jamming with guitar on Eleven Rack, bass on Peavey tube preamp and Roland V-Drums. Very happy.

I don't think I will gig with a bass amp anymore...
 
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