Good Value PA Powered Speaker Recommendations (2025)

[DonaldR]

The new Thumps sound very good!

Didn't know they released a new version. The old ones sounded really bad.

 

[One Way]

Here’s an example of Alto TS-315’s
I’ve used my pair of Alto TS315’s for several years both indoors and outdoors. They’ve gotten slightly wet several times during sudden thunderstorms at outdoor shows. They have been trouble free. I’ve used them exclusively for sound with no amps and my preferred is running my bass through my rig and everything else through the PA.

This recording was made with an iPhone 14 Pro set quite close (about 12 feet) to the stage and my amp. I processed it in iMovie and needed to apply the hi pass filter in iMovie to cut the bass. The drums are not mic’d, guitars and vocals are in the PA, my bass amp is carrying the room.

 

[pepj]

As a general observation, with many cabs in this bracket of P.A tops, I favour QSC because they are the least harsh..and this I've found true, if running without a sub.
So I use 8's or 10's if full kit, with a Ksub.

Do not find the need to go k12 if we use the Sub..which we invariably do 95% of the time.

I have paid attention to various bands voxs..most important thing through the P.A and reducing inherrent harshness has to be the goal.
So, the point being, small tops and a decent sub is the most useable configuration imv.

Tops only poorest of the options, imv.

 

[richntiff]

Didn't know they released a new version. The old ones sounded really bad.

the old version was pretty bad. I had a chance to hear the new ones at an outdoor show last year, and was very impressed.

 

[DCErik]

Adding data points: My R.E.M. tribute borrowed a set of Alto TS215s (2 generations old now) from a friend and had really good results with them. Played a small outdoor show with guitar, bass, drums, and vox all straight to the board and they did fine for the venue and material. When it came time to buy our own we had a pretty hard look at Mackie (hard pass), the new TS415 (worth considering), and the RCF ART 715, which were on sale and by far the best sounding. Love that they don't have an onboard mixer, Bluetooth, or any other bells/whistles we don't need so 100% of the budget goes to sounding great.

 

[Bullitt5135]

Here’s an example of Alto TS-315’s
I’ve used my pair of Alto TS315’s for several years both indoors and outdoors. They’ve gotten slightly wet several times during sudden thunderstorms at outdoor shows. They have been trouble free. I’ve used them exclusively for sound with no amps and my preferred is running my bass through my rig and everything else through the PA.

This recording was made with an iPhone 14 Pro set quite close (about 12 feet) to the stage and my amp. I processed it in iMovie and needed to apply the hi pass filter in iMovie to cut the bass. The drums are not mic’d, guitars and vocals are in the PA, my bass amp is carrying the room.

I think this is a smart use for the Alto TS-315 – vocals and guitars only thru the PA. With a little bit of EQ, they should cover this type of gig just fine. I'd even argue for going with the 12" TS-312 just to save a little bit of weight and packing space. If you end up putting bass and drums thru them, you might notice things getting a little harsh in the highs and muddy or cluttered in the mids. At moderate volume it's probably manageable.

I used a pair of TS-210's as monitor wedges before going to IEMs. They did the job for typical bar gigs, sound and volume-wise. No complaints. Later, I added a pair of RCF HD-10A's and ran the two Altos and two RCFs side-by-side. The RCFs had better overall clarity and definition, without any harshness in the highs. They got a little louder and were less prone to feedback than the Altos. The Altos have been relegated to the rehearsal space while the RCFs go on gigs as horn section monitors — the musicians like how they sound, and I'm happy that they don't have feedback issues when mics and the PA are gain-staged correctly.

If you are putting a full band thru the mixer and PA, more expensive speakers like Yamaha DSR/DXR or RCF NX/9xx have larger voice coil and will usually do a better job with clarity, smooth vocals, and headroom. Personally, I'd put QSC K2.2 a slight notch below Yamaha and RCF, then JBL, EV, Mackie, Alto, and the rest. YMMV. And compared to the el cheapo Kustom active wedges I started with, the Altos sounded significantly better.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

It's worth noting that while nicer speakers typically sound smoother/cleaner in the highs, you can still get good sounds out of lower tech or older systems.

We ran a hotrodded tri-amped EV 215, 2" horn, subs setup at a club I mixed at for 10+ years. The MaCauley 2" horns could be beamy and harsh at fighting volume so I'd do some EQing on many vocals where I'd flatten out the Shure SMXX presence peak to compensate.

Point being the Altos can and do sound good but may need a little attention up high to soften them up a bit, esp compared to upper end options.

Shoot - we used Peavey SP3 boxes and EV1502s in the before times, they worked, we gigged, they danced....

 

[Bonecat]

Was very pleasantly surprised with the Carvin TRC400A system I heard at an outdoor event recently. Surprisingly clear and covered a large area quite well. Not "Cheap", per se, but cheaper than the QSC K12.2/KS118 system I bought a couple years ago. A solid value for the price...

TRC400A 4000W Powered Column Array System

The Carvin TRC400A 4000W Active Column Array System offers high SPL levels that project up to 400’ with exceptional clarity and low end bass.

carvinaudio.com