K10,K12 or KW122?

[Calaverasgrande]

So I posted a therad about this in the amps section. Got little response.
I'm looking on gettign some powered cabs to serve as PA, synth amp, and bass amp in a pinch.
The QSC K12/KW122 models look decent enough. The K10 might suffice in smaller venues. Maybe with a sub it can carry larger spaces?
Any experience on this?
I'm not terribly concerned with price as much as I am with easy load out and decent freq response.

I am leaning towards the K12, but if I can confirm that the KW122 are Made in USA I may be coerced into opening my wallet wider.

Some folks have reccomended RCF gear, but after my disastrous encounter with a Mackie sub (back when RCF and Mackie were together) I can't endorse that idea.

 

[modulusman]

Not sure where the QSC are made but with a 6 year warranty I wouldn't care.

 

[Jerry Ziarko]

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Not sure where the QSC are made but with a 6 year warranty I wouldn't care.

I appreciate a warranty inasmuch as it expresses the confidence the manufacturer has in their product. I don't ever buy anything based on warranty though. Companies have an annoying habit of being bought out, disappearing or going bankrupt.
I just want the good amp.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

I just did a tour with a pair ok k10's (shared the rig with the keyboardist from the other band) on top of subs (a pair of ev elx18p), running bass and electronics through it. It sounded excellent!
So good in fact, I sold my bass amp and am looking for a pair of powered tops as well. You can knock down walls with that type of setup.
The qsc k series are definitely top shelf right now for power output in a compact, light enclosure, but i'm weighing in a few options for sound quality reasons over spl.
The KW's are also great sounding, but the 12 is a 50 lb. box so that plays into it a bit when thinking portability.

 

[4Mal]

I run K 10's for tops, my bass is always in the PA ... Small rooms, I don't bring an amp. I have 1 KSub soon to be 2 mostly for outdoor gigs. I've mixed on K12's as well. The real difference is not the 3 hz deeper of the 12 but that it only disperses at 75 degrees. The K 10 disperses at 90. Short, wide space ? k 10's ... need more carry but less wide? K12's. they produce similar levels of sound pressure, the question is the shape of the area in which they do so.

The K12's will appear louder - same acoustic energy and maybe a little more, in a more restricted space... For my uses the K10's made more sense.

They both sound great... I'm really happy with the K system. Nothing but compliments on the sound ... Been thinking about adding in a K8 as a center fill for outside gigs ...

 

[musicman7722]

I own 2 K10's and 2 K12s as well as the Ksub. I was not sure which config for tops so the last post was a very valuable insight.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I had some unexpected expenses crop up. Basically I have to move in a month and a half. SO I decided to put the PA buy on the back burner for now.
Instead I took my JBL Control 10's out of the living room and patched them to the rehearsal studio mixer.
Using an Adcom 535 I had laying about they sound pretty damn good, if a bit woofy on the low bass. But what can you expect with 35 watts per side?
The midrange is excellent and it is really nice to have a clean and clear representation of the synths without resorting to headphones!

I can limp along on these at moderate levels until after the apartment hunt is over. Then I'll pick up the K10's and a Ksub or lately I am starting to lean towards a pair of the JBL PRX612M.
I've had good experiences with JBL in the past and the 612 kind of look more "business" than the K10 or K12.
Heck it's as light as either of those!

 

[HarlowSound]

if you want something thats made in the USA and aren't concerned about your wallet look into Meyer. Although they won't help your back but they will improve your ears!

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

The KW loudspeakers sold in North America are made in the US, a couple hundred feet to the west of where I'm sitting.

 

[Jerry Ziarko]

The KW loudspeakers sold in North America are made in the US, a couple hundred feet to the west of where I'm sitting.

I don't know where people come up with that stuff??? (foreign made) Love my KW's!

 

[Calaverasgrande]

The KW loudspeakers sold in North America are made in the US, a couple hundred feet to the west of where I'm sitting.

Thanks Bob. I was hoping you would chime in.
I will have to take a closer look at those KW's then.
I've pretty much narrowed it down to those or JBL prx612m.

Either purchase has been pushed back due to me having to move on short notice. I swear life is just full of curve balls sometimes.
and MAN rent has gone up in the last few years!

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

I don't know where people come up with that stuff??? (foreign made) Love my KW's!

Maybe because the K Series loudspeakers are made in China.

Because of the weight (i.e., shipping cost) of the wooden enclosures and the fact that our Costa Mesa loudspeaker facility is already near full capacity, we now also have KW loudspeakers being made in China for the Asia/Australia/Pacific Rim markets.

 

[jad]

...

I will have to take a closer look at those KW's then.
I've pretty much narrowed it down to those or JBL prx612m.

...!

I think you could be happy with either. Given your location, you should be able to A/B them locally. I got a stunning deal on a pair of mint used PRX612Ms, so those are what I use and I've been very pleased with them for use as FOH for my small club cover band. I later scored a nice deal on a KW181 sub, which can be made to sound good with the JBL tops, but the filters overlap between 90Hz and 100Hz. Actually, there's a somewhat larger overlap given filter slopes, so they're not plug and play as would be the case if I had subs and tops from the same manufacturer. Moral of the story is, for maximum ease of use make sure you like the sub you'll be getting to match your tops, even if you need to put off the purchase until later.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I'm actually planning on using these PA cabs kinda like a hybrid bass amp/keyboard rig.
Initially I may only be bringing the one cab. But eventually I plan to have several powered cabs, including subs, even for shows with decent house pa. I basically don't want to ever run out of volume or cutting power. Also the music I am doing is a bit left of center. For instance all the instruments are electronic except guitar and bass. Some songs are only electronic. Considering most venues I frequent are predominantly bands with drummers I kind of have to match the volume level of a "full band" with these PA cabs. I actually initially tendered the idea that I was going to lug around a bass amp, a guitar amp and a keyboard amp. But I am thinking now of using some Sansamps for the axes and just run 2 tops and a sub. Much less schlep, and hopefully not as much space.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

We are in the same boat instrument-wise, and what we need from our back line.
I just tried out a pair of the ev elx15p tops at a gig, along with the subs. They sounded great for the program material, but for bass response the 15 p's were a bit upper mid scooped, with a bit more hype going on way up around 10k.
The JBL's I compared the ev's to were similar in characteristics.
So it seems that for me, the smaller, more aggressive tops like the 10's or maybe 12's work a bit better for keeping definition to dense electronics and live instrumentation.
The k10's definitely beat the pants off the elx15p's over the same subs (for my needs).

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I was actually looking at the EV ZXA1s for a minute. The tops and subs are super tiny. But no way I can get serious cutting power out of that unless I bring 4 tops and 4 subs.
Rather have the least amount of boxes for less cables.
I may need to burn a CD of some of my tracks and bring them down to GC. Of course I will make my final purchase elsewhere.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

I have a zx a-1 12" sub and its cool for coffee house dub, but that's about it.
Not enough without a few for anything substantial, and then you might as well have something with better low end extension and more power.
The nice thing about new sub designs is they are leaning toward port tunings of the low 30 hz region, so they are great with sub tunings as well as the modern production palette of sounds..

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I have a zx a-1 12" sub and its cool for coffee house dub, but that's about it.
Not enough without a few for anything substantial, and then you might as well have something with better low end extension and more power.
The nice thing about new sub designs is they are leaning toward port tunings of the low 30 hz region, so they are great with sub tunings as well as the modern production palette of sounds..

That is food for thought.
My main drum machine is an analog one (Korg KPR77). The kick is pretty undefined in the normal 80-100hz area, but is actually pretty tight in the 30-40 hz region. I have been noticing a big differnce since I recently switched form using a 2x15 for the drum machine to a 3 way 12" cab. Now it sounds fantastic for everything BUT the kick drum because these cabs don't go that low. Well the specs say they go to 35hz , but they dont do so with any authority at practice levels.
Too bad my control 10's are only good for 150 watts or so. They would sound perfect with the right sub, but they just dont project, being direct radiating. But they certainly kill on the freqs they do hit and like most (older) JBLs they dont fart out trying to hit notes that they cant.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

Implementing high pass filters with the electronics is pretty key to getting the tightest sound, ime so far. I high pass my signal depending on the tuning of the cabs I'm using ( or pa).
Occasionally I'll get on an EAW dj rig, a D&B rig or a Danley and I can not worry about it, but that's the exception... Sometimes it's just my stage rig carrying all of it, or at least as monitors ( I don't use house monitors at all, bringing out so much already).
I'm almost at the price point of what I want quality- wise to jus have it built to my specs, only thing keeping me from that is not wanting to deal with external power amps.