NPAMD - JBL PRX715

[Munjibunga]

I bought a couple JBL PRX715s PA mains to upgrade our existing PRX612s and 512Ms. I generally like 12s for vocals over 15s, but I wanted a little more low-end response for when we all go direct to the board in my semi-acoustic trio. My country-western band that disbanded 10 years ago is putting on a reunion show this Saturday, and I'm going to use the new mains for it. So I took one to our last rehearsal tonight to use instead of the Mackie SR1530 we usually use at our practice space. I was very pleasantly surprised at how clear and articulate the 715s are. The vocals just jump out and you can hear every nuance. I'll be using one at my trio rehearsal Thursday morning, so I'll see how my bass sounds through them.

They're 1,500 watts each (as opposed to 500 for the 512Ms and 1,000 for the 612s) and should support up to a medium venue. They weigh in at about 47 pounds which is not too heavy even for a codger. My old EAW 15-inch PA mains weighed 80 pounds each. The new PRX700 series has a bunch of new features not present in the earlier models, the most important of which is the cooling fan. Lots of I/O options and nominal EQ choice (main/monitor). They also have ferrite magnets, not neodymium.

I have a pair of the Mackie 1530s (not the ones at the rehearsal space) that my wife forbade me to sell, but I think they're goners since they weigh 105 pounds each. The new mains will free up my 612s and 512s for monitor service. I've also got a PRX518S for sub duty if I need it. I got them at a local store for WAY below MAP.

Bottom line, I'm very pleased with them at first blush.

 

[tonybassman]

Thanks for the review. My cover band needs a new PA and I have been looking at these, the PRX725, and the PRX735. I am not sure if the additional 15 would make a difference for small venues.

 

[craig.p]

It would depend on the music. If you primarily need to push lows w/o a sub (dance club for instance), then yeah. If it's for a band that's got a lot of acoustic or vocal/harmony content or even synth content, though, then you might want to look at the 735. For the majority of applications and the greatest flexibility wrt musical content I'd probably pick the 735.

Also the upgrade path from a 735 is clearer: just add subs. 725 upgrade paths are opaque: adding subs would just give you a few dB more bottom and marginally more power handling in that region (only!), while creating a wildly imbalanced system power response-wise. Only other upgrade path I can think of would be doubling up the 725s; nothing really wrong with that, but imo it's not quite optimal. Again, not saying it would be wrong, just not how I'd go about it.

 

[Munjibunga]

Thanks for the review. My cover band needs a new PA and I have been looking at these, the PRX725, and the PRX735. I am not sure if the additional 15 would make a difference for small venues.

If I were going to get bigger ones, it'd be the PRX735s. I like having the mid-range driver in there, but I'm about maxed out on the weight I'm willing to load in and out. I'm very happy with the quality of the vocal sound from the 715s.