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QSC K-series P.A. Rig?

stflbn

stflbn

May 10, 2007
9,273
72
Nashville
artdroid.com
#1
Anyone used one of these? I'm looking at putting one together because it will be very light and manageable. It would be used for a Country/Pop Cover Band that plays your general Nashville music city region bars/clubs. More decent venues we play have nice house systems in place so I'd like to get something easily portable yet nice sounding for our other gigs.


Current planned setup: (All are 1000w self powered D-class)

QSC K-sub - 74lbs
4 QSC K-10's (2 as mains, 2 as monitors) - 32lbs ea. 128 total
Soundcraft EFX or MFXi 8 or 12 channel mixer

So I'd be looking at around 250lbs or so for a 1000w rig.


Anyone have any experience with these????




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#2
I work at an A/V company, and I got to sit in on a sales visit where the QSC guy demoed their new K-series sub and tops. The things sound fantastic, but the 10s were defininitely weaker sounding than the 12s, although they did have a wider dispersion angle. They would certainly be suitable for monitors, but for the mains, I would shell out the extra money for the larger speakers.
 
#3
My understanding is that the 10's work better with the sub than the 12's do with the sub. The 12's can tend to sound a bit spongy as they and the sub cover some of the same frequencies. 12's work better without the sub, but in combo the 10's sound clearer... my understanding.
 
#4
Not in my (admittedly modest) experience. The built-in crossover in the K mains do a really good job of cutting out the lows and low mids, and letting the subs do their job. The 10s are a bit clearer sounding, but the clarity comes at the expense of a good bit of low-mid punch. If you are only getting one sub, then I would DEFINITELY go with 12s for the mains.
 
#5
Only one sub 'for now'. I think (hope) the 10's will be a good compromise. We're a 4 piece country/pop cover band and play small venues here around nashville area. As is usually the case, most band are more worried about being loud. We're more worried about clarity and overall sound.

We're not looking for the kickdrum to crack anyone's chest and a good majority of low end will still be coming off the stage itself in most venues.


Just noticed you're from west des moines. I'm originally from Iowa and lived in Des Moines for 6 years or so in the late 80's early 90's. Played in a band at that time called The Kruze Band before I moved down to nashville and took 15 years off from playing. Now back at it fairly strong and enjoying it more than ever.
 
#6
I've been using the K12s for a little while now. We have four of them in our shop. Rent them a good bit now. They sound fantastic. They have a lot of warmth and punch.
K10 are great sounding as well, but not as punchy, but I did notice the vocal clarity was a little better than the k12.
I have to agree with the post above. I test drove their entire line with the subs and the K10s sounded better with the subs than the K12.

If you don't find anything locally, send me an email and I can work something out.

take care
Gil
 
#7
I ordered the K-series based PA last Saturday from our own JonathanD at sweetwater.com.

We're a country/pop cover band fronted by a fantastic powerful female singer. I'm much more concerned about her vocal sound quality than I am potential superior punchiness of K12's. And I'll likely always use the sub even in smaller places anyhow.

I'll be going with:

2x k10's for mains and a single K-sub.
2x k10's for monitors
Soundcraft Mfxi 8-channel mixer (better channel preamps, and dual monitor mixes than the EFX)

I'll have the mains and sub this week and the mixer next week. I'll probably use the mains and sub at a small cruddy club this saturday night fed by an old Peavey mixer.


I'll check back with initial thoughts.
 
#8
We just did our first gig with them over the weekend. We have 1 sub and 2 x 12" tops.

We arre a 2 guitar and bass, sequenced drums and keys. All three sing. We use a DBX drive rack for eq and crossover. These really sound nice and are amazing. Loud as heck and don't break up. Very light and their covers are the best I've ever seem.


No stage amps, all goes directly into the system and we monitor through two jbl powered 10" cab.s i as bass use an IEM so I can have extra sequenced.

Chris P
 
#9
We did our first 4-hour gig with the PA this last Saturday night. Wildy happy for the first night. Used 2 monitor mixes and only kept Kick drum in the mains along with vocals, but plan to add guitar and bass next gig. Everyone in the band was more than happy.

But... they didn't pay for it either. :-)


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#10
I just wanted to follow up on this thread...

We've used this rig for 4 shows now. 1 with only vocals and kick in the mains, and 3 with Vocals, Kick, Bass and Drums in the mains.

I could NOT be happier with how this rig is performing. The K10's as monitors work excellent and handle guitar, bass, kick, etc on their own just fine along with vocals, and if a person want's 'more' low end you can always flip the deep switch on the k10. Each gig we've actually had to back off of monitor volume (not due to feedback) but because they were simply capable of being to loud which is something I've never really dealt with before.

The combination of the k10's and 1 sub as mains works great. I'm sure a very loud and powerful heavier band would find something lacking, but for our needs for a country/rock/pop cover band this rig is doing more than I expected it to. The Lexicon effects built into the Soundcraft MFXi mixer are also top notch and sound great out front.

We do use all supercardioid or hypercardioid mics on stage to help keep sound bleed and feedback down. And, I've decided to add a 2-channel DBX compressor to the system to smooth out the lows and louds on the lead vocalist a bit, and then a subtle compression on the overall mix.

Other than that, I'm very pleased.


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#12
Here is somthing I'd like to share. I have to play a small halloween party for big bucks this year. I've done this befroe and we have to set up in the second floor library and play to the party below. Weird. Well I'm sick of lugging my rig to this gig so I thought maybe I'll try one of the 12's for a bass amp. What the heck we have a small PA down stairs with a sub and I'll be in it anyway. So for a trial run i took it to rehersal to use. our drummer canceled at the last minute but we got together anyway. Mind you there were no drums but the 12" speaker sounded great. i ran my SABDI into a small Alesis 8 channel mixer and then into the cab. Then becasue i was lazy I ran my mike into the mixer as well instead of the regular rehersal PA which was way across the room, then because we were all lazy we ran 2 more mikes and the keys and the CD player into the mixer and we had a great, quet rehersal. Our sound guy came by and sat and listened and commented and never even mentioned the cabinet but heck i'm going to use it at the party and report back. Hell I have a pair and they kust may replace my bass cabinets. A note we have a very high end FOH system so my rig doens't feed the house so to speak

Chris P.
 
#13
I've had 2 K10's and 2 Ksubs for a couple of months and used them for a gtr/keys/bass/drums cover band and an acoustic duo and have been VERY happy. Vocals jump out, kick drum thumps loud and solid, I usually don't need much bass in the mains in the places I play but I feel like this system would handle much more bass than I'm putting into it. For size weight and clarity it's a huge improvement over the EON15's, Yorkville 18" subs and QSC power I had been using. I haven't come close to maxing them out playing indoors or out to a few hundred people. They're new and I spent what for me is a pretty good chunk of change on them so psycholgically I'm predisposed to like them, but so far I REALLY like them.
 
#14
Well I had a small private party last night (smallish barn and about 50 people) and used the single 12" top for my bass amp. It sounded great and all heard it well onstage. I had FOH support so didn't care about the room. I fed it from a aux out of my mini mixer I use for my IEM setup. I rolled off the bass a tad as I use a 5 string. it handled the B string very well. I have a bigger gig next week and will use them both. One on eash side of the stage. Amazing stuff. CP
 
#15
I just realized last night that when the Ksubs are being rolled the K10's can go on top face up and they kind of nest- they won't come off to the side. I don't know if that was planned or if the K8's or K12's fit the same way, but it's a nice little plus. I am finding that the finish on the Ksubs chips kind of easily. I've got several dings in each after a couple of months of one or two gigs per week and I don't treat them roughly. A minor point, but that's the only thing I could see that I would change about them. The all metal K10's are pristine.
 
#17
I do live sound for a band. A couple months ago they got a whole QSC K series, similar to what you are thinking about. We run 2 subs and K10's as the mains and 4 K8's as stage monitors. Typically we are full mic'ng drums, a leslie amp for organ, a guitar amp, Di'ing bass, stereo piano, 3 vocals....so a full 16 channels (give or take depending on what we need for the drums)
I've done a bunch of shows with them. They are generally really good. Sound quality is top notch, I have no trouble keeping everything nice and balanced, even when we are in larger spaces.
Load in/out is easy. The subs roll on casters, and I can do their whole rig in 3 trips....1 trip for the board and all the stuff that goes with that (also on wheels) 1 trip each for sub/main/2 monitors. The mains and monitors kind of nest on top the 8's and 10's anyway (they don't have any 12's)...they also fit in the car pretty well (I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee & can do it all easily). The main criticism I have is that the finish sucks, especially on the subs. The smaller pieces (8s & 10s) are fairly rugged however. I think we are going to Tolex them because it is already beat up after about a dozen shows & we are very careful with them.
It does take a little getting used to at first, as you have to be aware of the settings on the actual speaker pieces, but as long as you take the time to pay attention it is fine.....
Going to the K series has actually allowed us to turn down our stage volume, making the overall FOH sound better and more balanced.
I would highly recommend them.
 
#18
Nice reviews. Quite helpful as we're in the market for a potent, high quality PA that's easy to move and are considering the K Series (pair of K10/KSub). The other options on the table right now are the JBL PRX535/518S, Mackie HD1531, and Carvin LS1503A/LS1801NA.
 
#19
5StringPocket said:
Nice reviews. Quite helpful as we're in the market for a potent, high quality PA that's easy to move and are considering the K Series (pair of K10/KSub). The other options on the table right now are the JBL PRX535/518S, Mackie HD1531, and Carvin LS1503A/LS1801NA.
Click to expand...

I used a PRX 535/518 setup for a while. They sound nice. Not all that powerful if you are trying to do a big rock show, probably fine for cover bands or smaller rooms.

The subs just stopped working one day, warranty work took months. In fact, my boss sold those things with the tops. As far as I know they are still at the shop.
 

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