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QSC K-series P.A. Rig?

#21
5StringPocket said:
We're more of a cover band than a big rock act and the JBL stack gave us plenty of sound but poor warranty support is a red flag.
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The problem is with the Crown power amps in those. You can't just take them to any authorized JBL service center, only a handful are actually certified to work on these things.

I don't know what happened to the ones I was using. I got a phone call one day, the other guy working sound at that job couldn't get the subs to turn on. Speakers were fine, fuses were fine. Power getting as far as the (absurdly tiny) secondary on the transformer. Little internal fuses fine. Beyond that what are you going to do with something like that? You can't work on the things. We sent it to our usual guys(an authorized JBL warranty center), who were instructed by JBL to send it to one of these (apparently quite rare) shops that are certified to work on these particular amps. Last I saw of them.

I can't imagine it was operator error, I could see the guy maybe blowing out the speakers but it was the amps that failed. Could have been in the AC, but the tops were running on the same circuit and they were fine. Who knows.

Something failing catastrophically for no real reason like that, combined with the warranty runaround, combined with the impossibility of being able to work on the things would lead me to not trust that stuff. They do sound alright though.

We had some of those Mackie 1x18 powered subs for loaners for a little while. Not as pretty sounding but louder. Ended up getting some old EAW 2x18 boxes and 4000 or so watts of used Crest amps. That's a good way to go...
 
#22
Following up again...

My 2x K10 mains, 1 Ksub, and 2 K10 monitors rig is performing beyond my expectations. We've yet to really push the rig and as others have mentioned, having as good of sounding PA allows us to greatly reduce stage volume and let the PA do the lions share of work. Since we've starting using this rig we've had ZERO monitor feedback, but we only use supercardioid or hypercardioid mics on stage which helps a lot also (combination of Shure Beta 58a's, and Audix i5's and OM5's)

Currently micing a stereo guitar rig, kick drum, Bass DI, and 3 vocals. Where I run the sound off of stage and keep track of it by running out and listening wireless that's about as much micing as I'm wanting to tackle and works great for the up to 200 people rooms we play.

Next i'm going to start toying with Mic/DI combo for my bass, but I need to decide what affordable bass Mic I need to commit to.
 
#24
musicman7722 said:
Both of my 12" tops have developed a subtle buxx in them. Another guy in the band thinks our mixer may be adding the distortion. I have an outdoor gig today and will find out. Fingers are crossed. CP
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Wat's the Buzz

Well for anybody that is interested here is an update. First off I thought I had damaged one of my speakers by using it for a bass amp at rehearsal. The last time I tried it had some buzzing issues and I was worried. At our most recent rehearsal I used both 12" tops just for vox and keys and it seemed to still have a buzz but this time both tops.

Well I had an outside sound gig where I had to provide mikes and a PA for a town cerenmnoy for a Christas tree lighting and a Sant parade, eaning lots of people giving speaches and an small male choir plus lots of fairly loud Christmas music at the beginning. One thing I did this time was to use a balanced out cable to an xlr into the tops. Previously I had used an unblanced to xlr. Otherwise there was no change. well all went very well. Man those speakers sounded nice and I used the angle down pivot on the speaker pole hole to shoot them down at the crowd from a stage.

Oh I bought the covers for them and i'm gald I did. It was a rainy snowy day. I left them in the covers and unzipped them and placed them on the poles. I lifted the cover flap up and bingo the covers protected all the stuff in the back and let the music out the front.

very nice .

Chris P.
 
#25
Good to hear. Personally I cheaped out on covers and got some from a gal on ebay that makes them out of padded shipping blackets that movers use. Much cheaper, but work fine for my needs just to keep them from getting scraped up while move in and out of venues.
 
#26
Back from the dead thread!

Ordered a set of K10's last week. Ordering a driverack px today. I'll combine with a set of fEarful 12 subs drive from a plx 2402. My current Mackie tops will become another set of floor monitors. After a bunch of research on this stuff, it seems like it woll be. Significant upgrade in terms of sound quality, volume and portability, while a relatively small downgrade to my checking acct :D

If the px works as I think it should, I may add one into my monitor mix as well. It would run full range with my two mixes running through the left & right. I wonder if the AFS will deal with that as I have two different sets of monitors... Hmmm. More research.
 
#27
4Mal said:
Back from the dead thread!

Ordered a set of K10's last week. Ordering a driverack px today. I'll combine with a set of fEarful 12 subs drive from a plx 2402. My current Mackie tops will become another set of floor monitors. After a bunch of research on this stuff, it seems like it woll be. Significant upgrade in terms of sound quality, volume and portability, while a relatively small downgrade to my checking acct :D

If the px works as I think it should, I may add one into my monitor mix as well. It would run full range with my two mixes running through the left & right. I wonder if the AFS will deal with that as I have two different sets of monitors... Hmmm. More research.
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That's great news, Mal!

Sorry I didn't get back to you on demoing speakers. I was trying to get some bandmates together to join us but they all got flaky (since i'm the one hauling the speakers, they could care less if they're lightweight or not). Then i got sucked into some issues with my daughter and everything got put on hold.

While I'd still love to get some lighter speakers, I'm experiencing a bad case of GAS for a Kala solidbody U-bass. So instead of getting some lightweight mains, I've ordered a nice cart to help me move them. I'll see how much that helps me, because other than the weight, I love the mains we're using (QSC HPR122i). If they weighed 45lb instead of 60 lb I'd have probably ordered the Kala by now, LOL.

So i'm squarely on the fence: save my back or buy a cool new bass I probably won't gig much? Decisions, decisions. I keep going back and forth.
 
#28
4Mal said:
Back from the dead thread!

Ordered a set of K10's last week. Ordering a driverack px today. I'll combine with a set of fEarful 12 subs drive from a plx 2402. My current Mackie tops will become another set of floor monitors. After a bunch of research on this stuff, it seems like it woll be. Significant upgrade in terms of sound quality, volume and portability, while a relatively small downgrade to my checking acct :D

If the px works as I think it should, I may add one into my monitor mix as well. It would run full range with my two mixes running through the left & right. I wonder if the AFS will deal with that as I have two different sets of monitors... Hmmm. More research.
Click to expand...

The Driverack PX is a stereo unit but you are stuck with the same processing for both sides, so you can't really use it in a dual mono sort of deal with two different sets of boxes.

I just did a job with QSC K series stuff for the monitors and I thought they sounded really great. Way better than anything I have ever heard come out of a Mackie box.
 
#29
This is OT, but I notice most people on this thread are using 2 mains, 2 monitors which is the setup we use. But I have never understood the appeal of active speakers for such a small setup.

I have used active speakers and I find it just means I need to run more cords and need more plugins.

What is the appeal of active speakers?
 
#30
projectMalamute said:
The Driverack PX is a stereo unit but you are stuck with the same processing for both sides, so you can't really use it in a dual mono sort of deal with two different sets of boxes.

I just did a job with QSC K series stuff for the monitors and I thought they sounded really great. Way better than anything I have ever heard come out of a Mackie box.
Click to expand...

Right on. I am planning on another DRPX for monitor EQ, Comp & AFS if I get comfy with the inbound one on the mains.
 
#31
seanm said:
This is OT, but I notice most people on this thread are using 2 mains, 2 monitors which is the setup we use. But I have never understood the appeal of active speakers for such a small setup.

I have used active speakers and I find it just means I need to run more cords and need more plugins.

What is the appeal of active speakers?
Click to expand...

In my case it came down to size and sound quality. Give them a listen...
 
#32
LOVE LOVE LOVE the K-series. A band I run sound for owns a PA with 2 K12s and 2 KSubs, plus another K12 as a monitor for the guitarist (everyone else is on ears).

Excellent headroom and sound, and very light too. Best portable/active PA speakers I've ever used and worth every cent.
 
#33
seanm said:
This is OT, but I notice most people on this thread are using 2 mains, 2 monitors which is the setup we use. But I have never understood the appeal of active speakers for such a small setup.

I have used active speakers and I find it just means I need to run more cords and need more plugins.

What is the appeal of active speakers?
Click to expand...

Because such a system is modular, light, and quick to set up. No huge amp racks or external crossover needed. Yes, there are more cords, but not so many more than a passive system.
 
#34
first gig on the K10s last night. Open mic, outside. it was windy and cold, threatening rain so I went light. Just the K10s in Deep mode, no subs. I kept the bass out of the PA and ... damn those things sound great! The guy I was sharing sound duties with is a die hard Mackie fan with a set of 1530's and several 450 wseries 1's. He's run 'em for years. He was just knocked out with the K10s.

This weekend I'm hoping to wring the whole shebang out in a community center which has a big enough space to get the Driverack worked up.

Gotta get through tonight's gig first though and all I carry is bass rig and a vocal monitor for this one - it's like having a ight off not having to move to whole PA!
 
#35
Finally used my full system last night with my band. The system is 2 K12's for tops and 1 K2x12 sub. I also used the new Presonus 16.0.2 board. We usually have a FOH person with his large system and a Yamah digital steup but he couldn't make it. I was really nervous mostly because we havn't done our own sound for well over 3 years. Well we got amazing kudo's for our sound from the audience and when our singer went outfront to listen to a few male only tunes she was very happy.

For the record we ran 3 mikes on the drums as well as miked up the bass, 2 guitars, keys, sax and flute. Very happy .

Oh the added bonus was the last IEM hold out in the band tried them for that gig to keep the speaker count down and wants to go for it as well. Happy days:)

Chris
 
#36
seanm said:
I have used active speakers and I find it just means I need to run more cords and need more plugins.
Click to expand...

Funny - I have the opposite experience. I use a less-is-more setup. A multi-receptical power cord (starting back at the mixer) across the front picks up all the speakers (mains and monitors) - no ground loops. Lines out from the mixer (left, right, 2 monitors) right to the speakers. Done.
 
#38
i am thinking about buying 2 K-12s and 2 KW181's.... we are a cover band that does country - Hip Hop and everything in between. venues can be as big as 400. we want the bass to sound full and sound to be clear. we run tracks thru a iPad and have a drummer, bass and guitar player. 3 singers. will this be a good system to invest in?
 
#39
Yep. I would audition the Ksub as well. I run K10's and 1 ksub outside a lot. The system is very punchy and the bass rocks. I'll add another k sub for the 2013 outdoor season. We're wrapping up here in the Great North Wet :-) back inside the clubs soon.

The K12's are probably better for your purposes as they punch harder. 75 degree despersion rather than 90. So more focused acoustic energy and less bleed towards the stage.

I chose the k10's for the opposite reason. Lot's of outside acoustic gigs where the absolute volume level is low, but the total acoustic energy needs to spread. If I were doing it again, and I had the dough... A set of K 12's on Ksubs, with a set of K 8's as in fills would rock! Maybe even 1 K8 as a 'center channel' would do it...
 
#40
as 4mal said, the ksubs are very punchy, as a band IMO you don't really want too punchy, which is great for kick and thats it...as far as it goes....you want a smoothed out sound with a bit of punch...

i wouldn't go with the 12's...do the k10's and then the KW181 subs...you won't be dissappointed...

but don't be afraid to rent out the ksub and give it a go...but i think that you would prefer the kw181
 

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