My guitarist who owns our subs is, regrettably (and amicably) leaving the band - without a pair of subs. We generally do not need more than a pair of 118s. I need your feedback on a couple of units and perhaps suggestions for others not considered yet. Our priorities are:
1. Decent sound and good output (hard to fart out) and power handling. Our power amp situation is good, both in power and available channels.
2. Reasonably compact and not unnecessarily heavy ("Honey, have you seen my roadies, lately??").
We have been working with a pair or Sonic Metro 118s (the subs we are losing). Frankly, the Sonics seem to balance performance with size/weight and cost pretty nicely. So I'm seriously considering picking up a pair ($500 used and $600 new, plus shipping for the pair). The only problem with Sonic is that they don't have sufficient national exposure (They are made here in Milwaukee) to see a lot of reviews posted. Basic specs are:
600w RMS/1200 peak; 75 lb; 24" cube. Like I said, they seem to be a good if not great value.
Compared to a pair of Peavey PV118s (same weight, 400w/800w, $4-500 for a pair new), the Sonics seem to cost a little more, but are a known quantity (to me) and deliver more power handling. What kind of experience do any of you have to share on the PVs?
The least expensive JBL sub (JRX, I think) seems to underperform the Sonic (spec-wise, at least) for about $2-300 more per pair. Anybody have good/bad experience with the cheap JBLs?
Another sub that interested me was the Carvin (neo) LS1801N. A little lighter and smaller, with about the same power specs as the Sonic, for about $100 more per pair (new). For another $100 per pair ($200 more than the Sonics), the Carvin TRx118N gets you a little bit more power handling and about 10lbs lighter in about the same box size as the LS1801N. Any experience or thoughts about these or other Carvin subs?
Thanks - any and all feedback and suggestions (including, "Hire a sound company") are welcomed.
1. Decent sound and good output (hard to fart out) and power handling. Our power amp situation is good, both in power and available channels.
2. Reasonably compact and not unnecessarily heavy ("Honey, have you seen my roadies, lately??").
We have been working with a pair or Sonic Metro 118s (the subs we are losing). Frankly, the Sonics seem to balance performance with size/weight and cost pretty nicely. So I'm seriously considering picking up a pair ($500 used and $600 new, plus shipping for the pair). The only problem with Sonic is that they don't have sufficient national exposure (They are made here in Milwaukee) to see a lot of reviews posted. Basic specs are:
600w RMS/1200 peak; 75 lb; 24" cube. Like I said, they seem to be a good if not great value.
Compared to a pair of Peavey PV118s (same weight, 400w/800w, $4-500 for a pair new), the Sonics seem to cost a little more, but are a known quantity (to me) and deliver more power handling. What kind of experience do any of you have to share on the PVs?
The least expensive JBL sub (JRX, I think) seems to underperform the Sonic (spec-wise, at least) for about $2-300 more per pair. Anybody have good/bad experience with the cheap JBLs?
Another sub that interested me was the Carvin (neo) LS1801N. A little lighter and smaller, with about the same power specs as the Sonic, for about $100 more per pair (new). For another $100 per pair ($200 more than the Sonics), the Carvin TRx118N gets you a little bit more power handling and about 10lbs lighter in about the same box size as the LS1801N. Any experience or thoughts about these or other Carvin subs?
Thanks - any and all feedback and suggestions (including, "Hire a sound company") are welcomed.
