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The best powered sub for a $1k budget

1

1Drop

Jul 31, 2009
169
42
#1
My band is over the whole amp and passive speaker stage. Our gear is outdated, heavy, and time consuming. We have decided to splurge a bit and go all powered speakers. It looks like we will end up with the JBL eon 15" 450 watts mains. Although 2 would be great, we will have to live with just one sub for now.
I've had experience with the QSC 18 which seemed to work OK but I'd like some feedback on other brands in the thousand dollar range or less. We are a reggae band, with two guitars, drums, bass, and keys. Whats the hot sub to have these days?



TIA!
 
#2
Since you are using JBL already maybe one of these Invalid Link Removed It has extended low end which would be good for a reggae band. It is about $300.00 more than your budget but one would probably keep up with your tops.
 
#3
modulusman said:
Since you are using JBL already maybe one of these Invalid Link Removed It has extended low end which would be good for a reggae band. It is about $300.00 more than your budget but one would probably keep up with your tops.
Click to expand...

Those do seem like a good fit for us. Thanks for the tip. Another question if I may. We also need a new mixer. Would you suggest a powered mixer and passive mains and monitors (our current monitors seem to work fine, they are passive) or a passive mixer with powered speakers? I'm thinking the 450 watt JBL mains might be overkill for us now. The venues we play that require us to bring our own sound are fairly small, 100 humans capacity type stuff.

Basically its like this, we want to lose the 300 pound rack that carries our sub amp, mains amp and monitor amp and crossover. Our monitors work well, no real need to replace them. Maybe a low powered mixer for monitors only and powered mains and sub is best? What would you do modulusman? we can probably spend up to $2000-$2500 for this new system, minus 1300 for the sub, leaves about a grand or so for mains and mixer.

Thanks again!
 
#4
EV ELX118p. I got mine for $699 shipped from ProAudioStar | Pro Audio & DJ Equipment Gear Check out the whole EV Live X line if you're looking to get rid of your passive speakers. The ELX115p kicks major bootie.

http://www.proaudiostar.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=elx115p
Invalid Link Removed

I bought 2 ELX115p's and one ELX118p for a total of $1700 shipped. Whatever system you buy I HIGHLY recommend getting the DBX Driverack PA to go with it. Makes a HUGE difference. You will not need 2 subs with this system for the venues you describe.

Here are some reviews:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Link Removed
 
#5
1Drop said:
Those do seem like a good fit for us. Thanks for the tip. Another question if I may. We also need a new mixer. Would you suggest a powered mixer and passive mains and monitors (our current monitors seem to work fine, they are passive) or a passive mixer with powered speakers? I'm thinking the 450 watt JBL mains might be overkill for us now. The venues we play that require us to bring our own sound are fairly small, 100 humans capacity type stuff.

Basically its like this, we want to lose the 300 pound rack that carries our sub amp, mains amp and monitor amp and crossover. Our monitors work well, no real need to replace them. Maybe a low powered mixer for monitors only and powered mains and sub is best? What would you do modulusman? we can probably spend up to $2000-$2500 for this new system, minus 1300 for the sub, leaves about a grand or so for mains and mixer.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Unless you can find something used a grand isn't going to get much as far as a mixer and powered mains. You might go a different route and get a pair of these. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] I have the older 535s which put out a decent amount of bass and sound excellent. That would leave you about $300.00 for a mixer. I have one of these that I use for rehearsal [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] If you need more channels they have the PV14 and PV20.
 
#7
I run a yamaha emx 5000/12 powered mixer. 500 per side into 4 ohms. Plenty for monitors. My mains currently run off a plx2402 biamped, mono. I'm adding a set of powered tops shortly.
Sub wise i'm runing a pair of fEarful 12 subs - they kick the snot out of most of the 18's I've heard. Approx 800 watts from the PLX into the pair...
 
#9
You're close but not quite there. I suggest the JBL EON 518 (18" sub vs the 15" - also gives you 500watts continuous with 1000w peak).

The extra sub-size will make a big difference in terms of pushing air. Beyond the band, I also use this (with the JBL tower speakers I have) as a DJ system at house parties. Man does it throw off a lot of "Boom".
 
#10
1Drop said:
My band is over the whole amp and passive speaker stage. Our gear is outdated, heavy, and time consuming. We have decided to splurge a bit and go all powered speakers. It looks like we will end up with the JBL eon 15" 450 watts mains. Although 2 would be great, we will have to live with just one sub for now.
I've had experience with the QSC 18 which seemed to work OK but I'd like some feedback on other brands in the thousand dollar range or less. We are a reggae band, with two guitars, drums, bass, and keys. Whats the hot sub to have these days?



TIA!
Click to expand...

I think you are making a false assumption when you say "this whole amp and passive speaker phase." Active speakers are nice, it simplifies things to a degree. But they are in no way completely and utterly superior to any passive speaker with separate amps PA. I'm gonna say that on a limited budget you will almost certainly put together a better passive rig due to the availability in the used market.

Derek
 
#11
konodl18 said:
I think you are making a false assumption when you say "this whole amp and passive speaker phase." Active speakers are nice, it simplifies things to a degree. But they are in no way completely and utterly superior to any passive speaker with separate amps PA. I'm gonna say that on a limited budget you will almost certainly put together a better passive rig due to the availability in the used market.

Derek
Click to expand...

Maybe, I bought a pair of JBL PRX 535s used for $900.00.:hyper: They were only 6 months old. You would have a hard time finding anything used that could compare at that price. I also bought 3 PRX512ms with Tuki bags for $1800.00. They were selling for about $900-1000.00 new at the time.
 
#12
Modulusman, you are a world class scrounger of good deals! I too fancy a good thrifty purchase. :)

This is a little off topic, maybe something to think about. The bar band I'm currently playing in uses a pair of homebrew shelf ported reflex boxes loads with 18" Peavey low riders powered by a bridged rmx 2450. If you've got even the slightest bit of carpentry skills, you can do these. Boxes cost $150 each including casters and hardware and truck bed liner, plus $200 for each low rider, plus $300 for a used 2450 and bang! $1k for a very nice low end. If you insist on powered cabs you can bolt the 2450 to the back of one :-)

Derek
 
#13
konodl18 said:
Modulusman, you are a world class scrounger of good deals! I too fancy a good thrifty purchase. :)

This is a little off topic, maybe something to think about. The bar band I'm currently playing in uses a pair of homebrew shelf ported reflex boxes loads with 18" Peavey low riders powered by a bridged rmx 2450. If you've got even the slightest bit of carpentry skills, you can do these. Boxes cost $150 each including casters and hardware and truck bed liner, plus $200 for each low rider, plus $300 for a used 2450 and bang! $1k for a very nice low end. If you insist on powered cabs you can bolt the 2450 to the back of one :-)

Derek
Click to expand...

Sounds familar. I'm a bit fuzzy on the correct terminology (shelf ported reflex, folded horn, etc) but this is what we're using in conjunction with a 2450:

YorkvilleSub.jpg


The 18" driver points forward and down. From what I understand, the design provides for a lot of oomph from a relatively compact enclosure. I'm sure someone can explain why.

Riis
 
#14
The type of box I was describing is the simple square box with the driver mounted in the front wall and instead of round port tubes it has a rectangular shelf port along the bottom of the front wall. A good example is the Yamaha club series subs. Simple design to build. With a good driver it sounds good. Lots of the production subs of this design are made smaller than is optimal and limit the low end excursion of the given driver. If you have space to spare and can WinISD a box design with larger internal volume, you can build yourself very affordable sub/subs that are loud and have good extension.

Derek
 
#16
whereas riis is picturing something yorkville calls "quasi-horn-loaded", the LS 608.

i use 4 of those, and they're decent little unpowered sub cubes.

for one powered sub, you can't go wrong with a Invalid Link Removed; one of those would beat two, maybe even 3 of the 608 boxes, and two would be all any band doing their own sound would ever need, even outdoors.
 
#17
4Mal said:
I run a yamaha emx 5000/12 powered mixer. 500 per side into 4 ohms. Plenty for monitors. My mains currently run off a plx2402 biamped, mono. I'm adding a set of powered tops shortly.
Sub wise i'm runing a pair of fEarful 12 subs - they kick the snot out of most of the 18's I've heard. Approx 800 watts from the PLX into the pair...
Click to expand...

I will 2nd this. My bands PA (3 piece classic rock/blues) run Mackie 15" powered speakers on poles. When the Mackie sub gave out we used my fEARful 15/sub powered by my Carvin HD1500. With the sub crossed over at 100hz it totally killed what the Mackie sub could do. If you DIY this sub & power amp would set you back between $700-800. You could probably build a fEARful 15/15/sub with the amp & hit your $1K mark. If you use the power amps X-over you don't need the passive one normally put in the cab. I know you wanted a powered sub but this was just a thought........
 

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