Hey guys!
I've decided to post what my findings were:
Clair ML18: (pair)
I'm on the same boat as the other people in what I found in the Clair and why we took it out of the mix... I just have numbers for this sub:
SQ: 7
Size V. Output: 7
Overall Output: 7.5
Overall Rating: 7
JTR Growler: (review of a pair)
I found these very impressive for their size! They went lower than I expected and did have some good low punch, especially for the rap and dance... I agree that you may have to dial in more kick with some playing around. Very smooth sound which really impressed me and I really liked, since I will take good sound over a couple of db any day! They where fairly efficient with the same power compared to other subs, In all I was impressed what they did for their size!
SQ: 8.5
Size V. Output: 8
Overall Output: 8.5
Overall Rating: 8.5
TH-Mini: (Pair)
First let me say, if you were to do a blind test of these and crank them for someone for a bit, and then take away the curtain, I think that many people would have a hard time believing that, that sound came from these! They are tiny! They can go loud and are fairly smooth sounding. They have a nice midbass but do lack that low punch... of course because of their size! They lacked the punch from a kick a little more than the Growlers did... but they definitely held their own for their size!
SQ: 8
Size V. Output: 9.5
Overall Output: 8
Overall Rating: 8.25
Yorkville USC1: (a pair)
I was more impressed with these than I thought I would be, since I haven't heard tons and tons of praise form people. They do have very nice punch to them when you put some nice kick drum through them. They could get loud and 2 of them did well against 1 LS1208! I thought they put out what they should for their size. But did kinda sound like they would just run out of gas!
SQ: 8
Size V. Output: 6.5
Overall Output: 7.5
Overall Rating: 7.25
TH-115: (single)
I was excited to hear this one... I think it did live up to my expectations... but not $2100 worth! (I agree with Evan on that point!) I would have been nice to hear them as a pair but Ivan said it would just get louder because of the tapped horn. Did have nice smooth punch to it but it almost sounded strained. I don't no if something way slightly off... There was a weird noise from inside that we couldn't figure out where it was coming from... but in all it is a Danley product so it definitely was some presence to it!
SQ: 9
Size V. Output: 7
Overall Output: 8.5
Overall Rating: 8.5
Yorkville LS1208: (single)
This sub definitely made its presence known right when you fired it up! Very efficient when given the same power that the other were getting, for being only 1! It had a lot of punch... but the only thing that annoyed me was the midbassy boomy sound. It was not as punchy as the TH-115 though... it did get low though, it seemed to be in the top 2 of the bunch in regards to how low it got! Big!!
SQ: 7.5
Size V. Output: 6
Overall Output: 9
Overall Rating: 7
Labsub: (pair)
I don't think I have to repeat what has already been said! It is crazy loud as single and just runs away when in a pair! Crazy Efficient and got low! But it is huge, compared to what I could handle! It had lots of impact and the sound quality was good... but not as smooth as the Growlers or 115s which is a bit of a minus for me...
SQ: 8
Size V. Output: 5
Overall Output: 9.5
Overall Rating: 8
Peavey QW218: (Pair)
Definitely got low... and did have a good amount of impact... not as smooth sounding as the Growlers... 1 QW218 seemed to have just about the same amount of impact as 2 Growlers.
SQ: 8.5
Size V. Output: 7
Overall Output: 8.5
Overall Rating: 8
Turbo21: (Pair)
These didn't really suit me to much... it had a slight bit of a boomy sound... although not as much as the 1208. It got low but lacked that punch that I like! They are comparable to 2 QW218s
SQ: 7
Size V. Output: 7
Overall Output: 7
Overall Rating: 7
In all this was a great experience! Thanks Evan and Jim for setting this up! It was great meeting everyone and I would love to meet up again! I learned a lot!
And as I heard a couple people say..."You wouldn't be disappointed taking any of the subs home that we showcased today!"
Take Care and Thanks!
Phil Lewandowski!
domingo, 22 de agosto de 2010
Maryland subwoofer shootout results
Since the other thread was getting a bit long, I figured I would start a new one here.
First off, I'd like to thank everyone who came out to hear the subs, brought subs and Jim for letting us play in his shop all day. Subwise, nothing blew up and everything went fairly smooth. Though, in true LAB spirit, something did blow up. The PL9.0 went up idling before the beginning. Luckily Jim had a spare, so the day could go on.
We started the day off by just lining all the subs up and making noise. We ran them in pairs and in singles. We also later on in the day separated them into 2 groups big(LAB12, TFL21, TH115, LS1208, QW218) and small(mini, Growler, UCS1). Though some of the small guys were quite impressive.
It was interesting hearing them all side by side. Each sub had their own certain characteristics that made them stand out.
We also took time in the beginning to measure them all. Each sub was measured in singles and then as a pair. Jeff Knorr has all the SMAART data, and hopefully he will be posting it soon.
Anyway, onto my reviews of them:
Lets remind you guys of what we judged them on:
-Sound Quality
-Size vs. output
-Overall output
-Overall Rating
First up, is the Growler:
I gave it 8's all around. One thing I noticed is that they have a lot of ass for their size, but not a lot of impact. They did well with dance music and sounded very "musical," but lacked impact from the kick hits. However, they do pack a good amount of output for their size. When I had the dB meter out, they were doing ~118dB cont. with the PL9.0 blinking -10 every so often. We had to put a Yorkville TX4 on top of them to keep them from moving around too much. Everyone agrees that the plastic corners suck, and they can go without them. Out of the UCS1 and TH mini, they had the most "ass" to them. However, in singles, the output just disappears. I would NOT recommend running them 1 per side. They just lose a lot of the get up and go.
So, the Growlers get an "8" overall. I'd say they are pretty decent boxes for their size and cost.
Next up is the TH mini:
These guys were quite impressive! They are the size of a small trash can, but can keep up with the turbosound 21's! They had a VERY smooth sound, and put out a ton of sound for their size. They had a noticeable drop in the low reign, but it should be expected for their size. They kept right up with the Growlers in terms of output, but the growlers had a little more bottom end to them. I gave them a solid 10 on size to output ratio, as it was very impressive. They got a "7" overall, and would be great for band PA systems. I didnt get a chance to meter them with the dB meter, but I was pretty impressed over all.
Next up was the UCS1:
These guys are pretty solid subs. They are a little bigger then a Growler, and with that, they pack more punch. The Yorkville's had more in the 70-90hz range and I liked their sound. They didnt quite have the low low end that the Growlers did, but they were no slackers. They just hit harder. They were also able to do around 118dB cont, with the PL9.0 flicking -10. They are very good sounding subs, and I gave them an 8 on sound. But, only a 6 on size to output, as they still lack the overall get up and go. Overall I gave them a 6.5, as they are solid subs, but just lack in a few areas.
TH115:
You know, I was pretty disappointed with this one. For $2100, I was expecting more. Of course, there was only 1 there and it would have been nice to have a second... But for just one, I wasnt feeling it. But, with that said, they sound great. They went the lowest out of any single sub, and sounded the best by far. They have a very smooth sound, but lack in the midbass. DJ's would not like them. They got a 10 on Sound Quality, but I only gave them a 6 on output. When I measured the single sub, it was doing 112dB cont, with the PL9.0 flickering -10. Personally, I do not think they are worth the money. If you are looking for a very "musical" sounding sub that goes low, then it might be your ticket. But, one just wasnt as impressive as I thought it would be. I gave them a 7 overall.
Next up, The LS1208:
Yorkville screwed us over and only sent one, so we had to make due. But with that said, this was one of the more impressive subs of the bunch. For just a single unit, it packed a lot of punch and carried a lot of ass too. It had a little bit of a "woofy" sound to it, but I think with some EQ, that can be fixed. It had the most midbass out of any of the horn loaded subs. But, it completely blew me away. This is what I would consider the best bang for the buck sub of the bunch. I gave it a 7 on SQ, 8 on overall output and an 8 overall. For only $800, this was a very impressive sub. 2 UCS1's couldnt keep pace with it. I was getting ~120dB cont from just a single unit, with the PL9.0 flickering -10.
Next up, the QW218:
These guys did a pretty good job. They ran with the big boys pretty well, and had a surprising amount of get up and go. They blew the smaller subs away, but lost one on one with the larger subs. I was getting around 124dB cont. from the pair. I was pretty pleased with them, and for being a double 18, it was pretty cool. I gave them an 8 on Sound quality, 7 on output and an 8 overall.
Next up, The LAB12:
Hands down, the winner. Nothing could keep pace with them. They were topping out my dB meter(126dB) and making the room quake. They hit hard, go low and rattle your insides. They got a 9 on sound quality, 10 on output and 9 overall. If only they werent so friggen huge! These guys stole the show, as expected. If you go this route, make sure you have a big truck and lots of help moving them, as they are not small!
Finally, the Turbo 21:
Another sub that didnt impress me too much. Ive heard them before and think they do much better when you get about 6 or 8 of them. But a pair, well, it just wasnt anything to brag about. They sound good and have a smooth sound, but the TH mini's were able to get within a few dB of their performance. The 21's seemed to knock out the lower notes a little better, but in the 60hz+ range, it was a crapshoot. They got a 7 on SQ, 5 on output and 6.5 overall.
And that about sums it up! It was a fun day with lots of interesting results. I'll be posting pics soon, and I hope that as everyone gets home, they will be posting replies!
Evan
Maryland Subwoofer Listening Session
Maryland Subwoofer Listening Session
The Subwoofer line-up: Turbosound TSW-718, LAB12, Turbosound 21", Clair ML18, Peavey QW218, Danley TH-115, Danley TH-mini, JTR Speakers Growler, Yorkville UCS1, Yorkville LS-1208.
I like to thank Jim Bowersox for hosting the event and everyone that brought in or provided subwoofers for the event. I would also like to publicly thank Yorkville for sending out an LS-1208, and Danley Sound Labs for sending out the TH-minis and new Danley Floor Wedge.
The frequency response tests of each subwoofer (and pairs of subs if we had them available) were measured using SMAART6 with an Earthworks measurement microphone connected through a USBpre interface. The .zip archive of the tests is attached to this page at the link below. Feel free to download them. I will be posting the graphs here after I sort out some SMAART issues.
Other than the frequency measurements taken, the vast majority of the listening session was very unscientific. We did not try to compensate for impedance or frequency response issues. We also did not match SPL between the cabinets during the listening tests. Most of the comparisons were made by quickly switching between up to four sets of cabinets at a time (only changing which cabinet(s) was connected to the amplifier).
I was one of the attendees that mentioned decent performance could be achieved by any of the subs that were in attendance. These were all quite capable subs and used for their intended purposes shouldn't let anyone down. Now on to the dirt. I didn't take detailed notes so I'm only going to comment on the boxes that I paid attention to:
JTR Speakers Growler 2008 - $895
I liked the sound of the Growlers before and think Jeff improved them even more in their latest revision. They seemed fairly efficient and well balanced. These are good options where portability and budget are concerned.
Danley Sound Labs TH-mini - List $1295 ($1425 for flyable version)
I was quite impressed with the amount of low-end that came out of these boxes. They aren't much bigger than most computer towers and yet they would fill the room with a nice pleasing low-end. Their response does drop off down really low but they should work incredibly well for anyone looking for super compact but great sounding subs. As Ivan mentioned, these are geared for super portable systems or space constrained installs.
Yorkville UCS1 - List $899
The UCS1's are not the loudest or deepest subs out there. But what they do, I think they do pretty well. I think they fit in very well with the Yorkville Unity line in regards to sound quality and value for the dollar. Paired with Yorkville U15 top cabinets I think they make a great system.
Yorkville LS-1208 - List $1249
These are perfect for DJ's or bands looking to add a nice round bottom to their rigs on a budget. I agree that they aren't the tightest subs out there but for a booming kick drum or modern dance music these work incredibly well for the money. Their downside is of course their size and weight. They are fairly easy to tilt back and roll though with their built-in wheels and handles.
Danley Sound Labs TH-115 - Pro Net $2255
During the listening sessions I remarked to Ivan that, "Every time I fire up the TH-115's, I'm reminded why I bought them." To my ears the best sounding subs in attendance were the TH-115's and the LAB Subs. Both models were designed by Tom Danley. The TH-115's are tight sounding subs that reach down to the mid-30's without breaking a sweat. I think they are very well balanced and handle most types of music well. The TH-115's provide a great value when factoring in their size, efficiency, and scalability.
LAB Sub - Not available commercially - DIY
The LAB Subs are very large and very potent subwoofers. If you're looking for high SPL bass, have lots of truck space, and aren't affraid to make some saw dust, these are your subs! The LABs sound very good and effortlessly went down to the mid-30's. Unfortunately their large size is their curse and makes them impractical for most potential end users.
Frequency Response Graphs of SINGLE subs:
Graph of two of each model of subs (when available):
DJ Rig SR
Here is what you need:
DJ mixer - WHATEVER THE MAIN DJ ASKS FOR!
CD decks - as above most likely Pioneer CDJ1000mk3 though 2000s are becoming more common.
Turntables - Technics 1210mk2 or mk5G if you can get them. Make sure that you isolate the turntables from vibrations. Tennis balls and paving slabs work well. Make sure that your styli are fresh and carry spares.
Monitors -
small gigs - Nexo PS15 or equivalent
big gigs - 2 x stacks of Nexo Alpha E (2x B118 1 x EM per stack) or equivalent. Between 5 and 10k is about right as DJ monitors for a big show.
FOH system -Whatever is appropriate for the gig. Go sub heavy!
Control - Use the best sounding live mixer you can find. Midas Venice / Heritage / XL. Place DI boxdes between you and the DJ and use the 20dB pads. Use the pads on your console (or 40dB pads on your DI boxes if you are on a console without pads ala venice) Crank up your channel gains - this goves you room to manouver whan they start ragging the DJ mixer.
DO NOT USE COMPRESSORS OVER THE DJ MIXER! If you need compressors you have not got your gain structure right. The music is already heavily compressed and all you are doing is decreasing sound quality. See the bit about pads above.
Place compressors over the MC and DJ mics set to catch peaks when they scream. Give the DJ a 58 with a switch on it and route it through your mixer.
Tune MC wedges with the mic cupped and stuffed halfway in your mouth. Also point the mic into the wedge from a distance of about a foot and a half. Make sure it doesn't feed back. Make it loud. Now turn it up some more. Now make it so that you don't want to be infront of your own wedge. Still no feedback right? You are getting there.
DJ monitors should be blisteringly loud. add a little extra 2k wide Q and 10k shelving to provide a little artificial sizzle - they won't boost it so much out front then.
Keap it clean, LOUD and clear.
For system protection you have 2 things:
You watching your mixer - you are paying attention right?
The system processor.
You shouldn't need anything else.
Systems I would happily use as a dance rig:
EV X-Array
Nexo Alpha
V-Dosc with sb28s
D&B Q series with plenty of B2s
D&B J series
Noise Control I-Fly
DJ mixer - WHATEVER THE MAIN DJ ASKS FOR!
CD decks - as above most likely Pioneer CDJ1000mk3 though 2000s are becoming more common.
Turntables - Technics 1210mk2 or mk5G if you can get them. Make sure that you isolate the turntables from vibrations. Tennis balls and paving slabs work well. Make sure that your styli are fresh and carry spares.
Monitors -
small gigs - Nexo PS15 or equivalent
big gigs - 2 x stacks of Nexo Alpha E (2x B118 1 x EM per stack) or equivalent. Between 5 and 10k is about right as DJ monitors for a big show.
FOH system -Whatever is appropriate for the gig. Go sub heavy!
Control - Use the best sounding live mixer you can find. Midas Venice / Heritage / XL. Place DI boxdes between you and the DJ and use the 20dB pads. Use the pads on your console (or 40dB pads on your DI boxes if you are on a console without pads ala venice) Crank up your channel gains - this goves you room to manouver whan they start ragging the DJ mixer.
DO NOT USE COMPRESSORS OVER THE DJ MIXER! If you need compressors you have not got your gain structure right. The music is already heavily compressed and all you are doing is decreasing sound quality. See the bit about pads above.
Place compressors over the MC and DJ mics set to catch peaks when they scream. Give the DJ a 58 with a switch on it and route it through your mixer.
Tune MC wedges with the mic cupped and stuffed halfway in your mouth. Also point the mic into the wedge from a distance of about a foot and a half. Make sure it doesn't feed back. Make it loud. Now turn it up some more. Now make it so that you don't want to be infront of your own wedge. Still no feedback right? You are getting there.
DJ monitors should be blisteringly loud. add a little extra 2k wide Q and 10k shelving to provide a little artificial sizzle - they won't boost it so much out front then.
Keap it clean, LOUD and clear.
For system protection you have 2 things:
You watching your mixer - you are paying attention right?
The system processor.
You shouldn't need anything else.
Systems I would happily use as a dance rig:
EV X-Array
Nexo Alpha
V-Dosc with sb28s
D&B Q series with plenty of B2s
D&B J series
Noise Control I-Fly
Dubois, PA Speaker Shootout
Dubois, PA Speaker Shootout
Submitted by Jeffrey Knorr on December 18, 2006 - 7:44pm. From the beginning...
The original intention of the speaker shootout was to compare and evaluate several of the smaller format self-powered cabinets and systems that are commonly used in Disc Jockey and small FOH applications. I think we successfully accomplished that goal and were also able to fire up some bigger speakers while we were there too. This was not an exhaustive scientifically based shootout. We tried to keep things fair but informal and fun. We were mostly focused on listening rather than testing.
The playback system consisted of a laptop using an external USBpre interface for MP3 and WAV file playback. The USBpre was run into a Mackie 1202 basically used for level control and some very small EQ tweaks later on in the listening sessions. The 1202 fed a pair of Sabine Navigator 3600 DSPs (each DSP was handling the routing for one of the main channels from the 1202). Each output of the DSP was used to feed a different loudspeaker so that we could easily change the active speakers by muting and un-muting the DSP outputs. With the aid a Radio Shack digital SPL meter and pink noise we set the volume of each of the speakers to the same relative volume at approximately one meter. The Contenders...
Starting from the left we had on hand:
We started out listening to each of the tops full-range at a moderate volume. The ART-322A provided a nice round sound and a clear high end. The KV2 EX10 produced a surprisingly big sound for it's size and had a nice airy high end. The NX55P featured pleasing low end with detailed mids with a pleasing but not overly hyped high-end. The Maxx4A didn't jump out among the rest of the pack but I felt that it featured a very natural sound with a fairly tight low-end. The U15P's jumped out above the others from the start, it had a very tight and deep low-frequency response with the most detailed mids and highs of the group. The EF500PB did not sound as high-fi as the other speakers in the lineup straight out of the box, it had a slight boxiness and honkiness in comparison to the other cabinets without any EQ.
Our next scenario was to keep the same configuration but to increase the volume to typical wedding party levels (approximately 85-87 dB slow A-weighted at our listening position). Most of the cabinets sounded very similar to the first round but louder at this point.
Next we decided to run the speakers up until their sound quality started to decrease or we started to flicker limit/clip lights. The RCF seemed to hold it's own right up until it's clip lights were flashing. The KV2's were surprising but there is only so much that can be expected from a 10" driver (being compared to 12 and 15 inch drivers). The EX10's obviously ran out of gas first (and don't have clip/limit LEDs). The Yorkville NX55P's sounded fairly good up until the limit lights were flashing (there was a bass roll off as the volume was increased). The Maxx4A cabinets seemed slightly underpowered compared to some of the other cabinets and seemed to show their stress the earliest. The Yorkville U15P sounded great into limiting and only really sounded stressed in the low-frequency section. The EF500PB's easily appeared the loudest but this was due to their harsher out of the box tonality. At this point I applied some quick and dirty EQ to the EF500PB's to really show what they are capable of. A 4 dB 1/3 octave dip at 300 Hz and a 4 dB shelving high-frequency boost at 4 kHz really livened them up. With some more EQ tweaks we have had very good experiences with EF500PB's.
Where's the bass???
Next we decided to add in the subwoofers. We did our best to configure the systems as would probably be recommended by the speaker manufacturers (i.e. all gains at 0dB if marked, crossovers/filters engaged, correct DSP setting-on the U15P, etc).
Adding the 705-AS to the 322A seemed to make the bass of the system louder but didn't really enhance the sound quality of it too much. The EX10's with the EX2.2 made the KV2 system sound much larger than it is (I do have to state that one channel of the KV2 system was inadvertently high-passed during this test). The NX55P's were paired with the LS700PB subwoofer and made a good sounding and proven combination. The Maxx4A was coupled to the Maxx10SA, the Maxx10SA really helped to provide a bigger and tighter low-end to the Maxx4A. After a slight high-frequency roll-off and sub/top level adjustment, the FBT system sounded pretty good to my ears. The U15P cabinets paired with a single LS800PB subwoofer had almost everyone smiling. The LS800P added even more punchy round low-end to an already good package with the U15P. The EF500PB's were run with a subwoofer.
Turning up the volume...
The RCF system was would get fairly loud before running out of gas. The 705-AS would move a decent amount of air but it didn't seem quite as deep or as tight as I would prefer.
The KV2's again really impressed for thier size. The EX2.2 was causing dust to shake free from the ceiling tiles with ease while still staying fairly tight.
The NX55P's with the LS700PB surprised me. I didn't think the LS700PB was going to sound as good as the ART-705 but was pleased with it's performance.
The Maxx4A seemed to run out of gas just before the other cabinets in the group but makes a nice combination with the Maxx10SA. The Maxx10SA produced a very healthy tight low-end until it started to run out of power. In the 15" and under class I preferred it's sound quality over the 705-AS and LS700PB.
The U15P and LS800PB combination easily out ran the other systems in the room up until this point. The LS800PB's produce LOTS of bass for their size. With a small 3-4 dB 1/3 octave cut at 75 Hz they had a tight punchy full sound down to the 45-50 Hz region.
The bass and nothing but the bass...
Next up we tried out each subwoofer without tops and then with the U15P tops. Comparing the RCF ART-705 to the Maxx10SA I thought it was no contest - Maxx10sA all the way. The Maxx10SA sounded tighter and seemed to reach deeper. The downside is that the FBT is slightly larger and more expensive than the RCF. The LS700PB again sounded good and in my opinion probably fits in well in between the FBT and RCF in terms of sound quality. After catching my routing mistake in the DSP, the KV2 EX2.2 came alive--it produced a very good amount of low-end for it's size but didn't go quite as deep and not near as loud as the LS800PB subs.
Do you have anything bigger???
Pictured here from the left:
Starting with the LS800PB subs, they provided large amounts of punchy pleasing bass. It was all but snowing (shaking dust out of the suspended ceiling tiles) in the room during playback tests of all three subwoofers. Next up the UCS1s sounded even tighter and probably a little more clinical than the LS800PB subs. The stars of the show however were the TH-115 subs, they just simply out ran and out pounded the other two subs without breaking a sweat. It will be very interesting to hear how the TH-115 subs compare to the other big dogs at the upcoming subwoofer shootout in NYC. Most of the attendees were simply floored by the quantity and QUALITY of the bass produced by the Danleys.
With only a little more time left in the room, we paired the Danley SH-50's with the Danley TH-115 subs with the same processing as before. The SH-50's were run off of a PLX3602 in stereo with a 100 Hz 24 dB/oct LR high-pass filter and no EQ. The SH-50 speakers were very transparent and neutral sounding. Playing back a good quality recording, you simply couldn't stop listening to them. Increasing the volume simply made the sound louder, the overall tonality didn't seem to change and the mid/high amp was running out of gas before the SH-50's even hinted that they were reaching their limits.
My conclusions...
I personally didn't think there was a bad sounding system present. For the ultimate in portability while still maintaining excellent sound quality the KV2 system is a good choice. For louder and slightly less refined situations the RCF system would most likely do the trick. Slightly lower SPLs but a natural sound quality and tight low-end describe the FBT system. I thought the Yorkville NX55P/LS700PB system fit somewhere in between the FBT and RCF systems. The U15P or EF500PB cabients with the LS800PB will easily fill larger venues with great sound. After hearing the UCS1B's I can't wait to hear the UCS1P (When is it going to ship Yorkville??). The Danley SH-50 and TH-115 were totally in another league. They should work incredibly well in larger venues or wherever the utmost in sound quality is desired.
Pricing Information...
Submitted by Jeffrey Knorr on December 18, 2006 - 7:44pm. From the beginning...
The original intention of the speaker shootout was to compare and evaluate several of the smaller format self-powered cabinets and systems that are commonly used in Disc Jockey and small FOH applications. I think we successfully accomplished that goal and were also able to fire up some bigger speakers while we were there too. This was not an exhaustive scientifically based shootout. We tried to keep things fair but informal and fun. We were mostly focused on listening rather than testing.
The playback system consisted of a laptop using an external USBpre interface for MP3 and WAV file playback. The USBpre was run into a Mackie 1202 basically used for level control and some very small EQ tweaks later on in the listening sessions. The 1202 fed a pair of Sabine Navigator 3600 DSPs (each DSP was handling the routing for one of the main channels from the 1202). Each output of the DSP was used to feed a different loudspeaker so that we could easily change the active speakers by muting and un-muting the DSP outputs. With the aid a Radio Shack digital SPL meter and pink noise we set the volume of each of the speakers to the same relative volume at approximately one meter. The Contenders...
Starting from the left we had on hand:
- RCF ART-322A
- KV2 Audio EX10
- Yorkville NX55P
- FBT Maxx4A
- Yorkville U15P
- Yorkville EF500PB
- FBT Maxx10SA
- Yorkville LS800PB
- RCF ART-705AS (2-stacked vertically)
- Yorkville LS700PB
- KV2 Audio EX2.2
We started out listening to each of the tops full-range at a moderate volume. The ART-322A provided a nice round sound and a clear high end. The KV2 EX10 produced a surprisingly big sound for it's size and had a nice airy high end. The NX55P featured pleasing low end with detailed mids with a pleasing but not overly hyped high-end. The Maxx4A didn't jump out among the rest of the pack but I felt that it featured a very natural sound with a fairly tight low-end. The U15P's jumped out above the others from the start, it had a very tight and deep low-frequency response with the most detailed mids and highs of the group. The EF500PB did not sound as high-fi as the other speakers in the lineup straight out of the box, it had a slight boxiness and honkiness in comparison to the other cabinets without any EQ.
Our next scenario was to keep the same configuration but to increase the volume to typical wedding party levels (approximately 85-87 dB slow A-weighted at our listening position). Most of the cabinets sounded very similar to the first round but louder at this point.
Next we decided to run the speakers up until their sound quality started to decrease or we started to flicker limit/clip lights. The RCF seemed to hold it's own right up until it's clip lights were flashing. The KV2's were surprising but there is only so much that can be expected from a 10" driver (being compared to 12 and 15 inch drivers). The EX10's obviously ran out of gas first (and don't have clip/limit LEDs). The Yorkville NX55P's sounded fairly good up until the limit lights were flashing (there was a bass roll off as the volume was increased). The Maxx4A cabinets seemed slightly underpowered compared to some of the other cabinets and seemed to show their stress the earliest. The Yorkville U15P sounded great into limiting and only really sounded stressed in the low-frequency section. The EF500PB's easily appeared the loudest but this was due to their harsher out of the box tonality. At this point I applied some quick and dirty EQ to the EF500PB's to really show what they are capable of. A 4 dB 1/3 octave dip at 300 Hz and a 4 dB shelving high-frequency boost at 4 kHz really livened them up. With some more EQ tweaks we have had very good experiences with EF500PB's.
Where's the bass???
Next we decided to add in the subwoofers. We did our best to configure the systems as would probably be recommended by the speaker manufacturers (i.e. all gains at 0dB if marked, crossovers/filters engaged, correct DSP setting-on the U15P, etc).
Adding the 705-AS to the 322A seemed to make the bass of the system louder but didn't really enhance the sound quality of it too much. The EX10's with the EX2.2 made the KV2 system sound much larger than it is (I do have to state that one channel of the KV2 system was inadvertently high-passed during this test). The NX55P's were paired with the LS700PB subwoofer and made a good sounding and proven combination. The Maxx4A was coupled to the Maxx10SA, the Maxx10SA really helped to provide a bigger and tighter low-end to the Maxx4A. After a slight high-frequency roll-off and sub/top level adjustment, the FBT system sounded pretty good to my ears. The U15P cabinets paired with a single LS800PB subwoofer had almost everyone smiling. The LS800P added even more punchy round low-end to an already good package with the U15P. The EF500PB's were run with a subwoofer.
Turning up the volume...
The RCF system was would get fairly loud before running out of gas. The 705-AS would move a decent amount of air but it didn't seem quite as deep or as tight as I would prefer.
The KV2's again really impressed for thier size. The EX2.2 was causing dust to shake free from the ceiling tiles with ease while still staying fairly tight.
The NX55P's with the LS700PB surprised me. I didn't think the LS700PB was going to sound as good as the ART-705 but was pleased with it's performance.
The Maxx4A seemed to run out of gas just before the other cabinets in the group but makes a nice combination with the Maxx10SA. The Maxx10SA produced a very healthy tight low-end until it started to run out of power. In the 15" and under class I preferred it's sound quality over the 705-AS and LS700PB.
The U15P and LS800PB combination easily out ran the other systems in the room up until this point. The LS800PB's produce LOTS of bass for their size. With a small 3-4 dB 1/3 octave cut at 75 Hz they had a tight punchy full sound down to the 45-50 Hz region.
The bass and nothing but the bass...
Next up we tried out each subwoofer without tops and then with the U15P tops. Comparing the RCF ART-705 to the Maxx10SA I thought it was no contest - Maxx10sA all the way. The Maxx10SA sounded tighter and seemed to reach deeper. The downside is that the FBT is slightly larger and more expensive than the RCF. The LS700PB again sounded good and in my opinion probably fits in well in between the FBT and RCF in terms of sound quality. After catching my routing mistake in the DSP, the KV2 EX2.2 came alive--it produced a very good amount of low-end for it's size but didn't go quite as deep and not near as loud as the LS800PB subs.
Do you have anything bigger???
Pictured here from the left:
- Yorkville U15P cabinets on top of
- Danley Soundlabs TH-115 subwoofers
- Yorkville LS800PB subs
- Yorkville UCS1B subs
Starting with the LS800PB subs, they provided large amounts of punchy pleasing bass. It was all but snowing (shaking dust out of the suspended ceiling tiles) in the room during playback tests of all three subwoofers. Next up the UCS1s sounded even tighter and probably a little more clinical than the LS800PB subs. The stars of the show however were the TH-115 subs, they just simply out ran and out pounded the other two subs without breaking a sweat. It will be very interesting to hear how the TH-115 subs compare to the other big dogs at the upcoming subwoofer shootout in NYC. Most of the attendees were simply floored by the quantity and QUALITY of the bass produced by the Danleys.
With only a little more time left in the room, we paired the Danley SH-50's with the Danley TH-115 subs with the same processing as before. The SH-50's were run off of a PLX3602 in stereo with a 100 Hz 24 dB/oct LR high-pass filter and no EQ. The SH-50 speakers were very transparent and neutral sounding. Playing back a good quality recording, you simply couldn't stop listening to them. Increasing the volume simply made the sound louder, the overall tonality didn't seem to change and the mid/high amp was running out of gas before the SH-50's even hinted that they were reaching their limits.
My conclusions...
I personally didn't think there was a bad sounding system present. For the ultimate in portability while still maintaining excellent sound quality the KV2 system is a good choice. For louder and slightly less refined situations the RCF system would most likely do the trick. Slightly lower SPLs but a natural sound quality and tight low-end describe the FBT system. I thought the Yorkville NX55P/LS700PB system fit somewhere in between the FBT and RCF systems. The U15P or EF500PB cabients with the LS800PB will easily fill larger venues with great sound. After hearing the UCS1B's I can't wait to hear the UCS1P (When is it going to ship Yorkville??). The Danley SH-50 and TH-115 were totally in another league. They should work incredibly well in larger venues or wherever the utmost in sound quality is desired.
Pricing Information...
| Manufacturer and Model | List Price | MAP |
| FBT Maxx4A | $1049.95 | $899.00 |
| FBT Maxx10SA | $1729.95 | $1469.00 |
| Danley Sound Labs SH-50 | $3925.00 | |
| Danley Sound Labs TH-115 | $2255.00 | |
| KV2 Audio EX10 | ||
| KV2 Audio EX2.2 | ||
| RCF ART-322-A | $1149.00 | $976.65 |
| RCF ART-705-AS | $1199.00 | $1019.15 |
| Yorkville EF500P | $1599.00 | |
| Yorkville NX55P | $999.00 | |
| Yorkville LS700P | $1099.00 | |
| Yorkville LS800P | $1599.00 | |
| Yorkville U15P | $1899.00 | |
| Yorkville UCS1 | $849.00 |
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