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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