Full-Range PA Speaker Cabinets

The JBL JRX 115 cost me about 700 dollars brand new when I purchased them back in 2008. They are made well and will last a long time but the only thing that I didn’t like about them was the low end sound. I felt like the bass/ low frequencies just were not clean enough for what I wanted to use them for. This was very upsetting to me because I am a huge fan of JBL speakers and live sound equipment. I felt like they dropped the ball with the low end on these speakers. The mids and highs sounding great, and the bass sounds ok when the speakers are not playing at anywhere near max volume. But once you start to crank up the volume I could hear major flaws in the way the bass sounded. I have even tried them with several different mixers, but no matter what mixer or style of music I played it still was not to my liking. I kept these speakers for no more than 90 days then could not return them to the store so I had to sell them on Ebay. I almost got back what I paid for them so I was happy with it. If you really do not care how clean your low end sound is then these may be for you. But with the style of music that I partake in (dance, techno, hiphop and pretty much anything upbeat) these just would not satisfy me. To JBL’s credit, these are more of the “affordable” speakers that they came out with that year. I have used about 7 different speakers from JBL and all of them sounded pretty good especially the ones on the higher price range. Maybe I just expected too much out of these speakers, or maybe I expect too much out of JBL because of some of the stuff I have got from them before. But these where a disappointment to me!

The PVx 15 is hands down one of the best passive speakers that I have used in this price range. It is only 400 watts but if feels so much more powerful once you get the chance to hear it at work. It has a 15 inch speaker and only cost 250 dollars. The funny thing is that it does not weigh much more than the PVx 12, so taking it around with you is not that difficult. The power that is behind this unit is worth a lot more than what the speaker cost. I have been using a pair of these since earlier this year and have not even though about upgrading to something else because they have provided us with the sound we need when gigging. The sound is amazing, the highs are nice and clean and crisp. The lows are deep but not muddy, they sound rich and warm and surprisingly they have a nice thump to it in the club to get the crowd moving. The mids just bring everything together; I have noticed that depending on what style of music you are playing will depend on how well the PVx 15 will sound. The some pop and top 40 music it has a nice club sound to it. But with slower and more ballad songs, I always turn it down a bit because the sound is not as clean in the mids. But overall, the sound of this unit cannot be matched at this price point. You will not find a better monitor period by Peavey or Mackie or any other brand for that matter. I am extremely happy with these monitors and do not regret my purchase at all. I am looking forward to hearing them at an outdoor even we have planned soon. I just recently bought some new poles for them to go on too.

The Peavey SP 6’s thump so low I can blow a hole in the earth's crust. They put out a high that makes you think Minnie Ripperton is singing alive and live! As a mobile DJ, I'd substituted sound quality for mobility. Used to buy my speakers on 2nd hand circuits etc. I realized that my studio at home sounded much better than my system on the road. I was still playing a muddy Juke-Joint sound. Well I looked at specs and prices and listened to several major brands before setting on these GEMS! Heavy but, the sound is pure. I turned the EQ off and let them rip. Sucker D J's came over to see what I was using to blow them out. Had people from the other side of the lake coming over looking for a live band. This was using an idol pro amp. Can't wait to do a gig that requires the Peavey 4080's for power. But they are stationary; some data out there states they have wheels under them. These did not come with any wheels. They have 4 short feet they stand on. This actually works good to slide a dolly under them. No regrets for sound. If you are planning on a portable system and have a good dolly and trailer with a ramp go for it. You will not want to be lifting them much though. Looks and Sound is great. I can't imagine putting them on a pole. They are over 4 feet tall I recommend these to local djs all the time when they ask whats good for different venues that provide a lot of thump. Especially with the rise of dub step music over here. Its great to have something that can have that low thump for those baselines. It will really get the crowd moving! I stand by these, try them.

I've been using these jbl for weddings and other events since 1994. They weren't cheap back then. But what a sound! And what a punch! A pair of them is enough for an event for 300 people! Granted, you really have to drive it, but it's really punchy, with great lows. To enjoy them every night you need: A good 2x350 into 8 ohms amp and a 2x15b EQ, minimum. No worries, it's JBL, but at 6am in the morning they still weight 100lbs. Value for money? They are not made in China, they are JBL. Yes, I'd buy them again. alain

The Mackie SR 1530's are a set of loudspeakers for use in venues and for using as a public address system. These are two really large speakers, and they can get super loud if you want them do. The sub woofer speaker is 15 inches and there is a smaller, 6 inch speaker for mid and high range to go along with an even smaller 1" compressor driver. These speakers are quite bulky and heavy, and need two people to move. The recording studio that I work at has a set of these for live shows that we sometimes put on. It's usually not for a huge audience, but we need something that's loud enough to get the job done, as these do the job for us just fine. I've only been to a few of the little shows that have been put on while using these speakers, but I was definitely pretty impressed with the type of sound that was coming from them even in a smaller environment. We only had these 1530's up with a set of monitors for the band and that was it. They sound really full with a lot of low end, which is no doubt due to the huge 15" low frequency speaker that it has! I don't know the price that the studio paid for these, but I would imagine that it was pretty reasonable since we really only use these once and and while. Mackie makes all type of sound products, most of which I've used in the form of studio speakers and mixers, but it does seem like they have a good amount of gear for live sound as well. While I'm not an expert on loudspeaker monitors in the least, the Mackie 1530's have a nice a full sound that are worth checking out if you want a good pair of PA speakers without spending too much money.

We are running the AQ 10 as full range speakers in the lounge of https://epicure.club with Crest Audio amplification. In a 5.5m x 11m space we easily get nightclub sound level. Several visiting DJ's were impressed with the clarity. The midrange is very nice. Vocals sounds surprisingly good for a speaker with a horn. The bass extension without a sub was the biggest surprise. We certainly did not expect this! Using the speaker as a top with separate subs, instead of full range, definitely increases the headroom. We are using a 24db LR filter at 80Hz. The biggest downside of the AQ 10 could be, that it does not have a pole mount cup. As it is an installation series speaker, this should not come as a surprise. We could have easily added a pole mount cup, but elected to keep the speakers original. The speaker has 6 threaded inserts on the back for a mounting bracket. We welded some custom steel brackets and powder coated them. The speaker also does not have a Speakon connector. We are very happy with these speakers and would recommend them.

The EuroLive VS1220 is a 600 watt 12 inch PA Speaker with a great sound for this price. These speakers only cost about a hundred bucks a piece and will give you a very clean sound. These are a great speaker to get if you are in the market to purchase your first PA speaker because of the quality and price. I have used many of the “EuroLive” speakers from Behringer and I am a fan of all of them because they keep them affordable and the sound quality is solid. For this speaker to be the price that it is, I did not expect the low end to have this kind of bass! It has the low end sound of a 1000 dollar PA speaker. Plus the highs are very clear and concise without being to sharp or piercing. I was very shocked when I first heard music from the VS1220, it sounded very big and wide in a pretty good sized club. These speakers are also made well and lightweight. I do not own them anymore because they didn’t have enough power for use to want to keep them but a few bands that I use to work with would rent these from me all of the time and they loved gigging with them. For the price you will not find anything better on the market, and if you want to spend some more money look into Behringers higher end EuroLive series PA speakers. They have some really good ones that cost more than the VS1220 does but they are still affordable and provide an even better sound. The peak power of these is only 600 watts which is pretty much the reason I didn’t keep them because I just never used them. The frequency response is also good for the price. They weigh about 40 pounds but it doesn’t feel like it because of the way the weight is distributed and the handles being built in; they are pretty easy to move around.

The Behringer B215XL is an 15 inch passive PA Speaker with a 1000 watt capacity. The price of it was very appealing to me at the time. It was 199 when I purchased them (400 for the pair). I have used other Behringer PA speakers in the past and some of them have been really bad sounding speakers. The reason I chose to go with these was because I was at an event, and they were using them. The sound was great; it was an outdoor even and was focusing more on speeches rather than music. All of the speakers that came up and said a few things sounded great. I did not purchase a pair of these to run my DJ shows or anything with the bands that I work with. I wanted to have a good set of PA speakers for more of weddings and banquet type of stuff. Since I purchase these I have only used them officially maybe 6 times and only one of those times focused on playing music. It has worked great each time, and these have become my go to speakers when I am at a smaller event that has speakers that are going to talk to the crowd. I have also used these once at a personal event of my own (cookout) and it sounded amazing. They are very light and portable. They also get very loud and the sound is crystal clear. The only issue that I have with them is when it comes to using them for live instruments; I did not like the tonal quality it provided for guitars and other instruments. It just didn’t give a natural sound to the acoustic guitars and some of the bass guitars. I even used the B215XL with about 4 different microphones and I still was not happy with the sound of the guitars coming through these speakers. So it has just kind of been put away for smaller events that focus more on speeches like weddings and cookouts. I do not use them much, but instead of purchasing something else I figured I will just keep them in the storage unit in case someone wants to rent them out.

The JBL Pro JRX 125 is a pair of speaker cabinets that I purchased years ago for under 1000 dollars. They still look brand new and sound exactly the same as they did the day that I purchased them years ago. I have used many JBL speaker cabinets before and I know that most all of JBL products are built to last a long time. These cabinets are built with JBL’s best drivers and crossovers. They have steel grilles and are covered with carpet material to keep them scratch proof. Each speaker does have handles on them (built into the unit). The frequency range is 38Hz to 16 kHz with a peak capacity of 1000 watts and 500 watts of continuous power. These speakers do get loud though and have a crystal clear sound. I originally purchased a pair of these back in 2007 for some shows that we had going at the time and I was not sure if I was going to keep them because I thought that I was going to need more power but they ended up staying apart of our gear all the way up to this day and I would not think about getting rid of them because they have a great sound and the tonal quality they provide for certain instruments like guitars is second to none. For the money, you will not get a better sounding speaker in that range. These speakers are pretty heavy but for the quality of sound you will get it is well worth the back ache of carrying them around with you. These speakers are the true reason why I love JBL speakers so much. They are made with the best materials and have the best sound (in this price range). I would purchase these again any day, even if they were made years ago I still think they have held their value well!

The Peavey PVx 12 is a 400 watt 12 inch passive speaker. It is well built but it does have a lot of weight to it. It weight nearly 40 pounds just for this one speaker which could make it not to portable depending on what your gig is. The peak power that you can get with the PVx 12 is 800 watts. You can mount it on a pole or use it as a floor speaker. We always thought that it sounded better up at ear level so mounting it was best for us. The sound of this speaker is great for the price; it is an very affordable way to get a great sound for your gigs. The sound is clean and crisp, not to mention that it will travel well in both indoor and outdoor spaces. The low end frequencies have nice warmth to them without being over bearing. I have used tons of different monitors/ speakers in my years being a DJ. If you cannot afford to invest in a higher end pair of monitors from Peavey then the PVx 12’s will suit you right. The only reason I even purchased this speaker a while ago was because of the sound, it has a great frequency response range and sounds great with no matter what music you play with it. We have even used it for a speech before and it still sounded amazing. I would make this same choice again if I had to, but since I had this monitor I have upgraded many times and no matter what speaker set that I get it still think about this monitor because of the sound quality. The value for the price is great, but if you can afford to spend a little more money then go ahead and look into the PV215 speaker system by Peavey.

The Nexo PS15 comes from Europe and it is a very well built loudspeaker made by a company in Paris. We have used these speakers multiple times over the last 7 years, the first time we used them was in 2005 and we used them in a club. The crossover frequency is 900 Hz. You can turn these babies up and they are loud. I have used them in very large venues and clubs. Even in outdoors spaces they sound great. This loudspeaker system isn’t even considered the top of the line system that Nexo makes. We used the PS15 as a floor monitor and never really took it off of ground level. It does have a built in stand fitting 35mm if you want to use it on a stand (sold separately) . These loudspeakers do need a woofer for them to have that thump that I love in a club. So we had a Yamaha sub woofer to carry out the duties of the low end. The PS15 weighs just over 50 pounds which makes it easy enough to still move it around if you need to. The frequency response is 50Hz-18kHz. If you use it with a 1200W amplifier you will be more than satisfied on how it sounds. The sound that comes out the Nexo PS15 was very crisp, the highs where very clean and not too bright. Still keeping presence of the mids in the mix.. The lows are not absent, but the PS15 just needs a woofer to give that low end its thickness. But the overall quality of sound was very good and I look forward to seeing more products over here in the US from Nexo located in Paris. I am happy that I had the chance to use the Nexo PS15, the quality was amazing and the price was affordable. I am still keeping my eye out for more loudspeakers that are affordable from Nexo. This is the first Nexo product that I have tried and I am very impressed.

The Peavey PV215 is a heavy duty PA Speaker that is un-powered. The peak power in it is 1,400 watts and the frequency range is 40Hz to 21kHz. It is a slimmer but taller PA speaker that stands about 50” tall. It is very well built and it is a great bang for your dollars. If you use the Peavey PV215 I suggest using it with a powerful mixer in order to get the best sound out of it. For the price of 299, you won’t beat what you will get for it, you will order another one soon. We used a pair of these back in 2009-2010 and never had an issue with them, we even sold them for almost the same price that we paid for them brand new. They work great in a big outdoor space, as well as decent sized indoor clubs. Just make sure you position them right or a lot of your listeners could be missing out on some quality sound. When we used the Peavey PV215 we used it with a Behringer EP4000 amp and it made the pair of PV215’s sound amazing. We still own the amp just not the speakers. I would make the same choice again if we needed something similar, we have upgraded to few different PA systems now that have more watts so we can get a bigger sound. The bad thing about the Peavey PV215 is that it really is hard to take them around with you unless you have a bigger vehicle that can fit the odd tall slim shape that they are. You would need to check all of the size specs before making the purchase to think about if its something your want to lug around with you from club and back. The sound of them is nothing to complain about, Peavey has always made some good PA systems, wish they sold these in pairs for a discount.