Advice from you live sound folks- Sub quality?

mixsit

Well-known member
I'm considering subs to add to a small pa rig that I use for the occasional gigs with my bands. Not looking to get into anything real high volume/heavy rock, just good reinforcement and headroom in med rooms, small outdoor etc- a good match to the EV ZX3 that would become my mid/high boxes.

My main question is regarding balancing sound quality vs size and weight – not that it won't factor in but let's put price as secondary for a moment.

I have a pretty good ear and experience (mixing, problem solving live or studio :D
But I'm just wondering if sub sound quality can even show up at the smaller end of things.

If it does and I could get a plus in the size/weight dept and a quality bump in one, I'd consider looking into the higher end subs.

Electro-Voice ZX3 12-inch two-way full-range loudspeaker
 
Dunno if you're in the uk, but these guys make excellent subs for around half the price of equivalent high street brand name products. As you can only buy direct from the manufacturers (or second hand), there's no sales mark up; iirc, these guys actually build a lot of the brand name subs you see on sale elsewhere. For music purposes, I understand a sealed unit like te xxls400 would be the best choice. I believe the ported monoliths are more suitable for home cinema.

Sub Woofers - Sub Bass - Subwoofer

I realise I'm not answering your question, but thought a heads up might be useful :D.
 
If you have EV tops, you could do worse than look at the range of EV bottoms. Also check out DB Technology subs.
 
To bad that your tops are passive for what you would want is a powered active sub with built in Xover.

Something like QSC's new line. Or even the Mackie single 15 is good for what your looking to accomplish.
 
Why not just go with an EV SB122---about as small, portable and powerful as you need to round out the sound of an SX or ZX system, and one of the more affordable pieces of the puzzle.

EV did make an active version of this subwoofer, with two separate class-D amps (one for the sub, one to drive a top cabinet), but it was recently discontinued and was selling out for under $500.

Paj
8^)
 
I live and Die by Yorkville Subwoofers, the sound is impeccible! Very clear and musical! Also a couple of powered 15's and you've got extremely comforable low end, a couple of 18's and you can do large venue reinforcement, greaty bang for your buck!
 
I sprung for the Danley TH-Mini (not here yet..) Should be about on par with the good 18" reflexes, but keeps my size and pack' down a bit.
http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/danley/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/TH-Mini-spec-sheet.pdf
I'm trying out the Carvin 4-ch (eq430') for low and high pass, plus a few extra ch of general eq in one space. Just started messing with it and ran some tracks/mixes through it last night. I still need to see if if it squaks' loaded up and pushed on all four.. So far sounds real good, plays nice..
 
Forget the BK Electronics subs as mentioned earlier. They are designed for smaller spaces and lower volumes, not for a live band. You need road-ready subs designed to be moved around.

Based on what you described, (Not looking to get into anything real high volume/heavy rock, just good reinforcement and headroom in med rooms, small outdoor etc,) you should consider using only one high power sub. A single sub with dual 15's or 18's will perform well in smaller venues and will not create comb filtering or have that power alley effect associated with two subs. You can probably stay on budget as well.
 
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