Karaoke Forums

Ok, I had mentioned back in May that I was looking at getting larger 3 way powered speakers to handle larger events inside or outside. I have to choose between the JBL PRX535 with 518 subs or QSC HPR153i HPR 153i 15" Powered PA Loud Speaker with the 18" powered subs. Im leaning towards the QSC because I already own one QSC 18" powered sub and would only need to add one sub and two speakers. But, I did read that the JBL PRX is 650 watts compared to QSC 600 watts would this be a big difference and would they both be able to handle large indoor or outdoor events. Which would you recommend. Thanks so much

JBL PRX535

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... 600422#new

QSC HPR153I

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... 600028#new

Don't worry so much about watts. Speaker A may be much more efficient than Speaker B at low power, and Speaker B might be more efficient at full power than Speaker A. It's a complex subject, but the thing to do is to demo the speakers at a retail outlet or find someone in your area that owns them.

Barring that, both those speakers are "good," "professional" PA speakers that should do fine for any karaoke application with as many as a couple hundred listeners. If your event is going to be larger than that, at your level, you should probably hire a local sound contractor (find someone who does weekend bar bands, they will be inexpensive) and keep using them for the jobs that are too big for your own gear.

I don't think you will feel like you're going wrong with either the QSC or JBL PRX.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

Either one are very good, although i'd give the edge to the QSC. They also came with a 6 year warranty!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I'd say its about a toss up. Everybody here is gonna tell you something different. I have only heard the JBL's and can't speak about the QCS. I will say that I was very impressed. I'm sure the QSC would sound awesome also.

Myself, I prefer to go passive on my FOH and use separate subs from my tops. I like to be able to use different configurations depending on the room. The speakers your wanting are to heavy for stands and not tall enough if left free standing. Unless I had a stage(or extra subs)to raise them off the floor, they wouldn't work well for most of my applications.

Mojo

Both the speakers he linked to are stand mountable. The QSC are heavier, but there are stands that can withstand up to 150 lb's.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

You don't really need subs to get your full-range boxes off the ground. Just build a couple of sturdy boxes and paint them black. You can then use the boxes to store things like speaker cables when you transport your gear.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

Performance wise, I don't think you could go wrong with either choice, however I'd give the edge to QSC in one important area that often goes overlooked and that is customer service. I have yet to find a company that treats you better when a component fails than QSC. While JBL, Mackie, Shure and others are very responsive and helpful, QSC has a good reputation for going above and beyond and I personally have experienced it first hand when our production company had issues with a couple amplifiers.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Thanks everyone, giving your responses and that I already have one QSC sub I think I will go with QSC. I also have 4 JBL EOns that I can loop out for additional coverage if need but I think this will be able to handle most large events. Thanks again.

Thanks for the info Lonman, I assumed they wouldn't mount on stands due to their size and weight.

Mojo

I know you only asked between these two brand, but my choice would be the Yorkville NX750p More power, better overall specs, lighter and much cheaper

http://www.proaudiostar.com/servlet/the ... 50P/Detail

Have fun with your new speakers

Thanks Mic, I am looking for these to be able to handle large events indoor and some outdoor. I will be looping out 4 JBL Eons so I hope the QSC or JBL would be able to produce enough sound to cover lets say 500 to 800 people outside or at least give decent coverage. Thanks

No, you won't be happy with that setup for 500 - 800 outdoors.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

Thanks Jeff, Along the lines of what I mentioned what would I need to cover this type of event? Bob

500 - 800 for what type of event? Wedding, rock concert? How big is the coverage area? You might be able to get away with some SRX725s and 4 - 8 decent subs, or you may need a flown line array and 30kw of power. Depends on how important music is to the event and if you need pounding kick drums and bass guitar, or what.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

Is this a one shot deal? If so, you just might want to rent the extra gear you need. If it's something you plan to do regular you might have to do some major investing. To do outdoor events you would normally at least double if not triple what you would use to do the same event indoors. I use two U15P's and two LS800P's to do a 500 seat Venue. (4800 watts total) If I were to do it outside I wouldn't feel comfortable unless I was using six U15P's and six LS800Ps. You do have your Eon's to take care of a few coverage problems, that would help, so you might get away with four and six. If all the music is processed music for DJ or Karaoke you could probably get away with four and four. As far as the JBL or QSC you asked about in your original post, ( I didn't respond as my speaker of choice was not a given option) I've heard them all and IMHO the PRX JBL's are under performers, The QSC's are better but neither will keep up with their Yorkville counterparts. Both of the three way cabinets from JBL and QSC are pretty unwieldy to deal with while the Yorkville three way cabinet has more power and INHO have a superior design. (the cabinets where designed by Danely a very well respected high end audio manufacturer). The bottom line is, no matter what manufacturer you use you will need more of it to get proper coverage outside. Good luck.

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

This is a "Cage Fight Match" being held at a fairground. We normally hold these inside a field house and the 2 JBLPRX speakers and subs along with 4 JBL EONS were more than enough to handle it. We generally play music at the beginning of the event and intermission other than that we only play the fighters intro music as the are introduced. It is also used for the ring announcer.

For something like this you might survive with your PRX's and Eon's covering the top end. Your going to be light in the bottom end, maybe you can just bring in some extra bottoms just for this gig to get you by. Like I mentioned earlier, the open air will dissipate you lower frequencies without mercy.

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

Thanks London, I went down to hear the PRX and QSC speakers side by side and I was suprised the PRX sounded (in my opinion) much better. The Rep at Sam Ash in our area loves QSC (Was wearing their shirt) but had to admit the PRX sounded better. He had not had a chance to listen to PRX until now and generally doesnt like JBL's speakers but would take the PRX over the QSC. Now I do have one question. I have one QSC 18 sub which I love and was wondering could I use the two PRX 525 or 535 with two QSC 18 subs or would it be better to match the PRX speakers with PRX subs? Thanks

Maybe I should have clarified when I said that IMHO the PRX's were under achievers. What I meant was that they sound alright but they tend to run out of gas when driven hard. I was even discussing this just yesterday when I was rehashing the QSC,JBL,Yorkville debate with the owner of a production company (and a few techs). Everybody in the room agreed that out of the three the PRX just seemed to be under powered when compared to the QSC and Yorkville. In any case it's just a subjective opinion. Keep in mind, when I A/B products I don't do it in a music store showroom, I either do it in a large warehouse where I can really put them through their paces or in a Venue. To answer your question, without hesitation I would choose the HPR sub over the PRX sub. (But my favorite is still the Yorkville LS800P Sub.)

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

Thanks everyone, would you suggest 2 way PRX525 or 3 way PRX535 speakers? Im running subs so is there any advantage to getting 3 way ro 2 way? Thanks