choosing the right speakers...

Les

Well-Known Member
I found these specs online (www.cheaplights.com). They are for a 15" Speaker that is selling for $155.85. I'm pretty sure it is an off brand (speakermax?). Are these worth looking into or should I go with a more reputable company like JBL?

SpeakerMax Full range speaker. One 15 inch woofer with 90 oz magnet, 5x15 horn with titanium compression driver. 500 watts continuous, 1000 watts peak. 8 ohms. Frequency response 45 to 20k Hz. Sensitivity 108dB@1w/1m. Two 1/4 inch jacks and push terminals. Metal corners. SIZE (HxWxL)- 28.25x18.5x13.25, WEIGHT- 57, COVERING-Black carpet. For safe shipping, this unit comes without the woofer installed. A phillips screwdriver and a few minutes will have the job done.
 
Forget the 1000W peak as this is probably for 1 second at 1000Hz. Treat the boxes as 500W

See if you can find out what make the 15" drivers are and even if there is a x-over in the box or if the drives are expected to be full range.

Other that that - I would see if you can talk to someone that either has a pair or has used them.

At that price, I would imagine that you shouldn't expect too much. Compare the price to some SX300's or similar.

On the other hand, if they get you through enough shows to pay for themselves and pay for a better quality set, then it is money well spent.

I would try and demo a set at the very least
 
well.......sure, it may sound like great deal and what not but are you willing to take cheapness over quality? I'd say just go with a Set of JBL's. You wont be dissapointed.
 
Speakermax? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Definitely look into another brand be it JBL or another brand name.
 
If you need to save some, take a look at the Carvin line. I can't say I'd recommend them to go on the road, but sitting still they're not likely to fall apart. They're a pretty decent bang for the buck, just don't expect them to be EAWs or Turbo Sounds. You can expect to pay around double than that cab you're looking at now. But the tradeoff is having a box that actually somewhat closely resembles the description on the spec sheet.
 
If you are wanting some half way decent subs but on the lower end of the cost range, I would consider peavey. The brand is not that bad. They are known around here for having good subs for the price. Maybe consider the SP118. They run about $480. You might find a pair of them cheaper than $300 on ebay.
 
The frequency range isn't so much the thing, although for a 15" w/ horn, 45 to 20k seems about right. The post about adding subs was right on though, but let's not spend more money than you have.

If you're going to get what is commonly referred to as a 15/2 (a cab with 2 elements, the largest being 15") then the specs you posted would be pretty good... if they were true. A more reputable company will put out a spec sheet that is a lot more realistic, or that would include more data about how the thing actually performs, not just what it can do with a short blast of midrange sine waves.

Actually, screw the spec sheets and ask people what they're using that they like. Peavey's are all right, they last forever and they don't sound too bad. If you need to save a little, like I said before, the Carvin line would be an OK choice, you sacrifice a little bass, but you could always add a sub to the system down the road. I'd stay away from JBL for a lot of reasons, the least of which being cost, don't get me started about their horns.

So what is this actually for anyway, it might help us recommend something if we knew what its purpose was.
 
Carvins my seem heavy for their size, but I'm in the process of replacing my 15/3s and 18/1s with other brands and the next step up adds at least 80 pounds. The Peavey unit that compares to my current 15/3s weighs at least 30 pounds more.

Another nice thing about the Carvins is that with two small screws you can pull the name plate and they easily become totally anonymous. Then you just have a nice, plain, black box that practically disappears, unless you light it of course.
 

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