The great sub quest

[avkid]

We are looking to upgrade our less than wonderful Electro-Voice Force I sub. I am looking for opinions/personal preferences that anyone has. At one point I was looking at the Mackie SWA1501, the response seems to be lacking a bit though. Any help is greatly appreciated!

http://www.electrovoice.com/Electrovoice3/products.nsf/pages/Force i Sub

http://www.mackie.com/products/swa1501/index.html

 

[soundman1024]

I don't know what fits in your budget but JBL SRX 4719's can hit hard with a good amp. A microtech 2400 should do fairly well..don't forget to add cables and a crossover to the price though. That is the low end reinforcement we have in our youth church and it can hit your chest. If you're using them outside I don't know if they are quite what you need for that. We used them outside on a macrotech 5000 once. I was unimpressed by them outdoors, but inside they will shake walls.

I helped out with a concert in the Missouri Theater in St. Joe MO and they had 4 boxes (8 drivers) of them on 2 microtech 2400s and it was enough to shake the stone walls. Pretty good subs, if you can afford them (or find them..I was having trouble with that) and plan to use them indoors.

I heard the Mackie 1501s in a gym at a church once and they didn't impress me. There were 2 cabnits, total (for subs) and I was unimpressed by them. I don't know if the operator wasn't really pushing them and they have more, or if they aren't too powerful. Either way that is the opinion I got from them without using them, they may be great subs, I just wasn't impressed when I heard them.

 

[BillESC]

Do yourself a favor and check out the EX 2.0 and EX 2.5 subs from KV2 audio.

Truely amazing in both clarity and punch.

www.kv2audio.com

 

[mbenonis]

Over the summer, I worked on the sound crew for a concert series. We used (5) VerTec 4889's per side for the mains and (6) 4719's per side for the subs, all amped with MA 5002VZ's. If you stood in front of the subs, you could feel your clothes moving back every time the bass drum was hit. The only drawback to the 4719's is the size - they're big and heavy.

 

[soundman1024]

Yeah if you plan on moving the 4719s have 2 people. I don't know anyone who wouldn't have to team lift them. They weith 188lbs (about 85kg) if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[avkid]

Wow, that's like lifting me!

 

[Eboy87]

On vacation this summer, the place we stayed at had an outdoor concert. I talked with the sound guy and he said they used two Mackie SWA1801

http://www.mackie.com/products/swa1801/index.html

You could definitly tell when the drummer hit the kick drum. The downside is they are really heavy, they have casters on them for a reason. I've found them for $1K on Yahoo shopping before.

 

[Foxinabox10]

If you don't already have an amp, I would suggest the JBL JRX118SP. They can be had for about $600 or less and are powered.

 

[avkid]

I found out that I am grossly underpowering it, therefore killing the performance possibilities

 

[Foxinabox10]

Before buying another amp, look at my post above. The benefit of a powered sub is that it's powered exactly to the amount that it was designed for and you don't have to worry about crossovers and everything.

 

[avkid]

I am not buying anythying until I take a more in depth look at what we do or do not have.

 

[AVGuyAndy]

I suppose it would be repetitive to post what I did on PSW.

 

[Foxinabox10]

AVGuyAndy, please share with those of us that don't read PSW.

 

[AVGuyAndy]

I suggested that he bridge the amp (PLX1602) and then see if he needs another sub.

 

[avkid]

Thanks Andy, many people said I should reconsider the Force I because they think it is a good sub,the consensus was that I was using it incorrectly, which after further research I realized was true.

 

[avkid]

I bridged one of our QSC PLX1602's and when I turned up the lows on our cd player channel the plywood deck started to visibly move!

 

[sound_nerd]

I bridged one of our QSC PLX1602's and when I turned up the lows on our cd player channel the plywood deck started to visibly move!

So....getting a much better response from the sub now? Good to hear. Check your crossover point too...if it happens to be set at a funny freq. then you may be loosing a lot of performance too.

 

[avkid]

I spent over an hour resetting the crossover.