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Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby andyysplash » 02 Jan 2016, 03:21

Hi all, I'm just about to purchase my first decent keys rig (Electro 5D 61 and Arturia Keylab 88) and I'm still looking for a suitable means of amplification. I'm running the rig through a Behringer Xenyx 1002 (eventually looking to upgrade to a Tascam LM-8ST or similar when I expand my rig) and I'm looking for an amplification solution.

It seems that most people are suggesting active PA speakers as the way to go, though I'm open to suggestions. The budget's £500-550 and I've seen good reviews of the EV ELX 112P, but they're >£400 each so I'd be running mono until I could afford a second.

Thanks in advance!
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Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig


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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby RedLeo » 02 Jan 2016, 04:47

Unfortunately, that's about where prices are at. Around £400 seems to be the break point where you're getting good quality gear. You can go cheaper with gear that looks to have similar specs on paper, but that won't work out so well in practice. Going second-hand, or (preferably) second user/B stock/sale from a store is an option, and much better than buying cheaper lower-quality new gear.
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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby andyysplash » 02 Jan 2016, 13:40

RedLeo wrote:Around £400 seems to be the break point where you're getting good quality gear.


That's a bit of a bummer really, but I can't cut down the price for the rest of my rig any more than I already have :/

I was looking at combo amps for a while, but since they're mono at this sort of price I'd rather a decent powered speaker any day. Did look at passive cabs and getting a powered amp head but that winds up as or more expensive for a lower quality sound.

If you know any good places to get second-hand gear I'll have a look there else it seems getting one EV now and saving up for a second later is the way to go.



Edit: Are the EV ZLX 112Ps any good compared to the ELX? The only difference seems to be weight, wood vs plastic construction and the price.
Last edited by andyysplash on 02 Jan 2016, 14:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby RedLeo » 02 Jan 2016, 15:46

andyysplash wrote:I was looking at combo amps for a while, but since they're mono at this sort of price I'd rather a decent powered speaker any day. Did look at passive cabs and getting a powered amp head but that winds up as or more expensive for a lower quality sound.


I wouldn't bother with a keyboard combo if you're serious about getting a good sound, they've got a reputation for sounding dreadful. And it's a very well deserved reputation :)

andyysplash wrote:If you know any good places to get second-hand gear I'll have a look there else it seems getting one EV now and saving up for a second later is the way to go.


No particular recommendations, a good old-fashioned shop or an online retail store is probably a good place to start looking. i wouldn't recommend a private sale, eBay or whatever, speakers can get trashed by over-use but still actually work. You can't see the damage. Basically, if you do buy second-hand, make sure it's from somewhere with a good reputation and with some sort of warranty or guarantee. It's fine to buy other electronic stuff second-hand, but speakers can be a a lot more iffy - there are a lot of abused and trashed loudspeakers out there.

andyysplash wrote:Edit: Are the EV ZLX 112Ps any good compared to the ELX? The only difference seems to be weight, wood vs plastic construction and the price.


The ZLX's are said to be very good for the price - I haven't actually heard them yet, but they are the budget range, while the ELX is higher up the range. From what I've heard generally, the ZLX's are damned good for a budget range, and if I had to guess, I would say they may well do you fine.

However, it is a classic case of the specs don't tell the whole story - especially from the manufacturer! The ELXs will definitely sound a lot better than the ZLXs.

But EV have been particularly good about really squeezing the price down and still giving you a professional quality product - their smaller ZXA1 speaker is pretty astonishing - I have one - but they are, alas, rather under-powered compared to other similar speakers.

I would definitely check the ZLXs out, and try them from somewhere with a good returns policy. From new, if you liked them, you could probably just about squeeze a pair out of your budget...if you really had to... ;)

PS Just to be clear, the only reason I didn't suggest the ZLX's in the first place was that I completely forgot about them, pure and simple.
Last edited by RedLeo on 02 Jan 2016, 15:59, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby andyysplash » 02 Jan 2016, 16:33

RedLeo wrote:No particular recommendations, a good old-fashioned shop or an online retail store is probably a good place to start looking.

I'll browse around and see what there is.

RedLeo wrote:The ZLX's are said to be very good for the price - I haven't actually heard them yet, but they are the budget range, while the ELX is higher up the range. From what I've heard generally, the ZLX's are damned good for a budget range, and if I had to guess, I would say they may well do you fine.

If the difference is small I'd probably go for the ZLXs since I'd get stereo and I'd be looking at upgrading to a real high quality speaker system further down the line when I had the money and it made sense in terms of gigs I was playing. If it's a bigger difference then I guess going with one ELX and saving for a second would be worth it.

RedLeo wrote:I would definitely check the ZLXs out, and try them from somewhere with a good returns policy. From new, if you liked them, you could probably just about squeeze a pair out of your budget...if you really had to... ;)

Seems a good idea - I was looking at getting them ordered from Andertons so I'll see if they have a good return policy or not. Thanks for all the help so far!
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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby cphollis » 04 Jan 2016, 03:21

I understand your budget constraints, but -- hey! -- you've spent big money on your boards -- why not spend a bit more on decent amplification so everyone can hear you play? Even mediocre boards can sound great through good amplification. Imagine how good your Nord will sound!

For gigging musicians who play without professional sound support, the debate right now is between self-powered PA speakers, and the new Spacestation V3. With self-powered PAs, RedLeo is right, the best value for money spent is the EV ZLX series. From there, the Yamahas, the QSCs and so on. Many choices, all good.

I have a fleet of QSC K series that get left home as I'm now using the SSv3 95% of the time. Just avoid "keyboard amps" if you can :)

Best of luck!
I think I have gear issues ....

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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby andyysplash » 04 Jan 2016, 20:20

cphollis wrote:I understand your budget constraints, but -- hey! -- you've spent big money on your boards -- why not spend a bit more on decent amplification so everyone can hear you play?

I'd love to spend a good £1k+ on a banging PA system, but I don't have that kind of money right now. However, the first thing I'll be upgrading on my rig will be the mixer and the amp system.

cphollis wrote:Just avoid "keyboard amps" if you can :)

Best of luck!

I know the horrors of the Roland KC series - every venue has one if they're providing the keys rig.

I'll have a look at that SSv3 and see what it's all about, but it's looking like either that or the ZLXs for now.
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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby pablomastodon » 05 Jan 2016, 03:51

SSv3 is definitely sweet, but benefits by being indoors as opposed to open air (as do most systems).

+1 on that Tascam mixer -- sweet little unit


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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby Rudy Wendt » 05 Jan 2016, 19:00

I use the EV ZLX12P and must say that i'm VERY VERY happy with it playing live with my Electro 5, definately awesome result for the price!!
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Re: Powered speaker(s) for Electro rig

Postby Dreamer » 05 Jan 2016, 21:41

cphollis wrote:From there, the Yamahas, the QSCs and so on...


Sometimes I get desperate with the Yamahas .. I own two but for piano they are just too honky to do justice to the super Nord samples... I did a comparision routing the the Nord pianos using line In into a CP300 Yamaha Piano, still the honkiness was there .. not for the yamaha samples in CP300 but for the non-yamaha samples of Nord like mellow grand and fazioli .. that leads me to the conclusion that Yamaha does some clever speaker-sample engeneering to get this result.

Nord should collaborate with a speaker company, seriously, and not loose the final part of the signal chain in the wild.
At least, they should give official reccommendations for pristine and authentic sound reproducing and don't leave this to forum members. And, by the way, they should also licence Ivory American Concert D .. and a solid wurly clone ... just sayin ..
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