Need help with my setup!

Hi,

I don’t know the Seismic speakers, nor the amp you mentioned. The 700W rating is probably 350W RMS. I can’t say much about your specific setup, so I’ll hold my tongue (as I do have an opinion :-).

However, what I can say and which is echoed on the forum here and over on the blog time and again: “When it comes to (PA) speakers, you get what you pay for”. There are no shortcuts. There is NO way a pair 15″ speakers in this price range are gonna sound anywhere near the quality of 600-1000 a piece (active) speakers (which is what you’ll start paying for pro grade equipment).

Why is this important? If you are playing for your classmates, this setup will do, besides I doubt they would spring for gear rental/hire anyway. So if you are bringing this, they don’t have to blow up their own home stereo speakers.

You are talking about upgrading all this with another set of 15″ tops (overkill for most situations I would say) and two 18″ subs. No doubt you will be looking in the same price/quality range for those as well. For subs, even more than with tops, you get what you pay for too.

If you have the intention of starting to doing regular paying gigs, I would make sure my customers understand that gear costs money. And then I’d go out and rent a pro quality PA setup and charge the customer for that.

I have been playing a long time and I have a two 12″ – one 18″ sub setup (Mackie HD-series). It set me back approximately 3000 euro! (roughly 4000 dollar). Why did I spend this kind of money? Because this setup suits about 80% of the gigs I play. I always have to bring my own gear and my customers pay for the gear hire. I play regularly so the set has paid itself off in the last three years. This is top-end PA gear, as portable as I could get it. With only 2 12″ and 1 18″ sub I bring 2000W RMS to the party. So, it’s not always about size or number of speakers.

I understand not everybody can or wants to spend that kind of money. And if you don’t play regularly enough at venues where you are expected to bring the gear, it might even be unwise to buy your own.

There are nice 1000 dollar 1 sub/2 top setups that are very portable yet pack a mighty punch for smaller events. Check the reviews on the blog.

My point is, don’t go spending too much money on lots of bulky, sub-par gear. If you need to bring gear, rent. Rent til it’s feasible to buy. Buy something that will suits most of your needs. Still rent if you need more/bigger (I still rent on a regular basis if I need to do a bigger gig than my set can handle).

Final word. I am an avid fan of active speakers. But that is just me. I left the days of lugging very clumsy, very heavy amps behind me years ago. An added bonus is that if one speaker breaks, you still have the other going, whereas if your amp stops, it’s silence.

Hope that is of some help.

Greetinx.

p.s. I just took a look at the specs of your amp. Your speakers are 8 Ohm, 350 Watt, your amp is 2x 250W into 8 Ohm. Your total power is 500W at full amp power (not recommended). This gives you an outdoor capacity of 50 people tops. But, more importantly, your amp is underpowered compared to your speakers. And contrary to popular belief. It’s not OVERpowered amps that kill speakers, but UNDERpowered amps. There is an article over on the blog that explains this in detail. Read it and take the advice in it to heart. You do not want to run this amp full power with these speakers.

I have some EV speakers that I’m quite thrilled with so far. I hope to be getting a few more of them soon. I figured I would chime in with my .02…. The QSC speakers you listed, I actually listened to them at a Guitar Center, they are nice no doubt, and like the JBL and another set I listened to, I could not hear enough difference in them to justify the price. I have a pair of 12″ EV ZLX powered 2-ways for tops, and so far I love them. I have a single ZXA1 Sub, and for small and portable, I love it too. I’m looking to upgrade with a second sub, or possibly a bigger 15″ Sub and then a second one later on.
I would echo some advice I’ve read on here and other forums more than once. If at all possible, go to a shop where you can do some A/B comparisons between a few different speakers. I would also say that you should try and compare a 12″ version and a 15″ version of the same series, such as Thumps(look at the new Thump series too!), or ZLX for instance. I found that I preferred the sound from 12″ speakers over that of 15″ speakers, and if you’re planning on adding subs, the added bass the 15s offers is not really going to be of much benefit, unless you’re using the speakers alone for a smaller event.
The features that the ZLX series offered, and the sound they put out, was good enough for me at this point, and the price fit into my startup budget. I’m glad I picked up the ZXA1 sub, as it’s so handy for smaller events, but I may decide to just forget about a second one, and start assembling a bigger setup, with EV 15″ subs from the new ETX line(hey, I like eating rice and ramen)… I can say that they are decently built, one was knocked over recently, from about 6ft up on a tripod, down to the concrete floor. Still working, and only minor cosmetic damage. Now to go look into ADJA membership and insurance…..LOL
Keep us posted, and good luck! Moonshadow