I run the EKX 15p’s with either one or two ETX 18sp’s depending on the party size or room size... most the time I end up running just the 15p’s by themselves because they are work horses... sound is amazing and if needed for the younger crowds I’ll add the subs! Hands down the best purchase I ever made!
Chad have you compared them to the 12's for a sound comparison? I'm on the fence about buying the EKX 15's over the 12's and it all comes down to me not wanting to have to invest in subs. I play in a handful of bands and none of what we do is especially bass forward but there are times where it would be nice to be able to mic the drums and bass. I just don't want to sacrifice vocal and instrument clarity that you'll get with the 12's that might become a bit less clear with the 15's.
I did this system at a HS dance last week to prove that it could do a smaller school dance and not have issues with lack of power! that is a video I am going to be launching later in my ELX200 series!
Great video. I have EKXs I use for stage monitors and ETX12 / ETX18 for FOH. They are all GREAT speakers, but I can definitely tell a difference in the quality between the EKX and ETX. Again, they are all incredible, but the ETXs are just insane!
I’d also say that you should run the DSP inside wide open or at unity and control the level externally and see at what point does the signal start to clip, then measure
Bought a new 2018 Mackie Thump 12A 1300 watt for a personal vocal monitor to hear my self more clearly and most of all more loudly. Already running 1200 watt peavey amp into 2 peavy passive 15 inch speakers. Its level has been loud enough for years but i knew I needed to hear myself better to perform better and avoid vocal fatigue. Its not loud enough and disappears as soon as we start playing. Tried different cables, dynamic and live condenser mics etc. Mic gain and mon both up at 90% then starts feeding back at 100. Sounds ok when no one else is playing. Plays music from phone or ipad much louder than singing. Were not crazy loud either. Loud but not intrusively or out of the ordinary for a rock band. This thing would be great for kareoke or an acoustic quieter band but not for rock music. Talked to several techs who were all confused from different companies. Finally received a replacement and its exactly the same. 1300 watts should be blowing my hair back. Is one powered wedge usually good enough or do you absolutely need 2? Never had many problems on stage hearing myself on 1 of the houses though they were not self powered. We have an old powered old JBL 500 watt or or something that's around 30% louder and lower watts. Anyone else experience this with Mackie or any other mfgs? Is this normal? Thanks!
You found out the hard way that watts are somewhat meaningless.. it is the SPL in the real world that are what is important.. a 10,000 watt powered speaker we saw at a DJ show a few years ago had less sound output that most 12" portable DJ speakers that are rated wattage wise under 1000.. it is efficiency of the speaker and how it uses those watts that matter.
I can tell you what the problem is.....You bought Mackies.......And the Thump series? Sorry but they are garbage (not trying to hate). The SRM have much higher SPL. Mackie has really gone down hill. They used to build high quality gear. Now they've changed their philosophy toward more affordable gear, for still okay quality, but nothing like an EKX, or ETX EV. I hope by now you've solved your problem and are hearing better. If I were you, Id go the route of Personal In Ear Monitor system. Its a whole new world. However, if the entire band is not on board, you'll probably run into the same problem.
So you performed a sound test in a different video on the ELX200 15P and it maxed at 120db. Why is the 12P hitting higher DB in this video?? Ive been on the fence about buying the 15 or downsizing to the 12 without too much of a sound sacrifice. This video makes me want to buy the 12s and save my money!!
You can see in the video he has the SPL meter all over the place, its closer to the middle for the ELX and down by the woofer for the ETX. You need to be at least a meter away to get the full blend of the compression driver and woofer SPL. If he doesn't measure from a meter for all videos then the SPL could be off as much as 20db from randomly measured in the first couple meters. Here's a quote form this document: " Another consideration is the measuring distance. A speaker with the sensitivity rating of 85 dB / 1 watt / 1 meter, is the same as a speaker rated at 91 dB / 1 watt / 50 cm, and or a speaker rated at 105 dB / 1 watt / 10 cm. This is due to a 6 dB increase with each halving of the measured distance, and a 20 dB increase with decreasing the distance to 1/10 of the original." www.puiaudio.com/pdf/speaker_power_distance.pdf
So, looking at adding to and ypgrading my PA... currently have a ZXA1 sub, an EKX15SP, and some ZLX12P tops... I am guessing that unless I plan on doing quite large venues or outdoor events well over 200 people, the additional cost of the top end ETK might not be worth it over the EKX line. I am thinking of adding more ZLX12P for certain uses, as wel has as 2 EKX12P tops and 3 more 15" subs (to make 4 ELX15SP). More speakers for the dollar vs going with fewer ETX speakers basically. Also taking size and weight into consideration. I havent heard many other EKX in person much , but with the right placement a single 15" sub almost runs away from 2 ZLX12P tops.... do you think a pair of EKX12P tops would be enough to keep up with dual 15 subs under each top? Hope to have a second Sub and pair of new tops coming before spring break.
SPL is not what it's all about guys! It's about sound quality! You can drive a speaker loud but will it still maintain the clarity with that SPL? The ETX has better components- horn and woofer. Try playing different music genre's and see how the character of the speaker maintains its highs and lows and also for how long.
Agree. My main rig for live bands is (6) ETX18SPs and (4) ETX12Ps, but I also have some EKX and ZLX speakers. The sound quality in the ETX series is incredible. I did a side by side with just the ETX and EKX and there is a noticeable difference in clarity
I agree, however, you can have the BEST sounding box than anyone out there. But if it’s not loud enough to keep up with the content or the environment they’re in for the application, who cares!
The only issue I see with this method of testing is that program music (anything off a mastered recording from the studio) is so compressed and leveled out that it’s wayyyy different sonic “material” to reproduce. You put a drum kit or vocal through those, you’d most likely see pretty different results.
oh yes.. or, I will use my OTHER ear plugs.. oh wait.. we DID that EKX and ELX200 15P video!! :) coming this week if we can get the audio file approved again...
OK, so volume only tells part of the story, which one sounds the best? I have heard the ETX vs the ELX and ZLX and the ETX sound so much better Yes it's more money..
This isn't accurate at all the standard measureing distance is 1 metre from the grille on a microphone stand, using a minimum of a calibrated class 2 spl meter and the spl meter set to 'C' weighting and 'Fast' response or 'Impulse' if it's on the spl meter. Using a cheap spl can be as much as 4db inaccurate.
