Budget coaxial active cabs-new contestant

xpenno said:
Just went and picked up the Alto's. Only spent about an hour playing through them at pretty loud bedroom levels but so far I'm impressed. They have a really small footprint and sound really good. They have a decent low-end not quite as punchy and in your face as a bigger cab but certainly very similar to my current speaker (LD Systems 12" STINGER) Mids and top-end seem very natural and it sounds full and even to me. I plugged the second one in and the low-end was immediately beefed up but without being over powering, I rocked out for a bit testing a few different amp models from the AC30, Plexi, 800, Das Metal, Recto Orange New, all of them sounded great.

I'll reserve final judgement until I've had chance to use them in band situation but my initial impressions are that for the price and footprint, these speakers are bloody great!

Here is a quick cameraphone shot of the two next to my MFC-101, this should give you an idea of the size :)

View attachment 7795

Spence
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Cool! :) For the record, have you tried other active cabs/monitors for your Axe, and if yes, which ones, and how did they compare to the Alto's?
 
geetarman said:
Hmmm sounds promising. Spence, How noisy is the built in amp cooling fan on the Alto?
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During my testing I didn't hear the fan at all. I had them running for about one hour. I saw the fan come on when I powered up the unit but it was pretty much silent I never noticed it afterwards.
 
rednebb said:
Cool! :) For the record, have you tried other active cabs/monitors for your Axe, and if yes, which ones, and how did they compare to the Alto's?
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I have owned the following in my quest for the perfect Axe speaker.

QSC HPR122i - I found this to be very sterile sounding, we now use this for vocal fold-back in the band.
FBT Verve 12ma - I found this to sound fake and the frequencies all over the place.
RCF ART 112a - Never really liked this one, it was made pro composite material and didn't do it for me.
LD Systems LDEB 122A - A nice cab that sounds pretty flat to me, works well with the axe. Quite heavy and the handles aren't the best design for a heavy-ish speaker.

I can't wait to get the Alto's into rehearsal but that will probably not be for a few weeks as I am moving house on Friday.

Let me know if you have any other questions?

Spence
 
xpenno said:
I have owned the following in my quest for the perfect Axe speaker.

QSC HPR122i - I found this to be very sterile sounding, we now use this for vocal fold-back in the band.
FBT Verve 12ma - I found this to sound fake and the frequencies all over the place.
RCF ART 112a - Never really liked this one, it was made pro composite material and didn't do it for me.
LD Systems LDEB 122A - A nice cab that sounds pretty flat to me, works well with the axe. Quite heavy and the handles aren't the best design for a heavy-ish speaker.

I can't wait to get the Alto's into rehearsal but that will probably not be for a few weeks as I am moving house on Friday.

Let me know if you have any other questions?

Spence
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So you actually think the Alto's sound better with your Axe-Fx than all these before-mentioned (so far)..?
 
rednebb said:
So you actually think the Alto's sound better with your Axe-Fx than all these before-mentioned (so far)..?
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Just need to test at band volume but they are my favourite so far at (pretty loud) bedroom level. I'll set everything up tomorrow and spend some more time with them. Certainly a big fan of them so far.

Spence
 
xpenno said:
Just need to test at band volume but they are my favourite so far at (pretty loud) bedroom level. I'll set everything up tomorrow and spend some more time with them. Certainly a big fan of them so far.

Spence
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Great, looking forward to your next report!
 
I'm trying to find a Guitar Center in the US that has these in stock....so if anyone sees one in their local GC, please PM me.
I have $300+ in GC credit, so I'd grab one of these just to do a side by side test (and if it sucks, it's still a compact vocal wedge). Since GC ships, doesn't matter what store it's in....
 
I might have to give those a try in fact maybe the passive ts 112's along with my rocktron velocity 300, Just for the heck of it I bought the behringer b212d's and I thought they sounded like crap but after they broke in and setting the bass at 9 oclock and the treble at 1:30 they sound very good for 200.00 each, I'd like to have some passive speakers to use with the poweramp as well, I have been trying the power amp with cab sims off into a 2x12 stereo cab and the sims into FRFR's just sound better. I cant see how a cheap class d power amp can sound as good as a class a/b, BTW anyone know what class the rocktron velocity 300 is? no specs anywhere its heavy so I cant think its a class d

BTW Ketil, I bought your CD, It rocks!
 
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TBurst Std said:
Interested in what your findings are xpenno at band volume.

Let us know when you can.
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+1 I don't have the money right now, but for 300 bucks a piece, if they sound pretty good I will be saving up to get some for use with my axe as well as general purpose monitoring in our band room. Seems like the price is almost too good to be true for a coaxial, baltic birch, powered monitor...
 
Sorry guys I'm moving house tomorrow and not been able to find any time to play. I'm off work all next week so should have an update pretty soon :)

I also have rehearsal next Sunday which will be the real test.
 
so whats the difference in sound coaxial vs 2 way? I noticed the sxm112a's are coaxial and the ts112a's are two way, I mean I do know a two way has the woofer and tweeter seperate and the coaxials have the tweeter connected or suspended over the woofer, I know car speakers the coaxials are cheaper.
 
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rknrollo said:
so whats the difference in sound coaxial vs 2 way? I noticed the sxm112a's are coaxial and the ts112's are two way, I mean I do know a two way has the woofer and tweeter seperate and the coaxials have the tweeter connected or suspended over the woofer, I know car speakers the coaxials are cheaper.
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In short: The less distance between woofer and tweeter the less phasing issues are occuring.
Moving on stage and listening to the stage monitors from different angles coaxials give you a more consistant sound while you can hear quite drastic changes in tone on normal 2way systems.
 
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I had some MB Quart Ref coaxial car speakers, NOT cheap at all. The also had no mids. I have not heard a coaxial speaker that has any guitar mids yet. Usually you need a mid woofer that can fill in the guitar punch frequency and lower, then you need a sub for the rest. So typically a 4-way system with coax speakers(tweet, (coaxial=mids missing guitar punch) mid woofer and a sub). This is just MY experience with coax speakers, I probably hear differently than the rest : )
I await the results of the live with the band test...
 
I have to admit: my hopes are high, but my expectations are low for this monitor. They're selling it for 1/4 the price (or less) of competing coaxial monitors. It's true that performance can vary a lot at a given price point, but that kind of difference almost always points to compromises. They've incuded a "built in modeling effects unit." Looking at their quick-start guide (there's no online manual available), it seems the "effects unit" is just some preset EQ curves—no modelling going on. It's interesting that they don't publish a frequecy response spec. I know specs can be bogus, but I've never seen a similar product that doesn't at least make a claim.

I hope you've found a real winner. To be honest, I'll be stunned if you have. :)
 
I will jump on one if they have "clean" 400 watts RMS. This is cheap for an enclosure with a 400watt amp, if it is any good.
 
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