CONTEXT: I had a pair of FBT Verve 12ma's that served me well for years. Some didn't like them at all. I did. But I dropped one a couple of years ago which caused a nasty buzzing like speaker was blown. In looking to replace the speaker, I learned the speakers had been long discontinued. Finding a stray in some corner of the world would be extremely difficult. Luckily, an audio specialist friend of mine determined the magnet and voice coil were out of alignment causing it to rub. He loosend the screws and with a mallet realigned the magnet with the cone. It fixed the problem but if a speaker failed there would be no support from FBT. That kind of vulnerability is unacceptable to me. That's when I bought a pair of Atomic CLRs because they were held in high regard and ATOMIC is a US company.
The CLRs were very good but they weren't magic. The sky did not part and the angels did not sing with golden rays from heaven. They sounded different than the FBTs. Of course my presets sounded better on the FBTs because they were created on them. With a little tweaking they sounded great through the CLRs.
Guitar tones are way too subjective to be a good barometer for how true/flat a speaker is. I play MP3s through FRFR. It immediately reveals significant coloration. It's not scientific but it works for me.
Recently one of the amps in my CLRs died. This is happening for a lot of people. There are plenty of threads / comments of the same problem. I was very sad to learn that support from ATOMIC takes ages. Some have waited as long as a year. They make a great product but I can't sit around for a year. So I bought an EV PXM 12MP.
CLR vs EV:
The EV sounds different than the CLR. Surprise, surprise. Out of the box the EV is not as flat as the CLR. The EV has various settings and controls. It took a good while to find settings that were flat to my ears. It's a pain in the ass to keep lifting the EV on its side to tweak the parameters. Of course once it's all set, you never need to do it again. It just would have been nice if EV would have created a setting that was flat. It seems like the modes are emphasizing certain frequencies to sweeten. Nevertheless I have it at a point that sounds great. The CLR is a tough act to follow. It sounds fairly true to my ears. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the EV but that's okay. I actually prefer it being stupid simple. Nevertheless the EV has several significant advantages. It's at least 10 lbs lighter than my 1st gen CLR. I like the smaller footprint and lower profile of the EV. The CLR is a beast. You can buy the EV from a range of sources. I bought mine from Sweetwater. From what I've read, EVs support is solid. More advantages listed in the pros and cons below.
At the end of the day both sound good. No one in the audience will ever perceive the difference. None of the FRFR offerings will sound 100% like the PA. There will be a small amount of difference that will be at least the same or greater than these two monitors.
This is not a final conclusion. It's a first impression. Tonight I have rehearsal and a gig on Sunday. I'll report back my findings.
EV Pros:
Smaller
Lighter
Lower price
Front Pilot light
Support from a major US company
Readily available
EV Cons:
Requires tweaking
Controls/jacks on side
CLR Pros:
Balanced sound out of the box
Nice dispersion
Controls/jacks on back
CLR Con:
Unavailable
High price
Poweramp is an Achilles heel
Support is slower then a three-legged, asthmatic mule.
Big footprint
MY EV settings:
Mode - Monitor 2
Treble +5
Mid 0
Bass +4
Sub off
Feedback off
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