Just ordered my AX8, help me choose speakers...

G

GuitarGuyLP

Member
I just ordered my AX8. I have some good Sony MDR-7506 headphones that sound great, so I am covered for headphone playing. I need some advice, and options for reasonable priced speakers for when I want to play a bit louder. I am torn between studio monitors vs some full range powered speakers. I don't have a huge budget since I just bought the AX8, and I have to sell my PRS Archon, some guitar speakers, and a Les Paul studio (autographed by Trivium). My main concern with studio monitors is that they tend to have a narrow sweet spot, but I want to be able to move around while playing.

Does anyone have any budget recommendations for speakers that will do the AX8 justice, but not cost a fortune?
 
I have come to prefer a PA-type speaker. I have a nice pair of monitors (M-Audio BX8a) that i have since put away in favor of my Mackie DLM8. I feel the Mackie gives me excellent AX8/Axe-FX II tones that are more enjoyable to play than the monitors. Plus my tones translate well to my church gig (nice line array/sub setup). I have played through a CLR - amazing! But large/heavy and out of my budget at the time. OTOH, I don't use the Mackie for live venues, though i think they'd be solid. CLR seriously rocks if you can swing it. The Mackie sounded decent in comparison, but CLR is a good step up.

My dime's worth. I know others will soon offer their advice, likely contrary to mine. But it's a great group and others will be along shortly. The DLM8 has now been out a few years so you may find a used one for cheap. I bought mine when they first came out. It seems they were like $750 (American). I just bought one. I'd love to hear one with the matching sub...
 
I have 2 Alto TS210s. That may be the bottom of the line of what anyone would recommend. But, for a given price limit, I absolutely needed:
- Stereo (so, multiply any price times 2)
- Volume (they can go way louder than I would ever run them)
- Portability - While I always play direct through FOH, I also want to be able to carry these to a friend's house to jam. So, handles are a must, and no worries about damage in transit.

These speakers gave me all that.
 
I use a pair of JBL 308s which are studio monitors. The "sweet spot" is fairly broad. They are very budget-friendly given the size (depending on your budget I suppose) and do the job quite well for my needs which includes mixing and mastering as well as dialing in tones and just having a good time with the ax8. I play at church sometimes and the patches that I dial in on the JBLs translate just fine by me.
 
Thanks for all the advice, I'll check those models out. I am going to make a trip to a fairly large music store to check out as many options as I can. I will be playing along with backing tracks most of the time, so I am thinking some PA speakers will work better than studio monitors. Plus if I join a band again I will have a speaker I can bring as a monitor if I need to.
 
I use Focal Alpha 50 monitors and love them. I think they were $600/pair. I also have a Yamaha DXR10 and it's great too, but I prob won't get two as they're $600 each. Sound good, and very small/light weight. I suspect CLR/Xitone prob sound a bit better, but I was after good sound in a small package.
 
GuitarGuyLP said:
I just ordered my AX8. I have some good Sony MDR-7506 headphones that sound great, so I am covered for headphone playing. I need some advice, and options for reasonable priced speakers for when I want to play a bit louder. I am torn between studio monitors vs some full range powered speakers. I don't have a huge budget since I just bought the AX8, and I have to sell my PRS Archon, some guitar speakers, and a Les Paul studio (autographed by Trivium). My main concern with studio monitors is that they tend to have a narrow sweet spot, but I want to be able to move around while playing.

Does anyone have any budget recommendations for speakers that will do the AX8 justice, but not cost a fortune?
Click to expand...

Whats the budget?
 
I'm not really set on a budget yet. I'm looking for a good solution that isn't crazy expensive, since I live in Canada everything is at least 30% more expensive due to the exchange rate. I don't need anything super loud, but I don't want to be underwhelmed with the sound. I want the AX8 to sound good enough that I won't miss my amps.

I played around with the Helix native plugin on a free demo for a bit to see if modeling gets close, and can sound inspiring through headphones. Once I got some proper IRs loaded the sound through my headphones is quite good, but sometimes I don't want to play through headphones. I have to say Helix isn't bad, but the layout, and names of the controls are not super intuitive, and overall I don't find it as easy to navigate as some people have claimed it is. I had an AxeFx Standard back in 2010, and it was good, but hard to do minor changes. The basic controls on the front of the AX8 IMO is a game changer!!!
 
I use two (gotta have stereo :D) Alto TS212s and they sound great and will get loud enough to hurt your hearing. They can be easily EQed and are light. The new model is the TS312 which upped the power a bit. $299 each at guitar center. Pretty good value.
 
I have a pair of JBL Eon610's. I really like them a lot. They are reasonably priced @ $399.00, and can be bought for about $350.00 on sale. I have an Alto TS112. I like the JBL's better. However, never heard or played the Alto TS212 or TS312. Many people like them. The TS312 is the same as the Headrush FRFR offering, minus the mic preamps. Lots of folk like both. Of course there is no guarantee that you will like what works for me (or anyone else). You really have to hear them and decide for yourself
 
I’m on Vancouver island. I just saw that Adam came out with an affordable monitor line. The T5, and T7 those look pretty nice.

Looking at the Alto I wonder if a 12” might be overkill. I know 12” guitar speakers are pretty much standard, but for full range unless you need a lot of bass I wonder if the 8” or 10” version would be fine. It would be plenty loud for my jamming. I’m going to try to find a place to demo a bunch of different speakers with the AX8.
 
I will check out those recommendations. I think 10” are just fine. I have one 12” powered speaker right now but it is junk. Im thinking the Alto, seems their price to quality ratio is very good. There is also the tx110 from Alto but i think those are just entry level speakers.
 
Atomic CLR is the way to go but if you want something a bit cheaper the JBL EON 10's are great also. I have used both with great results.
 
Just my 2 cents worth. As I have my own PA system, I tried various speakers and initially had a pair of EV ZLX12's which I liked.
After hearing JBL EON610s, did some buying and selling to replace the EV with JBL and have been using them regularly (mosty in stereo).
I ordered the Headrush FRFR12 figuring I could work with a single speaker and hoping for a little more bottom end without loss of definition at the top.
Going on 4 weeks now about 4 jams/rehearsals later, I am impressed with the Headrush. Maybe my old ears are fooling me but switching between JBL and Headrush, the latter easily wins. The JBLs go back to being part of my mini PA, spare monitor. Not sure if others can chime in.
I could go stereo and get a second FRFR although more for the stereo effect as this speaker has tons of power. Always wanted an Atomic CLR Neo but with price, USD-CAD dollar conversion, I could probably buy 3 Headrush cabs. Terrific buy!

Wonder if any others can agree or disagree based on experience. Originally had my doubts but wow! Was I surprised.
 
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