I'm thinking something is wrong with your RCF's if that is your issue. Honestly. I could not imagine turning mine up to full volume and halfway up on my Axe-FX II... oh, my God, it'd be insanely loud, like kill old ladies and small animals loud. And my presets are not cranked up in the Axe-FX either.
Something is amiss... I can have my Axe-FX at noon on the output knob, and at 3/4 the way up... I'm easily hitting +130db on peaks. You can't get louder with out pain. A LOT of pain.
OK. Now I feel (at least partially) like Gilda Radner... Nevermind!
I have discovered the primary issue: placement! (see pic below). I had no idea how focused the sound was from these things. Originally, I had them (on end) where you can now see the 450s on either side, while the 450s were staring me straight in the face on top of the Mesa cabs. So, just for giggles, I reversed the position. Man! What a difference! The volume, highs, presence, cut... increased a ton! And (unlike the Mackies which disperse too much) the stereo image is AWESOME! Although I've not tried them at my feet yet (I would usually not use them that way--they are used like a backline amp), I suspect they may even work better as they would be even more focused. I did not have to use the Mic level. They are now as loud as I would ever need with my Axe ouput at 50%. The Mackies were never this sensitive to placement. When Mike said "The SRM450 has very wide horizontal dispersion, while the NX12SMA is a nominal 60 degree conical pattern. It would be easier with the RCF to move off axis and start to lose some high frequency sound.", he nailed it. You've got to aim these things carefully. They are much more like a nearfield monitor and less like an amp or a traditional FRFR speaker. Now, with them chest level and aimed at me, there is no issue. I still have some tweaking to do. But, this is more like it!
I'm feeling a little dumb at the moment. So, feel free to have a laugh at my expense
Thx guys! And, I can't reccomend Mike Pyle highly enough. If you are considering RCFs, he is The Man!