Chris Hurley
Power User
I've had the Alto TS112A for a couple of months and wanted to follow up previous comments I've made. Its a decent budget speaker that I would buy again.
I've been using the Axe-FX II (and previously Axe-FX Ultra, Eleven Rack, Kemper, Ampkit, Revalver, etc...) through guitar cabinets and a power amp. I've tried off and on to run direct to PA with little success. I recently decided to try again.
My budget was somewhat limited- I wanted to spend no more than $500USD. Understandably, this put me into the low-end "budget" category. I wanted something that was as neutral as possible and didn't need something to "get people up on the dance floor". At this price point, its not going to be flat but I didn't want hyped highs and lows.
After a fair amount of research, I ended up with the EV ELX112P. This sounded great for music. A couple of friends that heard it remarked that it sounded really good compared to other budget gear they'd heard.
I spent several hours trying to get a workable guitar sound through the EV but never could get something I was comfortable with. I never could quite get a sound that I enjoyed playing like I was just playing a guitar amp. For me, I don't see any reason to spend the money if I'm not going to enjoy using the gear. Say whatever you want about "thats what the audience hears" or "just get used to it" or "think about a great recorded sound". The audience normally hears the sound of me playing an great amp and interacting with it. Taking that away and something is lost, regardless of the specific frequency response of the monitor. Anyone who has had to suffer through a show with unenjoyable sound will know what I mean. Yes, you can do it but why do it on purpose? For me, its important to get along well with my instruments. YMMV. The EV and I just weren't getting along in terms of guitar stuff, though I enjoyed listening to music through it.
Shortly thereafter, I found a used Alto TS112A and decided to give it a try. The construction seemed more to my liking and I saw a couple of promising reviews. By comparison, the EV sounded subjectively "richer" but the Alto sounded subjectively more neutral. I took care to try both units up off the floor and never on a wooden floor that would turn them into boom boxes.
I quickly found myself able to get semi-workable guitar cab sounds through the Alto. When I switched the results over to the EV, they sounded good there too but I couldn't seem to dial up the sound on the EV to start with. For some reason, it was just easier for me to get there on the Alto first.
This isn't a review of the EV ELX112P. I believe that is a great unit and expect that others would love it. I had it for a short while and I mention it only so that the you the reader can understand how I ended up with the Alto. If the EV is in your budget, I'd suggest that you consider it as well.
After much consternation, I ended up returning the EV. While it sounded great for music, it just seemed a little easier to tweak on the Alto- and the EV was significantly more expensive. I was also a little concerned about the construction of the EV and how unhappy I'd be when it inevitably got cut or scratched. My Alto was already pre-loved and bearing a few minor scratches to save me the trouble of making it "not new".
Fast forward a couple of months. I also now own a TS110A but most of my time is spent with the TS112A. I'm still relatively happy with it and I'm using it a *lot* for day-to-day guitar playing. Really, I'm using it more than my regular guitar cabinets. I keep turning them on to compare but I go back to the Alto. The cabinets still sound great but the Alto is working and I want to keep training myself to tolerate the full range rig.
I've finally been able to get some IR's of my real cabinets that are close enough to be satisfying. A typical day is for me to walk up, turn on the rig and just play through the cabinet and enjoy.
Recently, I was able to crank up the TS112A. I set it up so that it just tickled the signal limit LED's. This ended up being with the onboard level set right in the middle of line/mic and the axe-fx II output wide open. It's loud but not crushingly loud. I was warned that the wattage rating is overblown and it certainly is- unless the signal clip light is overly cautious.
I've done a lot of shows with ~10-30watt tube amps mic'd up, and more recently 22 Watt EH poweramps. The TS112A can serve as a backline amp in a duty similar to where you'd use a lower wattage amp like an AC30, 18 Watter, AX84 Single Ended Lead (yeah!) or etc. It doesn't have as much spread as an open back cabinet does, but it certainly keeps its composure more than those smaller wattage tube amps.
It is nothing like as loud as a 100 watt tube amp... for whatever reason. I didn't try to push it past occasional flickering of the signal limit light. I didn't want to blow anything.
So I like it. If you need an inexpensive monitor, add this to your list for further research.
-Chris
I've been using the Axe-FX II (and previously Axe-FX Ultra, Eleven Rack, Kemper, Ampkit, Revalver, etc...) through guitar cabinets and a power amp. I've tried off and on to run direct to PA with little success. I recently decided to try again.
My budget was somewhat limited- I wanted to spend no more than $500USD. Understandably, this put me into the low-end "budget" category. I wanted something that was as neutral as possible and didn't need something to "get people up on the dance floor". At this price point, its not going to be flat but I didn't want hyped highs and lows.
After a fair amount of research, I ended up with the EV ELX112P. This sounded great for music. A couple of friends that heard it remarked that it sounded really good compared to other budget gear they'd heard.
I spent several hours trying to get a workable guitar sound through the EV but never could get something I was comfortable with. I never could quite get a sound that I enjoyed playing like I was just playing a guitar amp. For me, I don't see any reason to spend the money if I'm not going to enjoy using the gear. Say whatever you want about "thats what the audience hears" or "just get used to it" or "think about a great recorded sound". The audience normally hears the sound of me playing an great amp and interacting with it. Taking that away and something is lost, regardless of the specific frequency response of the monitor. Anyone who has had to suffer through a show with unenjoyable sound will know what I mean. Yes, you can do it but why do it on purpose? For me, its important to get along well with my instruments. YMMV. The EV and I just weren't getting along in terms of guitar stuff, though I enjoyed listening to music through it.
Shortly thereafter, I found a used Alto TS112A and decided to give it a try. The construction seemed more to my liking and I saw a couple of promising reviews. By comparison, the EV sounded subjectively "richer" but the Alto sounded subjectively more neutral. I took care to try both units up off the floor and never on a wooden floor that would turn them into boom boxes.
I quickly found myself able to get semi-workable guitar cab sounds through the Alto. When I switched the results over to the EV, they sounded good there too but I couldn't seem to dial up the sound on the EV to start with. For some reason, it was just easier for me to get there on the Alto first.
This isn't a review of the EV ELX112P. I believe that is a great unit and expect that others would love it. I had it for a short while and I mention it only so that the you the reader can understand how I ended up with the Alto. If the EV is in your budget, I'd suggest that you consider it as well.
After much consternation, I ended up returning the EV. While it sounded great for music, it just seemed a little easier to tweak on the Alto- and the EV was significantly more expensive. I was also a little concerned about the construction of the EV and how unhappy I'd be when it inevitably got cut or scratched. My Alto was already pre-loved and bearing a few minor scratches to save me the trouble of making it "not new".
Fast forward a couple of months. I also now own a TS110A but most of my time is spent with the TS112A. I'm still relatively happy with it and I'm using it a *lot* for day-to-day guitar playing. Really, I'm using it more than my regular guitar cabinets. I keep turning them on to compare but I go back to the Alto. The cabinets still sound great but the Alto is working and I want to keep training myself to tolerate the full range rig.
I've finally been able to get some IR's of my real cabinets that are close enough to be satisfying. A typical day is for me to walk up, turn on the rig and just play through the cabinet and enjoy.
Recently, I was able to crank up the TS112A. I set it up so that it just tickled the signal limit LED's. This ended up being with the onboard level set right in the middle of line/mic and the axe-fx II output wide open. It's loud but not crushingly loud. I was warned that the wattage rating is overblown and it certainly is- unless the signal clip light is overly cautious.
I've done a lot of shows with ~10-30watt tube amps mic'd up, and more recently 22 Watt EH poweramps. The TS112A can serve as a backline amp in a duty similar to where you'd use a lower wattage amp like an AC30, 18 Watter, AX84 Single Ended Lead (yeah!) or etc. It doesn't have as much spread as an open back cabinet does, but it certainly keeps its composure more than those smaller wattage tube amps.
It is nothing like as loud as a 100 watt tube amp... for whatever reason. I didn't try to push it past occasional flickering of the signal limit light. I didn't want to blow anything.
So I like it. If you need an inexpensive monitor, add this to your list for further research.
-Chris