QSC K12 flaking out on me

mesaboog

mesaboog

Inspired
Well, the last couple days, my K12 is acting really strange. First, the speaker just shut down. I wasn't even pushing it that hard. Unplugged everything, waited about 1/2 hour. Power switch does nothing, no led's etc. This morning tried again, this time fired up and played fine for about 30 minutes, but then some sustaining chords, the speaker started breaking up, crackling and popping and the blue LED on the front is flickering. Turn off the Axe-FX and the power goes out on the K12 not able to re-power it up.

Any ideas what is going on? Speaker is under warranty and there is a service center nearby. Will have to take it in on Monday.

At least I have my FBT 12ma for a full week of drummer auditions.

Scott
 
Hard to tell exactly from just this description, but it sounds like something could be be failing in the K12's power-supply.
 
mesaboog said:
Any ideas what is going on? Speaker is under warranty and there is a service center nearby. Will have to take it in on Monday.
Click to expand...

With it still under full warranty I wouldn't even worry about trying to figure out what's going on. Just let them fix/replace it because even if you do figure out what the problem is and try and fix it yourself, you'd probably void the warranty.
 
Warranty that sucker.

So, slightly OT: when working well you prefer the K12 over the 12ma? I'm going to need a monitor in the foreseeable future.
 
Well that's a tough question. They are close enough that I go back and forth. I like one better some days and vice versa. The QSC seems more the truer FRFR solution, but with that big ole horn, I need to tame the highs a bit with EQ. Can be a bit harsh, but that is the nature of the beast I guess. The K12 is a little louder...so if you are going to only go with one, and headroom is a big factor, then the additional SPL advantage of the K12 might be a decision factor. To me, the FBT sounds more like guitar cab, probably has to do with the coaxial design. The highs are not as "ice picky" and are easier to tame. I have found that the bass and treble control are a nice option and I will tweak kind of like I do the global EQ depending on how I am sounding on any given day. The K12 seems to provide more thump and feels a bit more "spongy" to me for lack of a better word.

I love the connection options with the K12. My band plays Baba O'Riley and Who Are You by The Who and we use backing synth tracks for these, and I just run these through my ipod through the RCA input and there is plenty of volume to mix well with the LOUD band.

I like both of these options, and like I said before on any given day, I favor one over the other. But I have used each separately/alone live and have had equally pleasing experiences. There isn't one clear winner. They both can hold their own in a loud rock band context. 2 is nice, but diminishing returns.

However, I am not too happy about the problems I am having with the QSC unit though. Prior to having these, I owned a pair of Mackie SRM-450's and they are notorious for their thermal shut down issues which really gave them a bad rep. But I never had one problem with them. So, I just hope that my experience with the K12 is a fluke. I have not heard of any other folks having problems and there is that nice 3 year warranty.

So, clear as mud now right? With all of the EQ options of the Axe-FX and the cabs there is no reason you can't dial in incredible tone with either of these options. You can pretty much dial in/out anything that you want/don't want.

At the end of the day, I can't prefer one over the other, they each have their pros and cons. If one stood out significantly enough for me, I'd dump the other and go for a matching pair. You can always do like me and be an indecisive f*** and get one of each.

Scott
 
Oh, I do want to note that I spoke to a QSC customer service rep last evening when I initially had the problem and the guy was incredibly nice and helpful. I mean, he even was sympathetic to my usage of the speaker and had I needed something immediately due to some pending gig or something, there is no doubt in my mind he would have hooked me up with a replacement while I was without. He made overtures, I just did not take him up on it. I don't know if this is typical operating practice, but I was genuinely impressed with how they handled my call. There was also zero wait time to reach a tech support person.

It is clear it is a quality operation.
 
Yes, QSC has some of the best customer service out there of any manufacturer. And everybody is going to have a lemon or two, so I wouldn't let this experience lessen your opinion of their product.
 
Hopefully you get QSC to rectify this and all goes well for you.

Thanks for sharing your insightful comparison between the FBT 12ma and the K12. Very informative. I appreciate your effort posting that for us.
 
I too cannot say enough about how great the customer service is
I believe on their website you can also have your warranty extended
to 6years .......Just re-register
 
Thanks guys. I dropped the k12 off for warranty service. I will post updates update/findings here just in case you're interested.

Scott
 
Sorry to hear of your misfortune, but I'm interested in hearing about the over customer service, time of unit return and quality of the service work on the QSC. If the tones between the QSC and FBT's are similar (most reviews mirror that experiences that you have had) but QSC's customer service and AVAILABILITY of customer service/warranty in the USA is really good I think the QSC has to be considered a winner.
 
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