Thinking of Electro Voice SX300 's

[Justmc]

I have an Axefx standard that I was using through some Rokit 5 studio monitors and it sounded awesome. When I tried hooking it up with an Sla-2 power amp to my guitar amp with 2 v30's in it I was less than satisfied.

Over the past couple of days I've been using a Electro Voice SX300 passive speaker and it is killer :shock: . Tremendous all around sound...I'm a little naive though since this is my first FRFR experience . I borrowed it from a friend and was thinking about buying a set for a stereo rig. They go for around $500 each. I don't see that anyone is using this speaker. A lot of forum users are pushing the FBT 12m . Does anyone have any experience with the SX300 ? Here are some links -

http://www.electrovoice.com/product.php?id=202

http://www.electrovoice.com/sitefiles/d ... 00_eds.pdf

I wish I could compare to the FBT, every vendor seems to out out stock until mid Aug :evil: . I like that the EV's are more accessible .

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance ...

 

[Dpoirier]

EV speakers sound phenomenal... but very HI-FI. I was using an EV SxA360 before I bought a pair of Verve 12mA. I would suspect the SxA360 is the self-powered version of the 300, or something very similar. The sound out of the SxA360 is absolutely stunning... but I was finding it too refined in a rehearsal or gig situation. It wasn't cutting through like I would have wanted. I am not a very good tweaker, so perhaps someone with good tweaking abilities would be able to dial in some more "cutting" abilities.

When I first got the 12mA, I thought it sounded honky in comparison. Very very very mid-rangey. I hated it. With a passion. But at the first rehearsal, I realized that my rig now sounded like an amp (instead of like I was playing a high-end stereo), so I bought a second one to complete my stereo setup and I have been happy ever since. The Verves still sound honky to me, but they seem to work much better in the mix with other instruments. I still miss the clarity and the elegant sound of the SxA360 though...

One last thing: when I went the FRFR route, my intention was to find a neutral enough FRFR system that would sound reasonably close to the average PA system in the various venues out there. The idea was that I wanted to tweak my patches to sound good on my FRFR system and it would translate reasonably well to the *average* FOH system. I felt that the Verve 12mA was closer to the average FOH... the highly sophisticated SxA360 is too refined, and I would be very surprised if I landed a gig in a place that had such good sounding gear. So I went with the Verves, and my tones sound pretty good in most venues I played at.

I believe there are people on this forum who use the same SxA360 as I did... perhaps some of them will chime in.

 

[Sixstring]

I have an Axefx standard that I was using through some Rokit 5 studio monitors and it sounded awesome. When I tried hooking it up with an Sla-2 power amp to my guitar amp with 2 v30's in it I was less than satisfied.

Over the past couple of days I've been using a Electro Voice SX300 passive speaker and it is killer :shock: . Tremendous all around sound...I'm a little naive though since this is my first FRFR experience . I borrowed it from a friend and was thinking about buying a set for a stereo rig. They go for around $500 each. I don't see that anyone is using this speaker. A lot of forum users are pushing the FBT 12m . Does anyone have any experience with the SX300 ? Here are some links -

http://www.electrovoice.com/product.php?id=202

http://www.electrovoice.com/sitefiles/d ... 00_eds.pdf

I wish I could compare to the FBT, every vendor seems to out out stock until mid Aug :evil: . I like that the EV's are more accessible .

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance ...

I understand how hard the Verves are to get and I'm sure the SX300's are a good speaker, having not had an opportunity to listen through them EV is a great name.

Looking at the specs there are some slight differences, the crossover freqs are a tad different EV @1.5K to the Verves 1.8K. The boxes are different EV Polypropylene Structural Foam to the Verves 11 Ply Baltic Birch construction. Coverage is a bit narrower with the EV @ 65* X 65* compared to the Verve @ 90* X 90*, for close up monitoring 5-6 feet or less I doubt this would be much of an issue.

The Coaxial type driver is where it will pay off as you will have no time alignment issues with the Verve on top of seeming to have a smother top end, with a traditional horn and driver type cab, 1st you don't have the coupling with the LF driver and the HF driver share with the Coaxial speaker which I suspect is the reason for that smoother top end. 2nd if you move round in the sound field some you will notice where the horn and driver have a difference in coverage. For close in monitoring a coaxial is the way to go.

 

[Dpoirier]

Oh, good point from sixstring: the FBT Verve 12mA dispersion is phenomenal. In comparison, the EV SxA360 is infinitely narrow and has a LOT of dead spots where things sound whacked out of line. The EVs sound great when in the sweet spot (and the Verves sound honky everywhere ;-) ... the specs may indicate a moderate advantage for the Verves, but the difference is huge.

Verve-lovers: don't get offended, I still love my Verves and use them all the time. I just wish I could have the EV sound with the Verve dispersion (and figure out a way to get that to cut in a mix).

 

[Sixstring]

Oh, good point from sixstring: the FBT Verve 12mA dispersion is phenomenal. In comparison, the EV SxA360 is infinitely narrow and has a LOT of dead spots where things sound whacked out of line. The EVs sound great when in the sweet spot (and the Verves sound honky everywhere ;-) ... the specs may indicate a moderate advantage for the Verves, but the difference is huge.

Verve-lovers: don't get offended, I still love my Verves and use them all the time. I just wish I could have the EV sound with the Verve dispersion (and figure out a way to get that to cut in a mix).

Based on what you have said it sounds like the EV's would work better as a FOH application more so then a monitor application. The honky tone of the Verve I suspect is a result of the coaxial speaker design as I can hear it in the 8" Radian Micro Wedges I use as well and it does help in letting you cut through the mix as you have pointed out.

The Hi Fi-ness you speak of in the EV's I have experienced in a pair of speakers that were being used as side fills at a gig I did last Friday and I was amazed at how defined they were. I didn't get a look at what they were but will try to find out but they were a Horn and driver type of enclosure and was standing roughly 12-15' away from them.