Less Expensive Powered Speaker Options?

[Mandobart]

I've read a lot of rave reviews here and on acoustic guitar forae about the QSC K10's. New they go for about $700; I haven't found any used in my extended area. My question is are there any decent powered speakers in the $300 - $500 range (new)? Thanks.

[foldedpath]

One model you might want to consider is the Electro-Voice ZXA1. I use those as monitors, along with our K10 mains.

I wanted something a little smaller and lighter in weight than the K10's to keep a low profile for monitor duty, and it doesn't hurt that these are less expensive too (around $500 USD street). It's a great little speaker and sounds good with acoustic instruments. It doesn't have quite the bass punch or audience coverage of the K10's, but sounds good if you don't need to cover too large a room, and if you're not running a bass through it. I've used it as a main speaker on a few wedding gigs where we had to set up two compact PA systems in two separate areas.

Electro-Voice has other powered speakers now, including a less expensive 12" model. I haven't heard those, but I can vouch for the ZXA1. It's a nice compact workhorse, without any extra frills.

[almeriastrings]

Old saying... still true!

“Buy quality and cry once— buy cheap and cry forever”

Particularly true with speakers, in my experience.

They can really mess your entire show up if they do not perform well, so a lot rides on them. You can find some "cheap(er)" microphones that perform incredibly well, right up there... and you can find certain other bits of gear that outperform the price tag too, but so far, not seen that with speakers. You really do seem to get what you pay for.

[mandroid]

DIY you can Buy the plate amp for the back of ther passive speaker you have, or built..
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/ful...amplifiers/333
http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-...mixer--300-797

they have plenty of raw speakers as well..

[Jeff Budz]

I have some Behringer speakers (12") I bought a few years ago for under $200 each. I've been mostly happy with them. I've played lots of gigs with the, and they seem to do the job and haven't failed on me. Sure, I'd love to have the QSC's but they are really pricy. Another speaker to look at is the JBL EON 610 - they would be a nice middle ground.

[Bill Stokes]

Another speaker to look at is the JBL EON 610 - they would be a nice middle ground.

I bought a pair of those for my school last year. They can sound okay; decent piano monitor. Lousy with a bass plugged directly in (no surprise, that.) The speakers gave us a lot of flexibility with setting up sound for various events. Probablly wouldn't buy them for myself.

[Astro]

RCF310a. About 200 dollars cheaper than the k10 and within your price range. They are suppose to sound as good and be as well made. They have less features like no built in mixer or adjustments to change parameters for whether they are on mounts, side or used as monitors as the k10 has and they dont have a closed grill. They are a little lighter and are supposed to have a "sweeter top end".

Most reviewers Ive read feel they sound as good or sometimes a tiny bit better than the k10 depending on applications, but with less features.

As usual, I have no first hand knowledge. Just learning myself.

[almeriastrings]

Agreed. The RCF's are a solid choice. If you can find them a good price, certainly worth considering.

[foldedpath]

RCF makes very good powered speakers. As I've probably mentioned before here, I have a slight bias against speakers like the 310a with open fronts and exposed horns. I think speakers with front grills like the QSC K series, and the more expensive RCF range, look less scary at wedding and corporate gigs. Closed grills just look more "pro" to me and a little lower profile at gigs, but YMMV. Like I said, it's a personal bias. The functionality is certainly there with open front designs.

As an Italian company, RCF has a more limited dealer and repair network than QSC here in the USA. So they're a bit thin on the ground, but still a high quality speaker range. If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably be using one of the upper range RCF speakers. I've always wondered what a pair of 8" RCF TT08-A's would sound like as a compact and visually low-profile system, but at $2,000 USD each, that's an experiment I can't afford right now.

Anyway, if you can get a good deal on the RCF 310a's and don't mind the speaker appearance, it would be a good alternative to K10's.

[kkmm]

I just bought an used Esteban 10watt mini guitar amp for 25$. It is loud enough for practice sessions
For better sound, I use either the keyboard amp Behringer 180 watts (portable but more heavy or my larger powered mixer Yamaha (2 x 500 watts, light but the speakers are heavy).