Hi Gents,
I just recently spent an hour (1:30 am - 2:30 am) picking the good Uncles (UD)brain about sound systems, keyboards, mics, ..just about everything I could think about. Once again, UD showed what kind of guy he was by indulging me and giving me more than I could ever repay...thanks for the great chat!!!! it meant alot...So...SAM ASH has a 15 month no payment, no interest special this weekend. I spent this afternoon checking out the great equipment...here is my time critical question...gotta order by Sunday....I listened to the Mackie 450's and the eV SAx100's side by side. When I walked in, I thought, surely those puny little EV's can't come close to that macho looking Mackie hunk of metal (composite actually) Boy..was I wrong...But to be honest...the Mackies, as stated by UD, Scott and some others of you....did have an edge...my concern is...in a 200-300 person setting, banquet hall...do the ev's really have what it takes with pre-recorded CD's in a DJ type function. No doubt they'll push my voice and the piano for the dinner hour...but with subwoofers, can I really crank them and do you think they will fit the bill....they're 200 bucks cheaper than the Mackies....so the 400 bucks I save can go towards the new yamaha S-90...Doooh!! Killer piano!!!!(so much for the light portable idea). I really want to like the EV's...and they did sound close to the Mackies..but that was in a sound room in a store..not out in the real world..I just don't want to have to trade up soon..or have customers griping about the weak dance music on my 3rd and 4th gig.... Guess I could always daisy chain 1 or 2 more later if need be...so..seeing I've never heard these eV's in a banquet hall setting...what say you (those that have). Thanks for helping out B2

[This message has been edited by B2 (edited 09-06-2002).]

Fact:
The Mackies have a slight edge in sound
Fact:
The Mackies have an OVERHEATING problem in tight, hot situations
Fact:
ANY speaker system will operate with much higher efficiency when a crossover and subwoofer is used. The EV's will kick serious butt if you run them right.
Save the money - buy the sub, and get to work !

I agree with what UD says here.

At $349.99/ea (Guitar Center closeout special) the SxA100's are truly a STEAL. I was lucky enough to grab one at that price (from my local GC) earlier this week (for a musician buddy) who heard how great mine sounded at one of my recent wedding gigs. To fully maximize the EV's sound potential though, run your signal thru an external mixer. I use the Mackie 1202. I personally find the EVs bass sufficient for my shows without the sub woofer, but then again, I primarily play the kb & sing LIVE and don't do the DJ hosting (spinning CD's) thing, where continous heavy duty thumping (disco) bass is the main ingredient. If you require this, then the EV sub woofer may be what you want. GC is selling it for $349.99 but I'm warning you, the EV sub woofer (SxA180) weighs in at nearly 100 lbs.

I did not realize the Subwoofer was 349 also...Man...That is incredible.....Ya know...Thanks both for giving me the final push..My buddy up here who I'll be working with is a Bose nut....he hefts around the big boxes ...so I had that voice ringing in my ear constantly saying...go with the big gear...my back and my pocketbook was screaming...smaller/less expensive...yet still great quality...you can have both with todays technology...nice to hear it from the guys that do it every night...I'm such a wimp when it comes time to lay bucks out ....
As a side note...I took my son to hocket practice this morning at the new hockey rink in town...state of the art...top notch...as I was talking with a bunch of other dad's, I looked up above the rink into the rafters and there were 4 ev's sxa 100's!!! They were using for them for the house system...it brought a smile to my face..the final nail in the coffin so to speak....I'm off to EV land....I'll keep you posted...B2

It's more likely that they were SX300's .... the non powered speaker looks just like the SXa. Are you SURE it was the powered speaker? It'd be more efficient to use a power amp at another location and just run speaker cables up to the ceiling.
Just my thoughts. You may be right, but I can't imagine a sports arena choosing the powered(convienience) option over increased power and better horn dispersion.
At ANY rate .... you'll be quite happy with your new gear, and your "Bose" friend will be jelous ! I had Bose products years ago, and while they are quite good, they are not the best for your situation. They are power "hogs" and they are MIDrange dominant. I never heard a Bose system that didn't need extra horns or tweeters, as well as a sub to round out the sound. They were great in the 70's for vocal PA applications, but lousy for instrument reinforcement without the extras.
If portability was not important to me ... I'd own EV SX300's with a powered mixer, a powered sub, and use the SXa100's as powered monitors. That wayI'd have the SXa's as a small backup PA in case of failures.
My Mackies overheated (more than once) on the job once, and I was lucky that I had powered monitor on at the time. I just turned the monitor to the crowd, and waited till the heatsink cooled down again. No one cared .... it was just a quieter time, that's all!

Update...Hey Scott...I just went to test the sxa180 sub...holy rock of Gibralter batman...the rock would fit in my car easier...plugged it in...OK sound...kinda flat...a little chest thumpin...then I tried the new Mackie sub 1501...had to grab my chest from ripping off my rib cage...incredible sound and bass response..so..EV on Top...Mackie sub inbetween (Mackie sandwich?) The Mackie is still heavy, but I'll only take it on the bigger gigs...and I won't need a Uhaul...
Uncle my friend...I belive they were 300's, if they have the same grill...don't remember the red x..still dig the 100's though...my back will thank me I'm sure....now...the keyboard....Cheers B2

B2: Congratulations on your new EV/Mackie PA setup. Correction: GC's closeout special for the EV SxA180 sub woofer is $499.99, not $349.99 as I had mistakenly quoted, but then it sounds like (from your report) that the EV's sub woofer capabilities aren't that impressive anyway. Sounds like you got a lot of bang (and boom) for your buck. Btw, I'm curious, just how much does the Mackie 1501 weigh?

I think that Machie beast is about 90 lbs, isn't it? It's well worth the money - it has stereo inputs and outputs even if you only use ONE sub, and the x-over is built in !

Scott...88.9 lbs to be exact...phew, for a minute there I thought it was going to be heavy!! All the good things Uncle Dave said and it's half the size of the sxa180. Man that was huge!!! anyhow, thanks for the support as always. I'm going with the new mackie dfx12 mixer. It was designed for small bands with no sound Techie. Digital effects, big faders 12 inputs lots of room to grow. Has had good reviews($379.00). I'm going with the sennheiser EW135 diversity mic with 1280 available freq's, 4 programmable presets, metal and tough as nails. crisp and brighter than the sure sm58 I think ($499.00/retail $835). I was hoping to try the EV Mic per UD, but no one around here carries them. Last dilema is truly the piano/synth. The PSR 2000 will slowly make it's way into the gigs, but I'm more comfortable right now just singing and playin the 88 keys. I have an old Roland KR 500..some weird sounds coming out of her...distortion at times...and synth style keys...I need my weighted, hammer action style feel...S-80, FP-3, S-90, RD-700...along those lines/actually it will be one of those..The P-80 sounded thin, but perhaps it was the monitors the store had..I actually really liked the FP-3...and I'm usually a Yamaha fanatic...light weight, I thought a great sounding piano for a roland...RD-700 was best...but if I'm shelling out that much...s-90 should be top dog...motif sounds (for backing tracks later)
new acoustic piano sound touted to be worlds best (aren't they all though??)Anyways...I digress as usual..you and UD have been great..thanks for taking the time to chat Cheers B2