We use these two Mackie SRM 1801 subs coupled with 2 JBL G2 tops & I used my 2 Thump 15's hooked into them also.. Friday night at a 450pp event two acts DJ & Myself on Keyboard on the other side.. in one word AWESOME sound.!!

AJ,
Did you say you have QSC K12s as subs? They have great bass, but they should be your tops. I own a pair and I don't even use subs, but I don;t do large crowds anymore, either. I suggest a good solid 500-1000 watt sub and use the K12s as the tops - it'll fill any size room.

UD,

Thanks for the catch ....No no noo....

Please replace "K12" with K-SUB (the Sub with two 12" speakers in it at 1000W) - sorry for the mix up.

The subs are the K-Sub!

Thanks,

AJ

Oh, OK - I do understand ... they sound wonderful, but lack that "in your gut" punch that the Mackie or JBL has. My big band (10 pc with horns) uses one Mackie sub and it's plenty for most of our things, but if we go over 300 ppl, we use a second sub and larger tops too.

I think an ideal setup that's still kinda portable would be 2 Mackies and 2 K-12s.

I am a big fan of using 12" top cabs if you have 15" subs. I find there's less 'mud' in the mix from the top cabs emphasizing the low mids by the larger speaker. If you have an 18" sub, them maybe OK, but one of the very best combos I ever worked with (albeit unpowered, but JBL make the PRX powered line, too) was the JBL SR series 12" on top of Mackie subs. Absolutely AMAZING power handling and throw, and more low end than some 15" cabs, definitely enough to hook up well with subs crossed over at about 150Hz...

Not cheap, but you get what you pay for, plus they have the benefit of being small enough to use on just about ANY gig, not just high volume ones.

I second the 12" over the 15"

Here's my experience:
5" Hard, but detailed, mid to high very good and balanced, great in line arrays.
8" Soft, detailed, often surprisingly good low mid response. Great in line arrays
10" Hard, sometimes harsh, lacks lower mids, and tend to over exaggerate the mids.
12" Clear, punchy, good across the whole low mid to high range
15" Muddy, loud, but not as detailed, often too slow to bash out the higher mids.
>15" seldom good for anything other than bass. Maybe some low mid for horns - but rarely any good.

This is just my opinion.

A line array with subs on the floor might also be worth checking out for you guys. Those give very good clarity, coverage and separation.

DocZ

.. also seems like rule of thumb (though not sure what book this came from) would be to have your subs up one size from your mains (I share this feeling with some on this forum as well) ... eg if you have 15" subs, it's better to have 10" mains; if you have 18" subs, it's better to have 15" mains ... etc.

I think we are narrowing down the search to ...

2 Yamaha DSR112's

2 FBT ProMax 15aSa (these come highly recommended)

Frank, doc-z, Dikki, Leezone, DNJ and UD - your experience has really been very helpful and your suggestions are well taken. The QSC HPR and K-subs have been sold. Now back to the drawing board to hopefully get 'better' that what we had ...without breaking the bank!

Actual crowd size at next event is actually 420 (per ticket sales)

... ops, before I forget, anyone with experience using YORKVILLE Powered speakers? Seems to all be designed and built/made in ... CANADA and they do have some nice reviews out there too.

Well no, but I am using a Traynor K4 keyboard amp by Yorkville and am very happy with it so that would give me confidence about the quality of their other products.

AJ, I used the Yorkville NX520p..550 watts each (pair) with a Yorkville 700 watt subwoofer..This is an excellent sound system $2,200 street price..

Going on 9 years with the band till we replaced it with a pair of Podium 1204's($550 pr)..Now it is our back up system..