I put this on the PSR Tutorial forum. It's early days but this JBL Eon One is worth a look.


I did a solo gig with the Eon One today using my PA 4X. Sound was great...excellent. I'm too new with the JBL yet but this could be the best sounding amp I've used with a keyboard. Very clear highs and a very warm low end with plenty of power.

The room was large with about 60 folks in attendance. The audience was disbursed somewhere in about a 160 degree semi circle around me. This is a room I would almost always use two compacts to cover...due to room size. One Compact doesn't cover...I've tried it. But the single JBL had room to spare.

Before the gig I walked around 180 degree semi circle listening to styles. JBL says something about 100 degree dispersion but I had no trouble hearing the rig in all parts of the room...180 degrees and more.

I ran the 4X at about 50% and on the Eon one at around 60% on both the channel and master volume. This was much more power than I needed.

My vocals were the best I've heard yet from my 4X.

It's a different beast though..size wise. It's got to be 1 1/2 times a Compact in size and weight. The weight is not a big deal really but the size of the unit means some planning when transporting.

My goal was to get to one unit(without messing with a mixer)when gigging either as a solo or with my wife as a duo. This MAY be the PA to do that.

I will be using the JBL this Friday. Again a solo gig, about 60 or more people but a smaller room. Next week my wife and I do a duo. I'll get to hear her on a mic directly in to the JBL, that will tell me a lot.

Thanks for reporting on this JBL option!! Where was placement? Behind? Beside? In front of you? What type of microphone did you use?

Thanks!!

I was interested in the Eon One and then moved on after a talk with JBL Pro. Not enough sound for mr to give up my 515XTs. Yourr post got me interested again but I just realized there is no line out on the mixer so you could use two for bigger jobs or even direct recording.
?????

Bill stick with what you have .....515xts are awesome.

Yuor right Donny. And they're only 32 lbs. I DJ'd a small party the other night with one and only had it on 6. Filled the large room and they were danicing all night

I'm trying to avoid buying a mixer . I may be working with a vocalist soon and need another mic input with effects for her. My mic runs thru my BK9 so I'm covered on solo jobs by going direct to the 515xt. I have a small Behringer DJ mixer for that stuff.

We keep looking thought don;t we??

Good luck Bill.... We keep looking and it is getting easier as technology progresses....

What amazes me is that most folks are not aware of how long vertical array sound systems have been around. I first encountered them when working for Executone, a company that specialized in industrial sound systems, mainly systems for hospitals, movie theaters, auditoriums, churches and stadiums. This was in 1963.

The theater and auditorium systems were huge, consisted of 6 to 9 6-inch Jensen speakers enclosed in an arched, vertical case that was placed in each corner of the venue at the ceiling. In the center of the ceiling, we usually placed a box containing 4 25-inch speakers. This stuff was incredibly heavy, a few of the installation guys were seriously injured while installing these because they worked on tall, extension ladders and had no safety gear other than a length of rope they either tossed over an open beam, or installed a screw in loop into one of the ceiling joists. Now, anyone that has been to a movie theater knows these systems provide awesome sound throughout the frequency range.

The next time I encountered a vertical array system was when Bose introduced the Bose L1 PAS, which I was introduced to by by Uncle Dave. Dave was performing in an Italian Restaurant in Philadelphia, his stage was nothing more than a stone hearth that was barely large enough for him and his gear. He was in the bar section, literally 6 feet away from the closest patrons. Had he been using a conventional sound system at the time, he would have blown the heads of those sitting closest to him, while those patrons situated in the restaurant section would not have been able to hear him at all. There were three separate rooms, divided by 4 foot high walls with spindles that went to the ceiling, which was about 9 feet high. Nice looking place, but lousy for entertainers.

Fran and I started out by having dinner in the restaurant section, where we met with his wife and daughter. When Uncle Dave fired up the system, I was about 80 feet away and the sound was awesome, not so loud that you could not have a conversation, but loud enough to clearly hear Dave and the keyboard with incredible clarity and crispness. Dave was playing and singing Almost Like Being In Love, I got up, walked throughout the venue, including into the men's room, and the sound was at the same level and clarity, no matter where I walked. Now, this was a big restaurant, probably about 150-feet wide and 80-feet deep. I was awestruck at what I heard, and the very next day, walked into GC and purchased one exactly like Dave's. I used this system until the L1 Compact became available, and knowing I would likely never do a job larger that 500 people again, traded in the larger system for a second Compact.

Since that first Bose L1 PAS came out, it seems like every sound system manufacturer on the planet did their best to catch up with Bose. And, for the most part, many of them have made great strides, especially in systems that are tailor made for working musicians and small group acts.

Granted, Bose is very expensive, but their quality and workmanship is unsurpassed. And, their latest system, remarkably, has a lot of the features that first Executone system I worked with had. The F1 system, which I had the pleasure of hearing a few months ago, is beyond belief. And, if I were young and still doing large venues, I would own a pair of them, which with sales tax, cost about $5,000 ($2,500 each). Now, this would be an awesome setup!

Gary (The old retired guy.)

Ooooops didn't see the RCA monitor outputs on the mixer. I was looking for an XLR jack. I guess you can chain as many as you need.

Update:

Been trying out the JBL Eon One system the past two weeks.

Sound is warm, big and...well..excellent. The bass end of things with my 4X is awesome. To my ears, a much more full sound than my Bose Compacts and one of these does the job of two compacts, IMHO.

Also the JBL One has produced, to my ears) the best sound yet I've heard for my wife's voice of the systems we've used these past 10 years...very natural and warm.

Also JBL reports the EON ONE as having a 100 degree dispersion. I don't get that. It seems to have as wide a dispersion as my Compacts.

In short, it's pretty impressive.

There are a few niggles though.

Size. It's twice as big(though not twice as heavy) as a Compact...requires a bit more thought when transporting....definitely manageable. I think the Eon One is more on par with the Bose larger L1 systems...definitely more horsepower than a Compact.

Speaker Extensions. JBL did a clever thing by including the extensions in the unit. It's a one piece carry...love that part. However, the extensions rest on some sort of little post system and I'm still learning the right way to put them in the unit. However, that said with the extension array system configured as it is, I've found that it works quite well with the speaker extension connected by itself.

The foot/pedestal or whatever is not flat, slides around on my rock n roller cart.

Am I going to keep it? Based on the performance from the unit so far I would definitely say yes.

However, I've bought a 4X and Space Station V.3 already this year. My pocketbook is eyeing me suspiciously. I had just planned o send it back because I've spent too much already this year.

But this thing is so good...my pocketbook says it should go back, but my 4X says keep it!

Gotta be TWO in Stereo for me, But I think your suffering from speakeridis, so whats next?...lol

A much more milder form of "keyboardidis".

And cheaper too!

Kool design but they should also have a Mixerless version also as two mixers in stereo is overkill and not needed. or but two without and use you own mixer....

On my powered speakers I set both EQ's at the same level, and don't need to carry an extra mixer.

Regards,

Jerryghr

I always use my mixer its a must for so many reasons

I stopped using a mixer a decade ago - just not necessary for an OMB.

Gary

Can't agree Gary but good luck whatever you use...

Donny, with the setup I used, I had more than enough inputs on the Compact, one for the keyboard, one for the laptop's audio output, plus a stereo RCA input, and a separate mic input for folks that needed to make announcements. My mic went directly into the TC Harmony-M, which outputted to the keyboard's line in. I never had a guest singer - and to be realistic, I didn't want one either. If someone showed up with a guitar and wanted to set in, which never happened in all those years, I would have anticipated that they had their own system.

Now, I have friends, just like you, that run everything through a mixer. After closely looking at my setup, two of them dumped their mixers and set up the same way I did. To me, a mixer was just one more unnecessary piece of gear that added lots more cables, and added one more item to the mix that could easily fail because of the wiring complexity. As you and most others are well aware, the more cables in the system, the higher the overall system failure rate.

Good Luck, and enjoy that new keyboard,

Gary

I'm keeping the Eon One. It has performed superbly.

If I think I need stereo, which I don't usually use in the smaller venues, I'll use the two Bose Compacts.

What happened to the little center point amp?

The Centerpoint still goes out on a couple of smaller gigs. It also serves as speaker for home use for my 4X.

I have four PA systems now.

My Nano 300...has been gathering dust for some time.

Two Compacts which are currently backup for the Eon One.

And, the Centerpoint.

I may sell a system next spring depending on how the are used.

Thanx... Wow what a collection.... So what's next? Lol

When you get a new keyboard, I'll probably buy another PA.

I think I'm done with new keyboards for now this Pa4x is just sooooooo fine for my needs!!
all set with Pa sound amplification reinforcement also...all usless gear is sold off no need to have it laying around gathering dust. Good luck!!

There's not much gear left for me to sell off.

There's always new gear to purchase...a mic, a new keyboard case...nothing too pricey.

When my 2nd wife and I hooked up a few years back, I owned horses(horses make everything you spend money on look reasonable price wise$$$$), horse trailer and a nice new Goldwing motorcycle....as well as other expensive toys...Hey, I was a batchelor for the second time....had all kinds of $$$.

So, I sold all that when I got married again.

What I have now in guitars, keyboards and PA's is peanuts in terms of $$$ compared to what I had when single for the second time.

If I sell anything now it's not for the money, as a person loses big $$$ on used equipment,
It's for the space in our house.