Help me pick a powered speaker

I've decided to stop throwing money away on rentals but have had a hard time finding any feedback and/or reviews on a lot of the speakers I'm looking at so I'm turning to this forum. Here are the speakers I'm considering and my initial thoughts on them.

Behringer Eurolive B815NEO - Cheap and Loud
Mackie TH15A - Cheap, but not enough inputs

Mackie SRM450V2 - Not enough inputs
Electro-Voice ELX112P - I would be sold on these but the boxes aren't road-ready. They're made of plywood with textured paint and prone to chipping

Yorkville NX55P (used) - I love these speakers and have used them extensively, but I'm not thrilled about buying them used and can't afford to buy new.

What's you're budget? Type of music you'll generally be playing? Indoor/outdoor use?

Out of what you listed, I'd go with the EV's or the used Yorkvilles.
I have a pair of EV elx115p's, and haven't had any paint chipping. Looks like it'd be an easy fix if it ever does; little bit of black paint.

I bought a pair of ART RCF 312A speakers a month ago and have been happy with them. Sound great, better than the Mackies or Behringer you listed, but they will cost more. Cost is $900-1000 for a pair.

Eventually you will also want a sub as tops won't give you much thump.

As far as inputs go, they only have one, but why do you need more inputs? And if you do, a cheap 4-8 channel mixer would solve the problem.

If budget matters I'd go with the Behries, if not the above mentions RCFs are a monster speaker...

I'd like to spend no more than $600 before tax. It's for mobile DJ'ing, corporate events, and maybe the odd house/cottage/bar, so they'll end up broadcasting pretty much every genre at some point from either an iPod or DJ system.

In terms of the "inputs" it's mostly just to get out of a jam, like forgetting to bring my line level mixer and not being able to plug in a mic. The yorkville's have multiple inputs which will allow you to plug in a mic while using as one of your mains, etc.

Are the Behringers reliable with decent sound quality?

I can see your point on having more inputs. QSC K12 have TRS, XLR, and RCA...so if inputs it's what you're looking for that's the best solution. You also get killer sound for most types of music that can be played at weddings to corporate gigs and plenty of volume for 150-200 people venue.

Pricey but worth it. Otherwise I would go with the Mackies and have a check list of everything I need before I take off from home so I know I'm ready for any event.

Maybe I'll buy 3 different speakers and compare them myself :D

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Originally Posted by tokenasianguy

Behringer Eurolive B815NEO - Cheap and Loud, unreliable, screeching highs with no low end

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Originally Posted by tokenasianguy

not enough inputs

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Most pro audio is only going to have one input. Good rigs run from a mixer/console > amp and/or speaker.

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Originally Posted by tokenasianguy

---but the boxes aren't road-ready. They're made of plywood with textured paint and prone to chipping

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The best boxes are made of wood, as that type of construction/material gives the best sound quality when compared to polymer/plastic type cabinets.

As for Suggestions, the best thing I can tell you is you get what you pay for. Cheap speakers are exactly that. The more money you spend, the more reliability you get, and the better the sound quality.
I use a QSC rig that consists of 2 HPR 121i's, and a KW 181. It pumps out amazingly clear sound for an immediate 50-100 people at high levels with thumping bass you can easily feel in a smaller venue.

To comment on what is right for you isn't possible yet. We need to find out what type of events your doing, how many people are going to be at these events, and how large the venues are. Personally, I wouldn't be looking for this info here... there is many more people who are much more knowledgeable over at DJ forums. People here know there stuff, but over there has more of an "advanced" database of knowledge and members. Anyhow, list out the things I mentioned above to get some good info.

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Originally Posted by sobi

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Most pro audio is only going to have one input. Good rigs run from a mixer/console > amp and/or speaker.

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The Yorkville NX55P have multiple inputs. Although they tend to not have international recognition, but a lot of people consider them to be one of the best speakers companies around.

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The best boxes are made of wood, as that type of construction/material gives the best sound quality when compared to polymer/plastic type cabinets.

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That's true. I never considered that. It's just that my speakers tend to get beaten up, and I might rent these out to a friend so I wanted to make sure they can take a beating.

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As for Suggestions, the best thing I can tell you is you get what you pay for. Cheap speakers are exactly that. The more money you spend, the more reliability you get, and the better the sound quality.
I use a QSC rig that consists of 2 HPR 121i's, and a KW 181. It pumps out amazingly clear sound for an immediate 50-100 people at high levels with thumping bass you can easily feel in a smaller venue.

To comment on what is right for you isn't possible yet. We need to find out what type of events your doing, how many people are going to be at these events, and how large the venues are. Personally, I wouldn't be looking for this info here... there is many more people who are much more knowledgeable over at DJ forums. People here know there stuff, but over there has more of an "advanced" database of knowledge and members. Anyhow, list out the things I mentioned above to get some good info.

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The size of the venue and amount of people really depends. I mostly do weddings, which are typically seated dinners in banquet halls, however I've done a few in restaurants (standing room only), and backyards. The "rule" I've developed is that I usually have 1 Yorkville nx55 per every 50 people, and that seems to be more than enough.

I think I'm almost decided against the el cheapos, so I'm leaning towards the Mackie SRM450 new, EV ELX112P new, QSC K12 (used) or Yorkville NX55 (used - if one of the sellers will actually respond to me).

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Originally Posted by tokenasianguy

The Yorkville NX55P have multiple inputs. Although they tend to not have international recognition, but a lot of people consider them to be one of the best speakers companies around.

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Still not a high quality speaker for pro applications, though this is really not helping anything with your questions, so I'll defer to your opinion in this case.

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Originally Posted by tokenasianguy

...my speakers tend to get beaten up, and I might rent these out to a friend so I wanted to make sure they can take a beating.

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I'd suggest going with something like the K series from QSC or a similar build. The K series is fairly lightweight too, so it's good for mobile stuff. On a realistic level though, if you're going to be doing weddings and want your equipment spotless (as you should for those applications), you need to invest in covers for your speakers. It protects them from getting banged up.

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Originally Posted by tokenasianguy

The size of the venue and amount of people really depends. I mostly do weddings, which are typically seated dinners in banquet halls, however I've done a few in restaurants (standing room only), and backyards. The "rule" I've developed is that I usually have 1 Yorkville nx55 per every 50 people, and that seems to be more than enough.

I think I'm almost decided against the el cheapos, so I'm leaning towards the Mackie SRM450 new, EV ELX112P new, QSC K12 (used) or Yorkville NX55 (used - if one of the sellers will actually respond to me).

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As I've said before, I'm a HUGE advocate of QSC, though I've never had complaints about EV. I've never heard bad things about yorkville, but on the flip side of that, none of the guys I know that deal in quality equipment ever talk about them either. I see them as a decent brand, but nothing to rave about. Mackie I used to like, but a while back, they started manufacturing their speakers in china, and ever since then, their quality and reliability has taken a nose dive.

There is three reasons I recommend QSC over all the others.
1. Clean Sound. They are known as one of the highest clarity for mobile apps. Their stuff is crystal clear, and keeps level even at high levels.
2. Reliability. You rarely hear about people with QSC systems running into issues with their stuff. I've had mine for about 3 years, and there has been zero problems, and I push it pretty hard.
3. Warranty. That ties into their reliability. Most companies aren't gonna give you much of a warranty on equipment for mobile apps since it's gonna get moved around and banged up (as you noted earlier). QSC offers a SIX YEAR warranty. That's more or less unheard of... especially for speakers. With that in mind, QSC speakers are a bit of a bargain IMO.