So yeah... about those Behringer PA speakers

[sobi]

I've never been a fan due to the companies past (both personal and second hand) reputation for putting out unreliable products. With that in mind, I saw a pair of them being brought into the venue I was at tonight and thought I would give them an honest listen with an open mind. Well... I'm still trying to figure out how much hearing damage those things gave me tonight. All I can say is that you guys who can't afford better speakers will be well served to save up and wait until you can afford better. These things are HARSH. Now the DJ could have done a better job tuning them in on the mixer (and eventually did), but even after the fact, these things just aren't in the same league as JBL or the same planet as QSC. The staff at this lounge has told me before how bad "those" speakers are, and never really known or cared about brands that some of these guys are using. Poking my head around, it ends up it's always the behringers they are speaking about.

Yes, if you absolutely NEED to have speakers on the cheap and saving just isnt going to happen, then go for them. If you really want to go about presenting yourself as well as possible at every angle though, stay away from these speakers. You are going to come across as either having an underpowered rig, or one with harsh horrible sound that's just too loud.

[Klaxsis]

what model specifically are you speaking of? ive heard the eurolive 315d aernt bad at all

[sobi]

It was those, but the 12" versions. Also heard the 212's a few months back, but I figured maybe it was just a fluke. These things are HARSH! lol.

[HighTopFade]

I watched this review and decided to give a pair of 15" subs a chance. Plus the 3 year warranty. I'll find out next week.

http://www.djbooth.net/index/dj-equi...ger-b1500d-pro

[Klaxsis]

I watched this review and decided to give a pair of 15" subs a chance. Plus the 3 year warranty. I'll find out next week.

http://www.djbooth.net/index/dj-equi...ger-b1500d-pro

exactly this, ive heard nothing but good about them for their price and quality.

[William Gibson]

I have been looking into a new PA recently too and also read NOTHING but good on the eurolive line. They are reccomended by the editors on several DJ blogs....

[soundinmotiondj]

These things are HARSH. Now the DJ could have done a better job tuning them in on the mixer (and eventually did), but even after the fact, these things just aren't in the same league as JBL or the same planet as QSC. The staff at this lounge has told me before how bad "those" speakers are, and never really known or cared about brands that some of these guys are using. Poking my head around, it ends up it's always the behringers they are speaking about.

"Harsh" is one of those "squishy" words used to describe sound. Can you be more specific about what you were (or were not) hearing?

In general terms, every speaker cabinet can benefit from audio processing (including JBL and QSC). The 3 or 4 band EQ on a mixer is NOT sufficient. A 31-band EQ is the industry standard for tuning a PA system. Using even moderate EQ, it should be possible to get a "flat response" within 1dB for any reasonable cabinet.

Behringer cabinets are entry level AT BEST...but they can be tuned to be "flat" with no more than 3-4dB of correction on any channel...and are suitable for moderate SPL sound reinforcement (with processing...of course).

[sobi]

Don't doubt they are great speakers. My experience out in a live environment and not playing but just being a patron has be abysmal. This isn't so much to defend or offend as much as it is about how some loud tops with no sub made my ears hurt... and the managers not be very happy with the sound either.

[HighTopFade]

Maybe they were pushed to the max, started to heat up, and sound shitty. I imagine it happens a lot with powered tops without subs.

[rotebass]

Harsh to me is distorsion in the 1.2-2KHz range, I'm not sure where Behringer crosses the woofer to the HF driver, but if it is anywhere in this range (which it likely is) then it wouldn't be a stretch that these speakers would take on a harsh quality when pushed past their design limitations.

FWIW, I'd still take them over the 100 level JBL gear, 500 series and up is another story.