Mackie Thumps “Warming Up”?
I always seem to be able to push my Thumps without hitting the overload light way louder at the end of a night compared to at the start. Has anyone else noticed this? Is this to do with the speakers “warming up” or something or is it a trick of the ears because of extended exposure to sound? I’m interested to know
It’ll most likely be the amp warming up, not the speakers.
If anything I’d say that extended exposure to sound makes that sound level seem quieter. You’ll always push it more at the end of the night.
as you say its the amps warming up
So should I turn the speakers on before the gig so I can get it loud straight up? Or will it only warm up if there is a strong signal going through?
Amps will warm up over time with use. Juts turning them on may go some way to getting them warmed up but only under stress will they reach their peak.
Imo, you should run them as you are, that way you can progressively turn the speakers up through the night as people get used to the sound levels.
Cheers1
I’ve owned NIB Mackie Thump tops and sold them after a month because I was having the opposite effect. The sound would get muddier after pushing them for a while (just after 1-2 hours). The guys at the guitar centers & rental joints all said that the sound was muddy because the amps were getting very hot. I traded them in for some QSC’s HPR122’s, problem solved. Not only is the sound cleaner & louder before clipping, but they go all night and cause less listening fatigue.
BTW my Pioneer HPM100 home speakers on a 80w per channel solid state amp had more output than the Thumps ever did & better low end.
I’m really sorry to bash the product in your thread but they really did not impress me at all. It’s too bad it has the Mackie emblem on it. Even my Ebay purchased Podium Pro 12" powered monitor ($320/pair) plays louder without clipping for half the price. I hope you don’t use them for larger venues.
EDIT: The Podium pros played louder but didn’t sound as clean in low to medium listening levels
Cheers for the advice, I really don’t use them for anything big, only house parties with a max of like a 30 person d-floor. I do struggle to get them loud though and am considering getting either a sub or perhaps upgrading to some louder speakers, which of those two options would you recommend?
It depends how much you’re willing to shell out. If you want to go for powered tops, almost anything will give overall better results than the Thump series. Even with a sub the tops lack decent output. You could get a combination of a decent pair of 10" tops + single sub package like the B52 Matrix v2 series used for under a grand, that’s a great value and sounds good for a venue in a room that holds up to 150 people. If you’re willing to go for a passive speaker package with a single amp, I know a lot of mobile DJ’s that go for a pair of twin 15" full range monitors with a decent amp. A good example is a pair of JRX125’s with a Crown XLS602 or XLS802 amp. You get good sound with low end comparable to a pair of budget 15" subs. Just get a 3 space rack for the amp & a rackmount power conditioner, and you’re all set. Since you don’t need to carry a powered sub, these fit in a 5 door hatch with the seats down and you still have room for some basic lighting.
If you have more budget, get some EV’s or QSC’s. The EV Live X séries gets crazy loud with fairly acceptable SQ. I’m guessing they haven’t fully engineered the box and have some unmatched components which would explain the slightly unbalanced sound (when not EQ’d) and low price. For $2400 you get a pair of 15" tops & a powered 18" sub. The cabs weigh nothing, have a Duratex style coating instead of carpet, and you’ll be able to host venus with 300+ people any day, almost any room.
QSC’s K series is a good buy as well, with similar pricing as the EV Live X series and the K sub is nice if you’ve got to cram the kit into a small car. It has good output but the sub fills less than a single 18". KW series is my personal favorite but with a heftier pricetag. The 12" tops I own have decent low end for smaller venues that you wouldn’t carry a subwoofer to. I am fully satisfied
JBL PRX612M seems to be at par with one any other in the same price range. Some people in other forums mentioned the QSC sounds warmer at low to medium volumes but deteriorates when pushed hard. The JBL’s would sound better when loud.
I suggest you head down to local store that sells PA & DJ gear and listen to what’s in their showroom. I’ve had friends that had bad experiences with Peavey stuff. They sound OK and are priced like Behringer & no name brands, but all had reliability issues after a few months.
Oh yeah: For ebay purchases, the Podium Pro powered cabs sound good for the price and for now they seem to handle all I’ve given them! I just don’t expect them to last as long as the mainstream brands mentioned above. I’d get those any day over Pyle, Newmark, Gemini, Alto & Behringer and all the other no names. I started with a pair of Seismic Audio 18" passive subwoofers and the wires all broke on the crossovers after 2 gigs. At first I thought the drivers went out, turns out the leads on the speaker terminals broke loose. I resoldered, RESOLD & made my own passive subs with Seismic Madrid 18", I am fully satisfied It seems their premium cabs are good, just don’t touch the cheap carpet covered press wood cabs. I’m guessing their line of powered speakers should sound fine.
Hope this helps you and remember you always get what you pay for!
A friend keeps telling me that it takes about 20 gigs to make up for that single gig gone bad!
Yeah, I’ll be caught dead before I even consider parting from them
We have a conoisseur in the house! Thanks Mr. Bart Locanthi for designing such great products
I am sold
Thank you so much for the advice! I will definitely be looking into upgrading my kit in the near future so this is going to prove highly useful 
glad if I can be of any help! I hang around with Pro shop guys so I’ve had a chance to try a few things out. If ever you see anything for sale that interests you, send me a PM and I’ll see if I can get any feedback about that particular product, new or used.
BTW I edited my previous post, I made a mistake I meant JBL JRX125’s instead of the single woofer’d JRX115. Also I forgot to mention two things: you’d be exempt from buying stands & poles to mount the tops when getting a pair or two of full range cabs. Getting a separate amplifier also means the amp will stay cooler than powered cabs, resulting in cleaner sound at all levels for longer periods of time.
Thanks so much
I know this thread is old, but hoping someone can chime in with a similar experience. We used two Thump 15s in a fairly large banquet hall. It seemed loud and clear initially. Towards the end of night, the light started to blink. I hate it when that happens. Although the manual says casual blinks are ok, it still bugs the shit out of me. We have a gig in an even larger hall with a stage with a capacity of 250 people. I just purchased two Behringer B1500D subs hoping to reduce stress on the Thumps.
I have also noticed some OL flashing by the end of the night. I the only bar I take them to is 100 person at most, and progressively turn it up throughout the night, which adds to the problem. Although the light will flash during heavy drops, the sound quality was never sacrificed. Im under the impression that it is ok unless the red light stays on. I think adding subs and turing the down the lows on the Thumps will definitely help
Thanks for your feedback. I certainly didn’t notice poor sound quality when the OL was flashing on the heavy drops. I’m totally convinced that adding a subwoofer will be less demanding for Thump’s low frequencies. I wonder though. Since this speaker is bi amped, I wonder if the OL light will flash if we were to push the high frequencies to its limit. 50 Watts RMS and 100 Watts Peak for high frequencies doesn’t seem like a lot.
I had a 12" thump but it gave up the ghost the 3rd time I ever used it… the OL light was flashing and then I smelled something funny and the woofer stopped working.
I ended up just buying a pair of JBL PRX612Ms and I never looked back, much clearer and I never have to worry about any flashing lights so I can focus on my real job, song selection and mixing.
My advise to anyone looking for a pair of Thumps is to ditch that idea and just get a single PRX, EV XLive, QSC K series or any of the other comparable speakers and avoid the drama. In the future you can always get a second one.
Jim