Speakers Question: EAW old school vs. JBL EON515xt with powered sub

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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Speakers Question: EAW old school vs. JBL EON515xt with powered sub

Alright so first off, I’m a mobile DJ: weddings, small parties, gym dances and the like. So I’m debating between getting two EAW FR-253s (2 15inch-lows, 2 7inch-mids, horn on top) specs:http://pdfcast.org/pdf/eaw-fr-253-hr. These are powered by ab international 1100 amp, specs:AbAmps.com is for sale | HugeDomains, that pdf is for the 1100a series which is newer than then 1100 and slightly powerful I believe. All of this equipment is about 20 years old, each speaker weighs about 100 lbs. and I have to use a big truck to trasport everything, need two people to setup up etc.
Therefore, I am wondering whether or not to get this setup ^^ for around $1500, or instead get two JBL Eons and later upgrade them with the bass box.

Will the JBLs even come close to comparing in sound quality? loudness? is the portability worth it?

Thanks for any help~DJboudreaux

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You would seriously consider showing up to a wedding with those EAW’s?

Eons (or other similar speakers) no doubt.

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May be a dumb question but what would be reasons not too?

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I’d check out EV Live X series over the EON’s any day. You can get two 112P’s and a Sub for about 1500 bucks right now and add the other sub later on.

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So is it looking like a no on the EAWs?

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The portability might be a no. In every other aspect, I’d always go EAW over JBL.

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+1

Depends on how loud the band are as well … if the band is louder than the DJ, the DJ is going to sound really weak.

IMHO no way in hell 2xEON’s will cut any more than a small room with a low ceiling and thats WITH a sub.

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Hmm, alright, ya I’ve never actually tested out EONs before, some people say their super loud, but those people sound like the ones who are comparing to their ipod dock. . .xD

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Well to give you an example - I used to hire out EON’s and EV SX300’s … around the same price to buy, but the SX’s used a separate amp.

The SX300’s could be pushed WAYYYYY louder with much better clarity, but were reserved to being hired to Bands or dj’s we knew would fry them.

EON’s were hired to wannabe DJ’s who wouldn’t know what a redline meant if it hit them in the face as they had a built in limiter and zero setup talk.

Its not all about the watts either - its about efficiency.

However - these days there are other similar portable options to EON’s, which will give you the volume and affordability to add subs to the setup.

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Hahaha, alright, so I guess I’ll rephrase my question. Is there a better option than those EAWs, for filling up a gym with sound for 1500 aprox. dollars.

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Because they’re hideous…

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Haha, that’s your only reason? They’re a big black box, just like every other speaker, I guess I’ll go tell the guy who made half a milli of them that he’s hideous. Give me some solid reasoning bro.

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Weddings put a huge emphasis on appearance. Showing up with those would be totally unprofessional and inappropriate.

A high school gym, maybe. But you’re still better off keeping your tops and subs seperate instead of combining them inside those bulky, ugly, outdated speakers.

Is that solid reasoning… bro?

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Haha, yea bro xD thanks.

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The Mackie Thump’s get good reviews from some of the folks here and are reasonably priced, pair them up with an 18’ Powered Sub and you should be pretty good to go, would be well worth adding another sub when you can afford it and would make stacking easier as you can mount them on a pole each side rather than separate stands. In total that should work out around $1200 - 1300.

Another option would be Behringer’s (which now have a 3 yr warranty) - they sound pretty damn good for the $, every disco bar and hire company around here is using them and haven’t from any of the guys that i’ve asked if any failed yet.

Paint em’ white :smiley:

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Talking Mackie Thumps, and more so, Behringer in the same thread as EAW is like bringing a ford festiva to a car show filled with classic restored muscle cars.

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Those Behringers are more like a Toyota Prius at a muscle car show.

Smarter and highly efficient.

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and don’t sound anywhere near as good.

Agree with SSS…those big boxes would seriously put a damper on an elegantly decorated wedding. HS Dance, Out door events they’d be find. If your on a budget give a serious look at the EV Live X line. I had a pair of thumps for casual playing and the EV’s blow them away.

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you forgot completely worthless when looking for high output quality performance.

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[QUOTE]Talking Mackie Thumps, and more so, Behringer in the same thread as EAW is like bringing a ford festiva to a car show filled with classic restored muscle cars.
[/QUOTE]

JBL Eons arent exactly high end either …

Portability/Uglyness vs Volume and Quality is really what it will really boil down to and only something the OP can decide.

Probably the best suggestion so far … hate the idea of playing without a sub to fill out a room mind you.