Just got back from comparing speakers in a local church that I help with PA stuff sometimes. The object was to decide if there was a worthwhile upgrade to be had for reasonable money.
The comparison was the currently installed old PEavey vs SRM450 vs Wharfedale Titan12.

In my mind going in the Mackie would be a clear winner.
Coming out the Wharfedale was better in every way that mattered.

The mackie had more bass, but it seemed to be undefined 'tuneless' thumpy kind of bass.
The lower mids seemed very confused. And high frequencies seemed lacking.

The Wharfedale seemed to lack bass extension compared to the Mackies but the bass that there was seemed good. They also had more HF info going on and for speech were far more intelligable. If anything the Wharfedales seemed a little too bright, but that seemed like it could be EQ'd out.

But this feels wrong to me I've been told over and over by people that the Mackies are good, but the Wharfedales appeared to beat them quite convincingly.

Could I have done something wrong in testing? I used a db meter to level match them, and actually swapped the signal cable part way through because I didn't believe what I was hearing.

I'd really like to know if anybody else has had this experience, because at the moment I'm thinking the recommendation to make is a pair of the wharfedales with the matching subs for about £200 more than the mackies all in.

Any thoughts/input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant.

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I've never liked a solo violin, you need at least five for a proper fire.

Quote RhinoTime:

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I've been told over and over by people that the Mackies are good

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You may have been listening to the wrong people

I'm not a huge fan of Wharfedale either to be honest but I'd still probably rank them above Mackie. Trust your ears.

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There's nothing we can't face... Except for bunnies

Hi Grant

... been there, done that...

I come across SRM450s quite often in church settings - or when I do some informal consultancy for them there's often an assumption that the speakers will be SRM450s. I think it may be because church people ask other church people and the snowball keeps rolling. They certainly seem to be the de-facto speaker still in many church-related situations.

I've never particularly rated them. They're OK at modest volumes, but as soon as you turn the wick up they start to sound very harsh indeed to me. Out of interest, were you using the 'contour' buttons at all?

OTOH there are lots of people - and some may comment here - that are highly sceptical of the Titans. I think they are very good value and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to churches on a budget or with modest requirements. I've used the 12s and had a set of 8s until an untimely accident a couple of months ago. The 8s often got VERY favourable comments when used in appropriate contexts - I just wish they'd made some 10s!

So, personally, I think you're on the right track in the either/or stakes. But have you had a listen to anything else...?

I tried the contour buttons in both positions, neither position came across as well as the Titans. Not having a manual to hand I assumed that they were like the old loudness buttons on amps of days gone by and should be left off when wotking at a decent volume.

To be honest I was disappointed with the sound of both systems, the Mackie seemed pretty much unworkable whereas the Titan seemed bass light and treble heavy. The treble heavy could be tamed by EQ though.

I suspect we'll need to look further and see what other options are available. Budget is probably around 12-1500 pounds. Realistically I don't really see a need for subwoofers, but the extra versatility of a system that has reasonable bass capability would be good. Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

Thanks,

Grant.

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I've never liked a solo violin, you need at least five for a proper fire.

SRM450s are decent for what they are, but they tend to be overrated and probably overpriced. I have spec'd and used them in systems before, but typically they aren't anywhere close to my goto choice for most things.

How much do EV LiveX sell for over on your side of the pond?

Seablade

A pair of QSC K12's would be in budget would they not?

Worth a look.

Quote SparkyG:

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A pair of QSC K12's would be in budget would they not?

Worth a look.

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Indeedy! If you're widening the scope of the search...

You don't mention anything of the acoustic characteristics of the space you're working in. If it's a lively boomy room then any low end element in the sound will rocket around the room uncontrolled, giving the impression of wooliness in the bass. If this were the case the Titans would sound better simply because there is no bass in them.

You also don't mention if you are using any kind of EQ to take account of the room.

I'm no fan of the Mackies but I'd usually take them over the Titans.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

No-one seems to have mentioned RCF yet - I would have thought their equivalent would be worth a listen.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Quote shufflebeat:

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You don't mention anything of the acoustic characteristics of the space you're working in. If it's a lively boomy room then any low end element in the sound will rocket around the room uncontrolled, giving the impression of wooliness in the bass. If this were the case the Titans would sound better simply because there is no bass in them.

You also don't mention if you are using any kind of EQ to take account of the room.

I'm no fan of the Mackies but I'd usually take them over the Titans.

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Thanks for your comment, the room is reverberant but doen't seem to have any horrific bass peaks.
We tried eq but just seemed to end up with greater or lesser degrees of muddy. I wouldn't agree that the Wharfedales have no bass, although they don't seem to go as deep as the Mackies they haev a reasonable amount.

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I've never liked a solo violin, you need at least five for a proper fire.

Quote RhinoTime:

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We tried eq but just seemed to end up with greater or lesser degrees of muddy.

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Lesser muddy is a good start.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".