First, and foremost, I'm in the US...as always, lol. I'm looking at purchasing 2-4 floor monitors to keep on hand in the event of a band gig (which is happening more often, and I hate having to borrow/rent monitors), and money isn't in high demand right now (but things are changing with this new bar gig). Here are a couple of options I looked at...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/F1320D - Behringer F1320D, $279
Features: 12" woofer, 1" horn, 200w RMS, 300w peak (Berry ratings)
Likes: Front panel connections/EQ

http://www.zzounds.com/item--GMNGVX12P - Gemini GVX12P, $349
Features, 12" woofer, 1" horn, 500w RMS (bi-amped, 420w low, 80w high)

There are a few other solutions I'm looking at, but just trying to find a set to get me by for the time being. Behringer's name has been slowly coming up in the pro speaker world, and I've heard good things about their powered monitors for the price. Gemini has really changed their lot around with the GVX and RS series, and it seems the GVX was designed for multi-purpose live use in mind (the cabinets are sloped for monitor use I assume).

Anyone ever use any of these? I'm not sure what sort of access you have there in Europe, but if anyone has any opinions themselves, let me know. I may order 1+1 and A/B them myself and with a couple of my friends to see what they think, and send back whichever one I don't like.

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Ice Cold Entertainment DJ/Live Sound Services Ashland, KY, USA
Coming Soon: Presonus 32.4.2AI, QSC KW153/KW181 FOH, EV ELX Foldback

Not quite what you want to know, but in terms of brands I've been using Behringer powered studio monitors for a couple of years now with excellent results. Certainly in the UK - maybe in the US too? - there's a lot of howling snobbery set against their stuff just because it's relatively inexpensive. I think of this every time I'm playing to a packed venue with a stack of Behringer kit and smile quietly... Based on my experience I'd certainly check them out for any other speaker needs I had.

That's how I feel. I use Berry processing (comp, eq) and it works great. And from what I heard the F1320D's are a great set of cheap monitors. The 3-band EQ on the front itself can also ailor the sound to the individual artist's needs. May just get some black tape and cover the logo and surprise people if I like them.

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Ice Cold Entertainment DJ/Live Sound Services Ashland, KY, USA
Coming Soon: Presonus 32.4.2AI, QSC KW153/KW181 FOH, EV ELX Foldback

Thanks for this very usful information sharing.

My old singer recently sold me his Behringer powered mixer [PMP 1680]. I am really surprised by the lack of power and generally bad sonics. I'm not a gear snob in the least, I had a Peavey powered mixer rated at 300W which was much more powerful and pleasant sounding and a Yamaha which was both much more powerful and sounded about 10 times better, I bought both of them used.

My advice as a Behringer owner would be to try it out in whatever live situation you plan to use it in before committing the money. The PMP1680 claims 1600W but doesn't appear to be able to come close to 400W in actual output. My situation is just guitar amp, bass amp, drum kit and we don't play loud and this thing struggles with 2 vocal mics [both SM58s].

I realize that you are talking about monitors, but the power issue is what I'm addressing.

Yeah, I'm no gear snob (oh, alright then, just a bit of one) but I've had various Behringer bits over the years and for me I've done much better with things like DIs and low-level signal stuff than with anything that has a power amp in it. The Behringer bass amp I had some years ago was, literally, explosive!

But it's fair enough to say that if you're happy with it, go for it. Expect the worst then you'll only be pleasantly surprised. The band I play in at the moment has mainly Behringer amplification and I can assure you it doesn't stop the punters dancing.

Quote tacitus:

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Yeah, I'm no gear snob

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well, I am a gear snob.. because I've had the pleasure to use equipment of a much higher standard.

I have used plenty of b'ger kit over the years, so I know how it performs.. and you can get usable results with it. The general problems are reliability and build quality, lack of headroom/power. and generally they don't sound nice (to me)... but if its all you can afford, then its better than nothing.

btw, I speak as a live sound engineer, not a musician.

Quote tacitus:

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The band I play in at the moment has mainly Behringer amplification and I can assure you it doesn't stop the punters dancing.

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true... (not including snobby sound engineers and musicians) no one cares what equipment is being used, as long as the tune is good

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www.Lozjackson.com

Well, I have a steady gig going, plus a possible second job (so I'll be rolling in about $800/week), so I'm looking at financing options to get a set of the ELX112P's instead. A bit overkill for bar gigs and small festivals, but once I purchase a second set of the 15/18 combo, plus another set of 18's for large dances to stick under that, I think it would fit in very nicely. I'm looking at all possible financing options, including talking to my bank as far as what they can do to help me, since I could afford to do a long-term pay. (Yes, I know starting in the red is a bad idea, but there has been several instances where I could do large scale events, but I struggle with finding enough gear)

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Ice Cold Entertainment DJ/Live Sound Services Ashland, KY, USA
Coming Soon: Presonus 32.4.2AI, QSC KW153/KW181 FOH, EV ELX Foldback

personally, instead of getting yourself into debt, I would hire the equipment you need for larger gigs. until you can afford to buy it.

getting yourself into debt is a bad start

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www.Lozjackson.com

Quote Bossman:

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personally, instead of getting yourself into debt, I would hire the equipment you need for larger gigs. until you can afford to buy it.

getting yourself into debt is a bad start

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Yeah, the problem is, where I live noone rents. There's one company, but they're mainly regional, and they don't have the stuff I need.

I've actually scrapped the Berry monitors, and just decided to go ahead and get more of the EV's. I've had some interest in renting out pairs for acoustic gigs and such. Plus, I can use them for wide area distribution (there's alot of festivals in the area, schools and such, so it would definitely help with coverage for those).

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Ice Cold Entertainment DJ/Live Sound Services Ashland, KY, USA
Coming Soon: Presonus 32.4.2AI, QSC KW153/KW181 FOH, EV ELX Foldback