Peavey SP5, or Yamaha Club V?

[Jeff]

Folks, I have narrowed my choices to these two I think. I am a
soloact and I use midi backing tracks (Roland 3080 module), and play
guitar and sing.

I am about to spend around $650 for mid grade set of speakers, 15's.
I like the sound of the SP5's, though I haven't been able to play my
own stuff through them. Good reviews and such. The Yamaha Club V
s115V also have great reviews. They are the same price, the SP5's are
made from Birch plywood, I don't think the Yamaha's are made of
plywood. Something funny, I also have a soloact friend who uses this
set of Behringer 1520 Pro 15 inch speakers, and I went to hear him
play live and his show sounded as good as my friend who uses the SP5.
These Behringer 1520 pros are only $220 each. There must be something
wrong with these things or Behringer couldn't possibly sell them at
that price. They sounded really nice, so am I missing something here?
Are they always breaking down, unreliable or what? I would jump on a
set of those for $450 real quick if I thought they were a serious
option, are they? Would they last 2 months and then fall apart or
blow their electronics?

Anyway, I would love some comments from those who have experience with
these speakers. I had also thought about the passive JBL 1500, but I
have heard some bad stuff about these. Surely the JBL 1500's would be
better than the Behringer 1520 pro's, wouldn't they?

Thanks much for any thoughts.

Jeff

[TimPerry]

Post by Jeff
Folks, I have narrowed my choices to these two I think. I am a
soloact and I use midi backing tracks (Roland 3080 module), and play
guitar and sing.
I am about to spend around $650 for mid grade set of speakers, 15's.
I like the sound of the SP5's, though I haven't been able to play my
own stuff through them. Good reviews and such. The Yamaha Club V
s115V also have great reviews. They are the same price, the SP5's are
made from Birch plywood, I don't think the Yamaha's are made of
plywood. Something funny, I also have a soloact friend who uses this
set of Behringer 1520 Pro 15 inch speakers, and I went to hear him
play live and his show sounded as good as my friend who uses the SP5.

that tell you something?

Post by Jeff
These Behringer 1520 pros are only $220 each. There must be something
wrong with these things or Behringer couldn't possibly sell them at
that price.

my B1220's work just fine. the plastic is getting a little scratched after
only a few shows though. had some inconsiderate musos drag them on cement
instead of lift.

Post by Jeff
They sounded really nice, so am I missing something here?
Are they always breaking down, unreliable or what? I would jump on a
set of those for $450 real quick if I thought they were a serious
option, are they? Would they last 2 months and then fall apart or
blow their electronics?

with a 400W RMS rating i expect quit a few years out of them.

Post by Jeff
Anyway, I would love some comments from those who have experience with
these speakers. I had also thought about the passive JBL 1500, but I
have heard some bad stuff about these. Surely the JBL 1500's would be
better than the Behringer 1520 pro's, wouldn't they?
Thanks much for any thoughts.
Jeff

the JBL JRX-112 have a cool mounting arrangement that lets you pole mount
them angled down by 10 degrees.
they also have both speakon and 1/4" gozzintas.

[Phildo]

Post by Jeff
Something funny, I also have a soloact friend who uses this
set of Behringer 1520 Pro 15 inch speakers, and I went to hear him
play live and his show sounded as good as my friend who uses the SP5.

That's because the Behringer speakers are every bit as good or better than
the more expensive alternatives you've got your heart set on.

Post by Jeff
These Behringer 1520 pros are only $220 each. There must be something
wrong with these things or Behringer couldn't possibly sell them at
that price.

Nope, nothing wrong with them at all. It's not the Behringer's that are too
cheap, it's the other speakers being too expensive for what they are.

Post by Jeff
They sounded really nice, so am I missing something here?

Yes. You seem to have some sort of misplaced snobbery against Behringer.

Post by Jeff
Are they always breaking down, unreliable or what? I would jump on a
set of those for $450 real quick if I thought they were a serious
option, are they? Would they last 2 months and then fall apart or
blow their electronics?

No, they will last just as long and perform as well or better than speakers
costing many times more.

Post by Jeff
Anyway, I would love some comments from those who have experience with
these speakers. I had also thought about the passive JBL 1500, but I
have heard some bad stuff about these. Surely the JBL 1500's would be
better than the Behringer 1520 pro's, wouldn't they?

Why should they be? Just do a google groups search of this group for
comments on the Behringer speakers and that should bring the clue that is
currently flying way over your head down to a level where you can grasp it.

Phildo

[Tony]

"Jeff" <***@comcast.net> wrote in message news:***@4ax.com...

<snipple>

Post by Jeff
Would they last 2 months and then fall apart or
blow their electronics?

Regarding the road-worthiness of Behringer Speakers, I've had 8 each of
B1800X's and B1220's in my hire inventory for the last three point five
years. They've handled anything from corporate presentation duties through
to 3-day outdoor bush doofs.
They've been rained on, danced on, dragged through the dirt, variously
dropped from an assortment of heights, alcoholic beverages of great variety
spilled all over them, a random cigarette burn from some hopeless muso who
found a particular B1220 more convenient than an ashtray, used as a
soldering bench, used as an impromptu ladder on many occassions, fucked on
(seriously), and generally treated with the sort of disdain that any hire
stock does. They're still going strong, and have paid for themselves
countless times over :)

In that time I've had a tosser blow a pair of 18" drivers through some
serious misuse, 4 replaced diaphragms @ AUD$18 each, (this being the result
of my own fux0red when I inadvertantly sent 400w to a comp-driver rated at
60w - and I stand here tall and admit it :\), a pair of blown 12" drivers
and melted crossover (which Behringer replaced for nix) thanks to a young
lad who didn't understand that getting that "club sound" out of a pair of
B1220's was not as simple as cranking +15 on the "BASS" (yo!) and runing the
desk on redline for the next 15 minutes (remarkable it lasted that long
actually).

Other than that, the rubber feet on some of my subs are down to about 50%

Cheers,

[George Gleason]

IMO unless your ready to pony up for meyers, kf650's, tsm's or other top dog
box
buy the behringers
I have a ton of these and for club work, they are the only way to go
you will not get more work or sound any better with JBL, yamaha, mackie
the 1520 is my default monitor now,I have dumped all my other monitors
if I need a high end monitor due to a rider spec I wll rent it in
I don't need 20,000$ worth of inventory doing was 1500.00 worth of inventory
is capable of

george

[Richard G]

Question: I am not sure what the technical term is but........ I use the
Mackie 450's and the one thing i have noticed in decent size rooms is that
the sound is very even in volume over the whole room. I used to have some
Yamaha's in the past and they were crap compared to the Mackies. Do the
Behringers compare to the Mackie in that regard?

Thanks

Post by George Gleason
IMO unless your ready to pony up for meyers, kf650's, tsm's or other top
dog box
buy the behringers
I have a ton of these and for club work, they are the only way to go
you will not get more work or sound any better with JBL, yamaha, mackie
the 1520 is my default monitor now,I have dumped all my other monitors
if I need a high end monitor due to a rider spec I wll rent it in
I don't need 20,000$ worth of inventory doing was 1500.00 worth of
inventory is capable of
george

[George Gleason]

Post by Richard G
Question: I am not sure what the technical term is but........ I use the
Mackie 450's and the one thing i have noticed in decent size rooms is that
the sound is very even in volume over the whole room. I used to have some
Yamaha's in the past and they were crap compared to the Mackies. Do the
Behringers compare to the Mackie in that regard?

The 450 mackies are a 650$ powered speaker
the behringers we are talking about are 200$ passive speakers
the sound you get is more up to the skill of the operator with the
behringers as things like amp power and protection are fixed with the
mackies, and not fixed with the behringers
I can get a pair of 1520 to sound every bit as good as a pair of 450's
without any really effort
but I have over 2 decades of experiance in controlling audio systems
a newbie is likely to get better sound out of the mackies simply because so
many decisions and choices (as well as ways to fuck it up)and simply not
available to 450 users
george

[Simon Ryder]

I used the Behringer's a few times. Their on axis rsponse was really quite
good, but I found they had a polar resonse a bit like a Christams tree (the
15" and horn version) The upper mids just did not cover the room fully,nor
did some of the 12kHz + HF. My suggestion would probably be to go for the
12" version and combine them with the subs. The 12" being a samller driver
will radiate Mid far btter and will do so much better than the 15",
particularly off axis.

Best advice, give them a listen. Find a shop who will demonstrate them to
you so you can A - B them. when you are demoing them, walk round each
speaker and listen to how the frequencies die off as you walk round the
cabinet. The one which is most consistently good within its coverage is the
one to go for (and I don't mean which one has the widest coverage angle)

Simon

Post by George Gleason

Post by Richard G
Question: I am not sure what the technical term is but........ I use the
Mackie 450's and the one thing i have noticed in decent size rooms is
that the sound is very even in volume over the whole room. I used to have
some Yamaha's in the past and they were crap compared to the Mackies. Do
the Behringers compare to the Mackie in that regard?

The 450 mackies are a 650$ powered speaker
the behringers we are talking about are 200$ passive speakers
the sound you get is more up to the skill of the operator with the
behringers as things like amp power and protection are fixed with the
mackies, and not fixed with the behringers
I can get a pair of 1520 to sound every bit as good as a pair of 450's
without any really effort
but I have over 2 decades of experiance in controlling audio systems
a newbie is likely to get better sound out of the mackies simply because
so many decisions and choices (as well as ways to fuck it up)and simply
not available to 450 users
george

[Richard G]

Post by George Gleason
a newbie is likely to get better sound out of the mackies simply because so
many decisions and choices (as well as ways to fuck it up)and simply not
available to 450 users

Fair Point..... I fall into that catergory.....Plug em in and start playing

[Phildo]

Post by Richard G
Question: I am not sure what the technical term is but........ I use the
Mackie 450's and the one thing i have noticed in decent size rooms is that
the sound is very even in volume over the whole room. I used to have some
Yamaha's in the past and they were crap compared to the Mackies. Do the
Behringers compare to the Mackie in that regard?

What you describe has as much to do with where you place the speakers as to
the speakers you are using. One brand won't necessarily be better than
another depending on the user and how much of a clue they have.

Phildo