PA vs HIFI quick comparison

[r100]

Hi,
We have just bought a pair of Behringer B112W PA speakers we are going to use for an event. These loudspeakers have their own 1000W (:stalks: ) D class amps built in, a 12" woofer and a 1" tweeter. The can be linked together via Bluetooth (I doubted this but it actually works quite well) and can be feed by any device paired to them.

Just for fun, I put them side by side with my resident KEF LS50's (driven by a Gainclone LM3886 double mono amp) to compare the different characters of these two types of speakers.

The Behringers are probably not what you would call very refined but then it is probably not surprising because these are after all PA speakers meant to play loud. They don't have much of a soundstage either and most surpisignly seem to have less bass weight than the KEF's. Overall, considering the price and options, these speakers are quite a bargain IMHO.

The KEF's on the other hand have a huge 3d soundstage and are very precise compared to the B112W's. Again, they play bass in a much more solid and thumpy kind of way although they only have an 8" driver and a tiny casing compared to the Behringers.

So, that made me feel quite good even although the comparison is probably not very fair. Maybe I should repeat the comparison once the drivers have had some more time to loosen up a little :)

Greetings
Ru

14640

[Haselsh1]

Years ago I used a Samson Servo 600 power amplifier along with a Creek passive preamp and was seriously impressed with its abilities. The bass output was purely effortless and very solid and powerful. The midrange was everything I expected of it and the treble was really good but the overall sound simply wasn't hi-fi. It was aggressive and forward and just loud and brash. I replaced it with an Icon Audio valve amplifier in one box but even to this day, I really do miss that bass performance.

BTW: I was at that time using Dali Suite 2.8 loudspeakers.

[ff1d1l]

A while ago my band bought a pair of RCF ART 312A mk3's. These are active speakers with class d amps and have a 12" LF and a horn loaded HF. RCF are quite high end in the PA business, and these were quite refined. Out of curiosity I removed the bass grilles and they moved up good couple of notches. I'd say with the grilles removed and my phone playing straight in to them I've heard many worse hi fi systems. Soundstage was good, but not great, depth similar, dynamics very good, and a pleasant sense of a complete lack of strain made playing loud an attractive proposition. With the grille removed bass was reasonably explicit - bass/kick drum easily discriminated, and vocals very listenable. I did try them with my Denon through a mixer and that was better still.

I did wonder - the way you do - how much better they might get with mods - pots and switches bypassed and internal connections soldered, things like that...

[Puffin]

I got a pair of Jamo Professional 400 speakers years ago for a song (£25) that I used for many "discos" when I say discos they were more loud parties, but I was always impressed with how good they sounded (would take serious abuse all day long). 15" bass, horn midrange and 5 bullet tweeters. A couple of years ago I put them in my system. The result was quite surprising, as I was not using much volume the HF's were quite restrained, the bass was taut and punchy, but not really that deep. I had to laugh out loud when I tried them with a 5w Tripath amp. They were 92dB sensitive and so didn't really need much up 'em to get serious volume. My system now incorporates 4 10" drivers which gives me the sound I want. Maybe it aint hifi, but it seriously plays music that moves me.

[ff1d1l]

Got a couple of JBL 2450's stashed away for that ultimate speaker build....they're pro PA but with huge neodymium motor and replacement berillium diaphragms (on the to do list) apparently quite special...I'm hoping for a poor mans Vitavox S3...which, er was developed for Cinema - PA - use!

[r100]

A while ago my band bought a pair of RCF ART 312A mk3's. These are active speakers with class d amps and have a 12" LF and a horn loaded HF. RCF are quite high end in the PA business, and these were quite refined. Out of curiosity I removed the bass grilles and they moved up good couple of notches. I'd say with the grilles removed and my phone playing straight in to them I've heard many worse hi fi systems. Soundstage was good, but not great, depth similar, dynamics very good, and a pleasant sense of a complete lack of strain made playing loud an attractive proposition. With the grille removed bass was reasonably explicit - bass/kick drum easily discriminated, and vocals very listenable. I did try them with my Denon through a mixer and that was better still.

I did wonder - the way you do - how much better they might get with mods - pots and switches bypassed and internal connections soldered, things like that...

I'll definitely give that a try once the drivers are "run-in". Thank's for the idea !