More speaker help! Budget speakers

[rth_discos]

I've seen some QTX QR12A speakers at £100 each. For £200, that's a very cheap pair of speakers.

Where I work, we do a lot of outdoor events, and we often hire in equipment. Often this is for a warm ups before a fun run or similar event, so the system is only really required for about 30 minutes for some microphone use and some music for the warmup.

To save hiring in equipment all the time, are those speakers going to be sufficient, or are they going to be a complete waste of money?

[Andy P]

I have some Ekho RS12A 12" actives and indoors they are fine, did a good job for me so if your looking for a 200 quid PA could suggest them. QTX do have a decent rep in the budget market and I still use QTX subs now. If its just to save on the faf and costs of hire I can't see them doing a bad job.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Personally I'd buy some second hand mackies. They keep their value fairly well and would be more reliable I'd imagine than £100 quid speakers...

[Excalibur]

Personally I'd buy some second hand mackies. They keep their value fairly well and would be more reliable I'd imagine than £100 quid speakers...

Absolutely correct, Neil. Put me down for a pair of V2s at £200 a pair, would you? On the off chance that we can't find many at that price, let's see what we can find. Considering we're going to stick these outside in the English climate, I don't think ultimate quality is our main prerequisite.

Since we haven't yet been told what's normally hired ( if it's a pair of Mackies, Neil I apologise :o;);) ), let's go with what the OP asked. There are worse cabs than QTX. Driven within their limits, they're absolutely fine. However, I think you'll find the limits of these ones a little too quickly.

I have the QS ones, which are fully featured mixer wise on the back. They're likely to cost nearer £300 a pair than £200 new though. The QX series are slightly less well equipped on the back, but allegedly louder. They're also a little cheaper.

Let us know what we're up against, ( the hire kit ) and we can see how the land lies.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Absolutely correct, Neil. Put me down for a pair of V2s at £200 a pair, would you? .

Seen pairs going for £300-£350 and like I said keep their value better than some really cheap cabs which don't.

[Excalibur]

Seen pairs going for £300-£350 and like I said keep their value better than some really cheap cabs which don't.

Like these? :whistle:

£600 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MACKIE-SRM450-400W-RMS-Active-Speakers-1-Pair-USED-/281630417478?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item41927b2246)

£650 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MACKIE-SRM-450-V2-PAIR-IMMACULATE-BOXED-/231488523545?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item35e5ca8d19)

Jesting somewhat Neil. :) I'm still not sure we need high quality and expenditure.
As to keeping value, well my QTX were worth bugger all when I bought them, and they're still worth bugger all. :D

[rth_discos]

Considering we're going to stick these outside in the English climate, I don't think ultimate quality is our main prerequisite.

Since we haven't yet been told what's normally hired ( if it's a pair of Mackies, Neil I apologise :o;);) ), let's go with what the OP asked. There are worse cabs than QTX. Driven within their limits, they're absolutely fine. However, I think you'll find the limits of these ones a little too quickly.

I have the QS ones, which are fully featured mixer wise on the back. They're likely to cost nearer £300 a pair than £200 new though. The QX series are slightly less well equipped on the back, but allegedly louder. They're also a little cheaper.

Let us know what we're up against, ( the hire kit ) and we can see how the land lies.

To be honest, it varies. We have some large 6,000 people events where we HAVE to hire in kit to cover a full football pitch.

We've been turning up to smaller events with a QTX QA15PA which has been great for smaller indoor events - but now we've got some summer events coming up, usually outdoors for a warm up event for a fun run etc, and just need to warm up the crowd. We just need enough volume to cover the few hundred people there.

So there was those cheap £200 speakers... now if the budget was up to £900 (leaving £100 for cables and other bits), what would you advise? If I can get significantly more volume from £900, then I'd rather spend the money knowing we had a bit more capacity.

Quality not a big issue here as it's outdoor PA, not indoor disco/outdoor concert!

[Sapphire Disco]

I have a pair of these I could sell to you for £450.00

[rth_discos]

I have a pair of these I could sell to you for £450.00

Tempting - are you VAT registered (ie, does that price include VAT?)

[Sapphire Disco]

Tempting - are you VAT registered (ie, does that price include VAT?)

Thats the total price they are of course secondhand so there's no VAT on them anyway :)

[Pe7e]

Personally I'd buy some second hand mackies. They keep their value fairly well and would be more reliable I'd imagine than £100 quid speakers...

Great advice, follow it. Personally speaking I would not touch QTX with someone else's barge pole, let alone my own.
You say you are already hiring in speakers, (assuming you are using a credible hire company, and not a mickey mouse operator hiring out his old redundant kit) what are the hire company supplying? I would suggest you research what are the pro's putting out there, and use this info in making your choice, also if you can be bothered, read some of my posts regarding 'cost of ownership' Casual 77 thread contains some of these. These days I'm almost exclusively dry hire, and my choice of kit has not been arrived at by accident, but by experience. The criteria most important to me is #1 reliability, #2 performance, #3 durably #4 residual value, and #5 ease of use,. I doubt you will find a single professional hire company using QTX, or for that matter any of the super cheap budget brands for any of their PA hire stock.

[Sapphire Disco]

Or a pair of these in good condition for £700.00 I need to sell a few things I want to buy a pair of RCF TT 08-A

[yourdj]

Personally I'd buy some second hand mackies. They keep their value fairly well and would be more reliable I'd imagine than £100 quid speakers...

:agree:

Apart from the battery ones they do all the other QTX stuff i have seen had not been great.
Second hand would be my option.

[Pe7e]

Thats the total price they are of course secondhand so there's no VAT on them anyway :)

Incorrect, whether they are new or S/H makes no difference to their liability for VAT, if the seller is a VAT registered person or business then they will need to charge 20% VAT, if not, they will be free from VAT. The fact the items are new or S/H has no bearing on the liability for VAT, it's the sellers status that matters.

[Pe7e]

Well my QTX were worth bugger all when I bought them, and they're still worth bugger all. :D

I assume you bought them S/H, and I would certainly not disagree with you, but, if purchased new it would likely be a different story altogether. If purchased new, you would almost certainly be facing a substantial financial loss when the time comes to upgrade, unless you got lucky. These 'lesser' brands purchased S/H can be a useful stepping stone in acquiring pro standard kit, assuming of course they don't self destruct during your period of ownership. IMO (of course), they don't really have a place in the professional marketplace. I once 'acquired' a pair of skytronic speakers in a deal involving other kit, I thought they may come in handy if faced with a client on a extremely tight budget, they lasted for just 2 outings before being consigned to the local amenities waste tip, they weren't even fit for sale ebay, my feedback score was worth considerably more, I've learnt my lesson.

[Excalibur]

I assume you bought them S/H, and I would certainly not disagree with you, but, if purchased new it would likely be a different story altogether. If purchased new, you would almost certainly be facing a substantial financial loss when the time comes to upgrade, unless you got lucky. These 'lesser' brands purchased S/H can be a useful stepping stone in acquiring pro standard kit, assuming of course they don't self destruct during your period of ownership. IMO (of course), they don't really have a place in the professional marketplace. I once 'acquired' a pair of skytronic speakers in a deal involving other kit, I thought they may come in handy if faced with a client on a extremely tight budget, they lasted for just 2 outings before being consigned to the local amenities waste tip, they weren't even fit for sale ebay, my feedback score was worth considerably more, I've learnt my lesson.

You assume correctly. Clever lad. :) I bought them when I was in fairly urgent need of something to cover for some broken higher grade ones.

I might dispute the " substantial " financial loss part on a new buy. If they cost less than £300, it's hard to lose £1,000 on them. :D Added to which, if they've actually earnt you £1,000 in that period, they can't really lose you any money.

Re durability/suitability, well the hire game is somewhat different. I totally agree that they would be absolutely useless for that, as the rider I always put on when describing their capabilities is " when used within their limits ". Run them too hard, and they're going to fail. No question. Use them correctly, and they'll do the job adequately. I had a colleague turn up at a gig where I was using them, and he asked where the sub was!!

They're not in the same league as my LD, but they are fit for purpose, subject to sensible use.

[Excalibur]

Personally I'd buy some second hand mackies. They keep their value fairly well and would be more reliable I'd imagine than £100 quid speakers...




Absolutely correct, Neil. Put me down for a pair of V2s at £200 a pair, would you? On the off chance that we can't find many at that price, let's see what we can find. .


Seen pairs going for £300-£350.

Shaun, have we got an Egg On Face smiley?
OK, I was wrong. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121597809166?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT) :p:p:p

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Shaun, have we got an Egg On Face smiley?
OK, I was wrong. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121597809166?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT) :p:p:p

Including the case? bargain.....

[Excalibur]

Including the case? bargain.....

Alright, don't milk it. :o:)