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Thread: Coalville 2016, the unexpurgated truth!!

  1. #1
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Default Coalville 2016, the unexpurgated truth!!

    First of all, a huge vote of thanks to James H and AED for running the event. In so many ways, this was the best ever. If you missed it, then shame on you, it was featured the most relevant kit to the majority of mobile DJs I've ever seen.

    OK, so our little wagon train left the Toby, and arrived at the Charnwood around 9.30, where we were greeted by James H looking like he'd gone twelve rounds with Count Dracula, and lost on points. Seems he'd suffered an infection on his neck, which had turned very nasty, and he had been released from the hospital, with instructions not to work for at least a week.
    Stalwart that he is, he'd decided that " The show must go on ", and carried on regardless. The lad's a trooper.

    The other two reprobates turned up minutes after me, and we set about rigging kit. It's always lovely to see the spirit of kindness and cooperation this day entails, and as more folks arrived, the systems started to fill the room. Proceedings were enlivened by one of the little Mackie cabs deciding to spontaneously self destruct in a loud and unpleasant fashion, before treating us to the smell of fried components.

    James had allocated spaces according to style of system, so that we got the best possible grouping of vaguely similar systems together. With very little fuss, technical glitches, or argument, we were ready to Rock and Roll. Systems ranged from one lonely and forlorn Maui 5, through Evox, Bose and Curv, through Dicky's " tasteful and understated " rig, Splendid looking OHM, Alto Black, Flare and Logik systems, right up to 7.5Kw of RCF TT+ with subs the size of a small hatchback!!!

    What did they sound like, I hear you cry. Well, the following is basically my views, I hope others chip in with theirs, for as we know, sound is a very personal thing.

    The little Maui 5 again aquitted itself very very well, and impressed me no end. I think it's a winner. However, when put up against the Evox 8 and 12, and Bose L2/L1 ( I think. Dave will correct me if I'm wrong. ) it was understandably outclassed. The Evox twelve is just fantastic, and impressed everyone. Now I've got to upset Shaun, and say that I thought his Curv didn't quite cut it. It runs into clip rather early, and seems to promise more than it delivers.

    A pair of FBT Jolly 12s made me eat my words, as they were very very impressive, and astonishing value. The surprise of the day though was a pair of Yamaha DXR8s. They were absolutely amazing, and sounded much bigger, really impressive. Even more impressive though was when Justin asked as I was wheeling out my Alto sub if we could try it with the Yamahas. It was lashed in quickly, fired up, and a number of jaws hit the floor simultaneously. It sounded superb. It wasn't even wired in properly, but it still sounded great.

    The social part of the evening followed, and as always it's great to meet forum members we don't see often enough. Roll on next year.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  2. #2

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    Yup, yesterday was definitely an ear opener. Stars of the show for me - I have absolutely no interest in mahoosive systems - were the B52 & Yamaha DXR8. Especially with Peter's little Alto sub (cheers for that fella!).

    The new Flare system.. oh dear. Six grand on 4 boxes of compact PA and the poles still needed to have tape wrapped round them for a snug fit in the sub. Poor form IMHO. As for how it sounded.. Just buy 2 pairs of Evox 8 instead & it'll not only sound better - it'll look nicer too.

    Of your gear Peter, the LD sounded the better of your boxes (well they would, being wood).

    Other LD kit at the show.. the Maui 5 definitely showed itself to be the best value for money compact PA there. Perfect for background duties or (very) small parties.

    The LD Curv.. sounded okay to me but seemed very quiet.

    FBT J12A.. I thought it sounded like it was clipping in places. Very fuzzy round the edges.

    B52.. brilliant, just brilliant! Sadly quite tricky to get hold of these days, and no hope of anybody importing them again. The more I ponder a 2.1 system (except all active, not just amplifers in the bin) the more it seems like it'll suit me down to the ground.

    Compacts.. really didn't like the Bose at all. It was better than I expected but you won't find me hankering after one. RCF Evox 8 & 12.. very nice, but not for me.

    The big boxes.. well most of them just sounded VERY LOUD to me.

    Mackie? Well no. Just no.

    And Dicky - your frustration was palpable. Something was definitely amiss somewhere. Fed with the NS track you gave it though.. Very very good I thought. For the money you paid for it, no question. As for your curious light.. now there's a puzzle isn't it? It really should be possible to work out DMX channel assignments pretty quickly.. not in this case.

  3. #3
    Disco Dude! DeckstarDeluxe's Avatar
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    Excellent show once again.

    Not really in a market for a new PA but am very tempted by the Evox 8.

    It was a shame most systems were pushed beyond their optimum performance however the larger RCF system at the back was very good (just far too large for my needs).
    The Cheltenham Wedding DJ
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    Ezekiel 25:17 funkymook's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by juski View Post
    Other LD kit at the show.. the Maui 5 definitely showed itself to be the best value for money compact PA there. Perfect for background duties or (very) small parties.
    After being impressed with just one at a demo I bought a pair for small venues, house parties, sensitive sound limiters etc.

    Using them for the first time this weekend for a birthday in a small gastro-pub, 60 guests, vintage music to begin with then Motown, 70’s disco and 80’s etc. (a fairly typical scenario for me). Looking forward to a very light load-in.

    I shall report back with a proper review.

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    Imagine's Avatar
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    Damn - seeing the review about the DXR8's I wish I could have made it up there now

    Question...were they REALLY that good?

    As most of you know, I normally roll out with a pair of DXR15's which I can't fault apart from the size/weight of them.

    I'm looking for something just a little bit smaller and was looking at the DXR10's or DXR12's.

    How does the sound/quality compare to the 15's (the plan is to put them alongside my DSR18 to handle the bass side of things - I'm not expecting an 8" cone to produce too much thump). That said, how good were they without the sub on them? Would they, in your opinion but suited for things like weddings and parties of up to 100-150 bodies?

    Obviously I need to arrange to go visit my "local" dealer to listen in person. However, that's a 160 mile round trip so want to know how others rate them before I get in the van with my wallet in tow

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    What did you think of the Alto Blacks guys?

    I have these and think they are great however i never get chance to compare them to anything else.

    I have the 15" Tops and 18" subs and lug them around everywhere (the subs weigh a ton).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Damn - seeing the review about the DXR8's I wish I could have made it up there now

    Question...were they REALLY that good?

    As most of you know, I normally roll out with a pair of DXR15's which I can't fault apart from the size/weight of them.

    I'm looking for something just a little bit smaller and was looking at the DXR10's or DXR12's.

    How does the sound/quality compare to the 15's (the plan is to put them alongside my DSR18 to handle the bass side of things - I'm not expecting an 8" cone to produce too much thump). That said, how good were they without the sub on them? Would they, in your opinion but suited for things like weddings and parties of up to 100-150 bodies?

    Obviously I need to arrange to go visit my "local" dealer to listen in person. However, that's a 160 mile round trip so want to know how others rate them before I get in the van with my wallet in tow
    Put it this way Wayne, when those little Yamahas started playing just about everybody stopped what they were doing & came for a butchers. No wonder they'd been saved til so late in the day! You'd might need to use them with a sub for disco duties I think. Or not, if you're doing a kids party or a small family shindig. We tested them out with Peter's Alto (yeah the one he said will never blow anybody away) 15" sub & they sounded mighty sweet even accounting for a mismatch in xover frequencies (the tops were set to high pass & the sub was fed from an output on one of the tops - it was set up in a hurry!).

    The only other system that even came close in terms of detail & clarity by my recollection was the B52 rig.

    People have commented that the DXR8s sound too much like hi-fi speakers, like that's a bad thing. What - you mean clear, controlled & musicality to die for? :O

    So if the DXR8 sounds THAT good, what on Earth does the DXR12 or 15 sound like?!

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThomasPM View Post
    What did you think of the Alto Blacks guys?

    I have these and think they are great however i never get chance to compare them to anything else.

    I have the 15" Tops and 18" subs and lug them around everywhere (the subs weigh a ton).
    I thought they were okay, but nowt to write home about - and I'd been looking forward to hearing them too. 15" tops with 15" bins were previously described as lacklustre & I couldn't find myself disagreeing. Good enough I suppose, but worth lugging all that weight around? Hmmmm. You'd think that the crossover would sort out any wrangles in the frequency response but I don't think that's the case in real life.

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    Thank you Juski "but worth lugging all that weight around" is the exact question i am asking myself!

  10. #10
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post

    Question...were they REALLY that good?

    Obviously I need to arrange to go visit my "local" dealer to listen in person.
    The word " Amazing " springs to mind, simply because they amazed everyone.

    Juski and the Yamaha owner lashed them up in a hurry, and as we said, that left a big hole in 80-120 Hz, due to crossover mismatches. When the rig was fired up, you could see everyone left in the room thinking " Hmmmm. Those tops with a lightweight sub ( The matching one for example ) and I could have an easily prtable, nice sounding, very pretty PA. "

    Quote Originally Posted by ThomasPM View Post
    What did you think of the Alto Blacks guys?
    And the word to describe them is " Disappointing ". Fit for purpose, but for me, they didn't live up to the " hype ".

    Quote Originally Posted by juski View Post
    I thought they were okay, but nowt to write home about - and I'd been looking forward to hearing them too.
    Agreed.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

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