A tale of speaker woes. ( And good luck )

[Excalibur]

Specially for Crazy K, cos he's obviously keen to see this.

Having moved on some halogen lights, and passive cabs and amps which hadn't been used in ages, and were taking up valuable space, I was in a position to acquire some actives to replace them. The cabs I'd let go were the W Audio 10" Epic tops and subs. Awesome cabs, especially when driven by a PV2600. Trouble is, the paint on the cabs had been faulty from day one ( I got them s/h, intending to give them a facelift. ) and the 2600 is ing heavy.

I have some gigs coming up where dinky cabs will be just what the job requires, so I needed some 10" cabs, and I reckoned I also had a use for some 8" as well.

I had found some astonishingly good value 10" wooden cabs near me, and went off to have a demo. Plywood construction, a name I recognised, ( I had an amp bearing the same name ) and attractively priced. ( The 10" were priced the same as the 8", but they've now spotted that, and increased the price of the tens. )

So, I arrived at the shop, and asked for a demo. " No problem Sir". Oh, but there was. Now I know exactly what it was, as I've got them beside me confirming my diagnosis. The lad selected them on the amazingly impressive touch screen selector, and I was really impressed. Until I realised that instead of a 10" top, he was running a sub and a 15" top!! I pointed this out, and he selected the one I wanted. Silence.

A spot of quick fault finding ensued, all cables were good, and swapping the cables from one we'd heard working didn't help. Most curious. And then, it powered up. I was really impressed by such a little cab, and asked if he could get it down, so I could fondle it. At this point, it got confusing. Let me show you.

The ones I wanted were advertised as De Luxe. The description and PDF refer to what I believe to be the de luxe model. The one in my hand had no mic input, and one less tone control, as per the picture on the website. Having pointed out that as far as I was concerned, this wasn't the cab advertised, I was offered a hefty discount. I like hefty discounts.

Since I loved the design, construction, looks and sound of it, I bought a pair. These arrived in boxes proudly claiming to be the De Luxe model. With the picture of the lower spec one on the box. And the manual for the De Luxe one I wanted inside, along with the lower spec cabs. The actual de luxe ones say de luxe on the back of the speaker, these don't. Curiouser and curiouser.


Nevertheless, I loved the sound, and the reduced price, so off I wandered off to the West Riding Discotechnology meeting, where I picked up a pair of W-Audio PSR 8As as well, from a certain Cumbrian dealer. Sadly, we were unable to run them there, as the Peavey rep was demonstrating his wares. That turns out to have been a shame.

Saturday was the ideal chance to run them, as the gig was crying out for a small PA. I connected them up, and was in raptures with them. Until an hour into playing background music quietly, one switched off. Cable checking followed, with no problems found. No problem, I had the little Warriors with me, so swapped them. The warriors aren't a patch on them, sound wise, but at least they kept going, and finished the gig satisfactorily.

Sunday, I plugged both Phonics in, and lo and behold, they both worked!! I couldn't get them to fail. Now I was in a quandary, and contacted the shop to tell my tale of woe. They offered initially to have a look, then upgraded to swapping my iffy one for another new one. So, this morning, I fired them up in the house, after Jeanette had gone to work, and again, they were spot on. Until they both switched off!

This afternoon, I've done more testing, and they will cut out after a time, whether they're playing music or not. Unless you then switch them off, wait a while, and switch them on again, they're dead. Exactly what the demo model did. At least I've got an easily replicated fault to show them, so tomorrow morning I'm going back for a refund, and to tell them I reckon their entire stock is faulty. Should go down well. Perhaps offering to buy something else will soothe them a bit, who knows?

Tune in tomorrow for the next gripping instalment.

[CRAZY K]

Specially for Crazy K, cos he's obviously keen to see this.

Having moved on some halogen lights, and passive cabs and amps which hadn't been used in ages, and were taking up valuable space, I was in a position to acquire some actives to replace them. The cabs I'd let go were the W Audio 10" Epic tops and subs. Awesome cabs, especially when driven by a PV2600. Trouble is, the paint on the cabs had been faulty from day one ( I got them s/h, intending to give them a facelift. ) and the 2600 is ing heavy.

I have some gigs coming up where dinky cabs will be just what the job requires, so I needed some 10" cabs, and I reckoned I also had a use for some 8" as well.

I had found some astonishingly good value 10" wooden cabs near me, and went off to have a demo. Plywood construction, a name I recognised, ( I had an amp bearing the same name ) and attractively priced. ( The 10" were priced the same as the 8", but they've now spotted that, and increased the price of the tens. )

So, I arrived at the shop, and asked for a demo. " No problem Sir". Oh, but there was. Now I know exactly what it was, as I've got them beside me confirming my diagnosis. The lad selected them on the amazingly impressive touch screen selector, and I was really impressed. Until I realised that instead of a 10" top, he was running a sub and a 15" top!! I pointed this out, and he selected the one I wanted. Silence.

A spot of quick fault finding ensued, all cables were good, and swapping the cables from one we'd heard working didn't help. Most curious. And then, it powered up. I was really impressed by such a little cab, and asked if he could get it down, so I could fondle it. At this point, it got confusing. Let me show you.

The ones I wanted were advertised as De Luxe. The description and PDF refer to what I believe to be the de luxe model. The one in my hand had no mic input, and one less tone control, as per the picture on the website. Having pointed out that as far as I was concerned, this wasn't the cab advertised, I was offered a hefty discount. I like hefty discounts.

Since I loved the design, construction, looks and sound of it, I bought a pair. These arrived in boxes proudly claiming to be the De Luxe model. With the picture of the lower spec one on the box. And the manual for the De Luxe one I wanted inside, along with the lower spec cabs. The actual de luxe ones say de luxe on the back of the speaker, these don't. Curiouser and curiouser.


Nevertheless, I loved the sound, and the reduced price, so off I wandered off to the West Riding Discotechnology meeting, where I picked up a pair of W-Audio PSR 8As as well, from a certain Cumbrian dealer. Sadly, we were unable to run them there, as the Peavey rep was demonstrating his wares. That turns out to have been a shame.

Saturday was the ideal chance to run them, as the gig was crying out for a small PA. I connected them up, and was in raptures with them. Until an hour into playing background music quietly, one switched off. Cable checking followed, with no problems found. No problem, I had the little Warriors with me, so swapped them. The warriors aren't a patch on them, sound wise, but at least they kept going, and finished the gig satisfactorily.

Sunday, I plugged both Phonics in, and lo and behold, they both worked!! I couldn't get them to fail. Now I was in a quandary, and contacted the shop to tell my tale of woe. They offered initially to have a look, then upgraded to swapping my iffy one for another new one. So, this morning, I fired them up in the house, after Jeanette had gone to work, and again, they were spot on. Until they both switched off!

This afternoon, I've done more testing, and they will cut out after a time, whether they're playing music or not. Unless you then switch them off, wait a while, and switch them on again, they're dead. Exactly what the demo model did. At least I've got an easily replicated fault to show them, so tomorrow morning I'm going back for a refund, and to tell them I reckon their entire stock is faulty. Should go down well. Perhaps offering to buy something else will soothe them a bit, who knows?

Tune in tomorrow for the next gripping instalment.

Holy Cut out Batman---thats a disaster.

Must be the cut out switches kicking in--shades of old Mackies?

I did warn you young Peter on the perils of powered speakers

My only passive problem was the Peavey Mixer Amp that popped one night and then worked fine---instantly dispatched to the rubbish tip

Or the EV top of the range radio Mike which may well be heading down the River Nene for the Wash where it belongs

As you say--must be a faulty batch--these days you dont expect this.

So its a 3 hour sound test on the new gear whatever it is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As it happens I have had 2 Phonic mixers over the last 10 years, great kit totally reliable until the pots go crackly.

Next instalment please

[DJ Jules]

Hmm, £169? That's not exactly a lot more than the PSR8a's, but 800w vs 150w RMS?! Interesting stuff!

One interesting thing I learned from the HK nano... some active cabs these days have a sleep mode that cuts in after a pre-set period without a signal and shuts the amp down until it's powered off and on again. On the HK nano, there's actually a switch on the back to disable it. Is it possible these have the same "feature" but not the same option to disable it - and it's either malfunctioning or not detecting a signal?

I hope you get to the bottom of it with the dealers help?

Julian

[Nakatomi]

Ow that's gotta hurt.

At least the fault's readily reproducible - more than half the battle in these cases. Hope you get a satisfactory outcome Peter.

[Excalibur]

Hmm, £169? That's not exactly a lot more than the PSR8a's, but 800w vs 150w RMS?! Interesting stuff!

One interesting thing I learned from the HK nano... some active cabs these days have a sleep mode that cuts in after a pre-set period without a signal and shuts the amp down until it's powered off and on again. On the HK nano, there's actually a switch on the back to disable it. Is it possible these have the same "feature" but not the same option to disable it - and it's either malfunctioning or not detecting a signal?

I hope you get to the bottom of it with the dealers help?

Julian

Funny you should say that. Other folk have suggested the same thing. These switch off whether idle, or playing music. You've just put an idea into my head, but I can't really test it. I've not had them hammering out dubstep at insane volumes, just background at moderate levels. Perhaps if I wound the blighters up they'd keep going?

Mind you, if I can't turn 'em down without them going sleepy byes, it's not very good. Tomorrow morning they're going back to the shop for a refund, definitely. Whether I'll get their replacement from the same shop, who knows?

Gear4music have the new Alto TS210 in stock, or I have the chance of some pug ugly Opera 510 at a sensible price.
Advice on either would be appreciated, thanks.

[CRAZY K]

Funny you should say that. Other folk have suggested the same thing. These switch off whether idle, or playing music. You've just put an idea into my head, but I can't really test it. I've not had them hammering out dubstep at insane volumes, just background at moderate levels. Perhaps if I wound the blighters up they'd keep going?

Mind you, if I can't turn 'em down without them going sleepy byes, it's not very good. Tomorrow morning they're going back to the shop for a refund, definitely. Whether I'll get their replacement from the same shop, who knows?

Gear4music have the new Alto TS210 in stock, or I have the chance of some pug ugly Opera 510 at a sensible price.
Advice on either would be appreciated, thanks.

Turns itself off--Sounds a VERY unwelcome feature if its there---nothing on the spec about it.

My son has some TS 112A Altos, dont sound too bad to my ears Provided you can work with plastic speakers

[Excalibur]

Provided you can work with plastic speakers

Alan, why do you think I initially fell in love with the Phonics? Plywood boxes. I don't know if you know this, but I have some plastic boxes, Proel V15A. They're ing ugly, but they sound superb. At the moment they're my " upstairs" cabs, because of the top handle. They're easier to carry than my wooden 12s. It's a funny old world.

[CRAZY K]

Alan, why do you think I initially fell in love with the Phonics? Plywood boxes. I don't know if you know this, but I have some plastic boxes, Proel V15A. They're ing ugly, but they sound superb. At the moment they're my " upstairs" cabs, because of the top handle. They're easier to carry than my wooden 12s. It's a funny old world.

Understood--hope you can find timber in your travels

Going up to first floor ==nope thats not on my agenda these days unless there is a nice lift.

[Imagine]

Eeeeeeee lad.........you didn't listen did you......

Plywood???? As in tree? What's wrong with plastic?

After all of your advice a couple of months ago about the absolutely JAW DROPPING DXR8/DXS12 combo....you went elsewhere

OK - looking at the specs, I can see why so I'll forgive you for being, well......a Yorkshireman and spending a fraction of the price

Since I've had this particular combo, my poor 15's have sat unloved and unused in my storage facility....just waiting for the day they can come out and play again. Until then though, 8's and 12's all the way. And yes....my jaw STILL hits the floor every time I use them. They shouldn't be that loud....it defies what I was taught in O-Level physics!

[Excalibur]

Smugness is most unbecoming, Wayne.

Were this rig intended to be the main/sole one, then the Yamahas would indeed be in the frame. However, as many folk know, my gigs vary wildly, from Young Farmers in vast sheds ( though I must admit, I'm not getting as many of those recently ) to the smallest room I've ever worked in. I barely had sufficient room for the Micromax!
I try to tailor the kit used to the function and venue. Believe me, if I had a grand to spare, I'd soon be the proud owner of a Maui 5 system for smaller events. But I haven't, so I must cut my coat according to my cloth.

As you have realised, on paper, and when actually making a noise, those Phonics were superb. I loved them, they did exactly what I wanted, but sadly intermittently.

My next move is either to fork out more cash for something more expensive, or simply take the refund and take stock of the situation. Trouble is, I've identified a need/niche/use for some 10" cabs, and now I crave some.
In all seriousness, I do have a few gigs imminent where something of that style would be weapon of choice.