Help! Quick advice needed!

[Thundercat]

Hi all,

Basically i'm after some subs, and i have the following two choices right now:

2 x Class-D 15" Passive Bass Bins (CD15N)
Seem to have 'Ronseal' reviews, does its job, nothing spectacular, currently at £42 for the pair on ebay with 4h left, or:

2 x QTX QT15SA 15" Active Subs
Guy i know has the 18"s, says theyre good, available for me to pick up for £100 today.

Reason for these choices, both very local to me, both good condition, and i'm after something lower end (Cheap and not-so-nasty, hopefully) to begin with.

Thanks guys

Gav

[Nakatomi]

The QTX bins are nothing like the power they say they are. 100Wrms isn't even a possibility with them. The amplifier boards are puny with a capital P.

[yourdj]

Hi all,

Basically i'm after some subs, and i have the following two choices right now:

2 x Class-D 15" Passive Bass Bins (CD15N)
Seem to have 'Ronseal' reviews, does its job, nothing spectacular, currently at £42 for the pair on ebay with 4h left, or:

2 x QTX QT15SA 15" Active Subs
Guy i know has the 18"s, says theyre good, available for me to pick up for £100 today.

Reason for these choices, both very local to me, both good condition, and i'm after something lower end (Cheap and not-so-nasty, hopefully) to begin with.

Thanks guys

Gav

QTX kit has always been a bit crap (used to be skytec). At £89 new I would not have too much faith in the quality/volume of that cab, but if you can get it over £40 then i guess its good value? I would choose active over passive. You have said class D, but that usually refers to the digital amp used, making them active? is that a brand now?

The box class D ones from Thomann are very good for the price.
You get 2 satellite outs on this so only need 2 passive tops. Probably too expensive i guess? https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_cl_115_sub_mkii.htm

[Thundercat]

These are the Class D ones:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2x-Cl..._qi=RTM2063723

Yeah just keeping costs down (or trying to) at the minute, but some subs should be better than no subs! I'm thinking go with the actives purely to avoid any problems going from amp to sub and then out to tops, and either pushing the subs harder than they can go, or losing output at the top, or tripping the amp!

The box class D ones from Thomann are very good for the price.
You get 2 satellite outs on this so only need 2 passive tops. Probably too expensive i guess? https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_cl_115_sub_mkii.htm

Yeah, a little bit too much at the minute. I'll get there one day!

[Excalibur]

I probably wouldn't recommend the QTX subs, even though they're active. They can be made to sound good, but that requires considerable work, and probably ripping out the amp module.

I'm guessing you already have passive tops? If so, you're thinking run everything from the one amp. It's a logical plan, but the Class D subs need a fairly big amp to get much out of them, and also the crossover in them isn't fantastic. Best results come from ripping them out and using an external crossover of some sort. They're usually known as " Active Crossovers ", and aren't that expensive per se. You'd need a second amp that way though, which bumps up the price.

What tops and amp do you have already? I'd recommend Alto active subs, if you're lucky you can get a 15" one s/h for around the £200 mark, and you could get by with one initially, as they're a twin channel jobbie.

Keep asking questions, and we'll do our best to give good advice.

Edit: The one Toby has linked to from Thomann is an " all in one " solution, it drives itself as a sub, and two passive tops as well. Biggest downside is you then have all your eggs in one basket.

[ppentertainments]

To be honest I wouldn't bother with either - I've owned the class-d ones and heard the skytec.

Save up a few more quid and buy a decent active one instead - be well worth it in the long run and one decent one would blow away 2 of the ones you are looking at.

Something like this would be ok to start with if in a hurry (and it is delivered) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alto-TS-SU...UAAOSwPcVVmlV7 although personally if limited budget i would look around for anyone selling one locally.

[Thundercat]

I probably wouldn't recommend the QTX subs, even though they're active. They can be made to sound good, but that requires considerable work, and probably ripping out the amp module.

I'm guessing you already have passive tops? If so, you're thinking run everything from the one amp. It's a logical plan, but the Class D subs need a fairly big amp to get much out of them, and also the crossover in them isn't fantastic. Best results come from ripping them out and using an external crossover of some sort. They're usually known as " Active Crossovers ", and aren't that expensive per se. You'd need a second amp that way though, which bumps up the price.

What tops and amp do you have already? I'd recommend Alto active subs, if you're lucky you can get a 15" one s/h for around the £200 mark, and you could get by with one initially, as they're a twin channel jobbie.

Keep asking questions, and we'll do our best to give good advice.

Edit: The one Toby has linked to from Thomann is an " all in one " solution, it drives itself as a sub, and two passive tops as well. Biggest downside is you then have all your eggs in one basket.

Ive currently got a crest cpx1500 performance and two Yamaha S15e passive tops, if that helps?

(EDIT) Here is a link to the amp manual, if anyone could advise me whether this amp is capable of powering passive subs as well as tops?

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/12...-Cpx-1500.html

Afraid a £300 sub is out of the question at the minute. Please dont think im rebuffing your advice, and i understand 'buy cheap buy twice', but thats kind of my plan. I intend to use cheap ones to fill the bass in for a few months until i can afford to replace them with one or two decent subs, and then some decent tops. These really will only be a temporary measure!

[Excalibur]

Ive currently got a crest cpx1500 performance and two Yamaha S15e passive tops, if that helps?

(EDIT) Here is a link to the amp manual, if anyone could advise me whether this amp is capable of powering passive subs as well as tops?

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/12...-Cpx-1500.html

Aha! Now I know exactly what it is. The piccy gives it away, it's a Peavey copy/clone. No idea whether it's similar quality, but it's actually a little less powerful.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but if you run the Class D and Yamahas from that, they'll be getting around 150w per cab. Considering I've fed the Class D with anywhere from 500w to 700w with no ill effects, it's just not enough. They're pretty inefficient cabs, so need quite a lot of power.

If I were going to use Class D bins, I'd have one of these at least feeding them, and your Crest running the tops from the built in crossover. You can find the 2600 around £200 s/h sometimes.

Both that and your Crest have crossovers built in, so you don't need an external one.

[Nakatomi]

Ah good ole money burning holes in pockets. £100 spent today means the £300 sub you'd be better off with is even further away than it is now. Never kid yourself you'll make your money back on the 'bargain'

[Excalibur]

Ah good ole money burning holes in pockets. £100 spent today means the £300 sub you'd be better off with is even further away than it is now. Never kid yourself you'll make your money back on the 'bargain'

Justin's not too far away with that opinion. This would be a better bet than two QTX, and a similar price.