JBL/Crown vs. Peavey

[dsdfan]

If you had a comparable budget, and had to piece together a new PA system, would you choose 1) Crown power amps and JBL cabinets, or 2) Peavey power amps and Peavey cabinets? (If you had to choose one setup or the other).

[mohthom]

Moreso for JBL than Peavey, there's such a gulf between the high and low end cabs. Which models are you looking at? I wouldn't go near a cheapo JBL cab if you offered me a solid gold monkey to do so, but cheap Peavey kit is at least sturdy (if not a touch painful to listen to).

MohThoM

[Remoteness]

You should include model numbers so we know what we're voting on.

If I had to pick a brand it would be Crown/JBL, but dare I say there are a few decent Peavey models available.

[fifthcircle]

JBL now has some powered speakers available that come with Crown amps inside. I've used them on a few gigs and been quite surprised at how good they sound. There is one cabinet in that line that as I remember had dual 12 or 15 inch woofers and a horn. 2 of them per side put out a lot of sound and weren't too bad.

The low end of both brands are pretty horrible, though. One of the venues where I work has SRX700 cabinets and I've never gotten sound I've been happy with there.

--Ben

[mohthom]

Originally Posted by fifthcircle

JBL now has some powered speakers available that come with Crown amps inside. I've used them on a few gigs and been quite surprised at how good they sound. There is one cabinet in that line that as I remember had dual 12 or 15 inch woofers and a horn. 2 of them per side put out a lot of sound and weren't too bad.

Not to be rude, but have you used any top-line loudspeakers? Meyer, NEXO, L'Acoustics, even Funktion One or Turbosound? I find that when comparing consumer grade JBL with the big boys, there's simply no competition - and I've never been surprised at how good they sound! A single Meyer UPA1 can make your ears bleed at 200 yards if you know what you're doing.

Well, at least it's a step up from Mackie . . .

MohThoM

[fifthcircle]

Oh Gee?! Have I used any of the top of the line speakers? Uh Yes... I have. But that isn't what the thread was about. Rather than spouting off about stuff that is definitely not what was asked, I tried to answer a question as best I could with the info provided.

Get a life dude.

--Ben

[Remoteness]

Ben, I'm with you on this one.

This forum is all about helping not creating a hassle for folks that just need some straight forward advice...

And, we do this without written rules, but with manners and respect.

Enjoy your day.

[subspace]

Depends on the budget, upper tier I'd take the Vertec system with I-Techs over anything Peavey has, but mid-tier I'd take Peavey's Versarray system with Crest amps over the VRX stuff. For point source boxes, the SRX rigs with I-Techs outclass Peavey's QW boxes, though those will bury anything from the JRX series, etc, etc...

[Ken Walker]

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Peavey amps, so if I had to go lower budget I might mix Peavey cabs with QSC amps.

[aussie_techie]

i wouldnt get locked into either combination. fitting a need is always more important than the brand name.

[John Hedger]

I would vote Peavey/JBL.

In my experience, for a medium/smallish sized PA used mainly for vocals and kick drum in my 3 to 4 piece blues band - I have been using very basic and simple Peavey setups since the mid 80's and have found Peavey to be very reliable and durable in the PA gear dept..

I currently use an 8 channel/200W Peavey (dual mon/pwr amp combo) head with unpowered JBL Eons and EV monitors. This combination sound great - very natural sounding vocals and enough power for small clubs up to some outdoor winery type gigs with up to 500 people. plus it's very light and easy to carry. I think I paid $1500 - $2000 and bought everything but the EV's used on ebay. Sounds way better to me than any similar sized Mackie I've played and sung through. Although those said Mackie systems weren't mine and were quite possibly EQ'd horribly. Mackies seem to distort easily and muddy up too much for my taste. I guess I'm a Peavey man when it comes to workhorse PA's...Though I realize what I use wouldn't be enough for high tech, subwoofer rock.

JHedger

[LX3]

I have to say, I've seen such appalling reliability with Peavey PA gear (thankfully, not mine), and such unimpressive sound quality even when it was working, that I'd pretty much plump for anything rather than Peavey.

That might just have been a failing of the particular model of amp and cabs I was having to use, but still, once bitten...

There was even a big-ish 24-channel Peavey desk involved (the guy that owned it clearly loved Peavey) where to my disbelief, all the outputs were unbalanced. Seriously, it was toytown stuff.

Sorry Peavey. In your defence, I have fond memories of your guitar amps.

It's a straight choice? JBL or Peavey? No other manufacturers allowed?

[John Hedger]

Originally Posted by LX3

I have to say, I've seen such appalling reliability with Peavey PA gear (thankfully, not mine), and such unimpressive sound quality even when it was working, that I'd pretty much plump for anything rather than Peavey.

That might just have been a failing of the particular model of amp and cabs I was having to use, but still, once bitten...

There was even a big-ish 24-channel Peavey desk involved (the guy that owned it clearly loved Peavey) where to my disbelief, all the outputs were unbalanced. Seriously, it was toytown stuff.

Sorry Peavey. In your defence, I have fond memories of your guitar amps.

It's a straight choice? JBL or Peavey? No other manufacturers allowed?

Funny, I always liked Peavey PA's and always hated their guitar amps, with a very few exceptions. You seem to hate their PA gear but are fond of the guitar amps!

I always thought Peavey was strong on PA gear and bass amps, but just about anything they did related to guitars and guitar amps pretty much sucked. I did like their all tube tweed Fender Bassman knock off though. I direly hated the sound of the Peavey Classic amp!!! Can you say Georgia Satellites??....without puking???

[lane thaw]

Another vote for "depends on the series". Crown or QSC amps alwaya give me bullet proof performance except I've gigged with several CE2000 and they seemed just average and nothing like the Micro Macro lines.

If I were starting from scratch, I would buy used and look for a 15" and horn SR series from JBL, a powered 18" Sub (RCF or or Yorkville Elite) and at least a 3000 watt amp from Crown/QSC/Crest to power the 15/horn combos.

[ringling123]

Well I can tell you I own both brands in large quantities. The JBL pro series is good, especially their 2 inch drivers (2446j/h). With peavey, their 44t is pretty good and so are there low rider 18s. Both of these speaker components come from the upper line of each manufacturer and work with fine results. I personally would'nt use JBL's: jrx, eon, or any mpro stuff, It's junk. And as for Peavey: The whole PV series speakers, and the SP series (actually not too bad). The only speakers I would use is JBL's srx series or vertec, and the Peavey's q- wave series. The Jbl srx is a little more hotter sounding but also cost more ( Not that much better although). As for power amps? Peavey's cs series is ok but the rest will have problems down the road. For JBL/crown? The macro/micro series is good, ce series is junk, xls series is junk, and I don't know about the rest. So basically it comes down to money. Spend more and get the good stuff from either manufacturer. If your on a total budget I would look for just the good components(drivers) and load them into your own cabs. The Peavey low rider cost's about 200 bucks and will walk all over the jbl 2246 15 inch which goes for $300+. Also, you can use just about any speaker for mids (12 or 15) but you have to get a good 2 inch throat driver for the high end (titanium). If you skimp, it will definatly show in your overall sound. Remember that you sound system is all about the drivers/speakers you use. You can't eq or mix out a good sound on the cheap stuff! "It's just not designed to be professional, It's like putting nascar decals on a Ford escort". JR

[ringling123]

Originally Posted by John Hedger

I would vote Peavey/JBL.

In my experience, for a medium/smallish sized PA used mainly for vocals and kick drum in my 3 to 4 piece blues band - I have been using very basic and simple Peavey setups since the mid 80's and have found Peavey to be very reliable and durable in the PA gear dept..

I currently use an 8 channel/200W Peavey (dual mon/pwr amp combo) head with unpowered JBL Eons and EV monitors. This combination sound great - very natural sounding vocals and enough power for small clubs up to some outdoor winery type gigs with up to 500 people. plus it's very light and easy to carry. I think I paid $1500 - $2000 and bought everything but the EV's used on ebay. Sounds way better to me than any similar sized Mackie I've played and sung through. Although those said Mackie systems weren't mine and were quite possibly EQ'd horribly. Mackies seem to distort easily and muddy up too much for my taste. I guess I'm a Peavey man when it comes to workhorse PA's...Though I realize what I use wouldn't be enough for high tech, subwoofer rock.

JHedger

Mackie is a little sneaky. All of their high dollar cabs DON'T have a large format driver (2 inch throat). The large driver is supposed to be the reason for the big price!

[ringling123]

Originally Posted by LX3

I have to say, I've seen such appalling reliability with Peavey PA gear (thankfully, not mine), and such unimpressive sound quality even when it was working, that I'd pretty much plump for anything rather than Peavey.

That might just have been a failing of the particular model of amp and cabs I was having to use, but still, once bitten...

There was even a big-ish 24-channel Peavey desk involved (the guy that owned it clearly loved Peavey) where to my disbelief, all the outputs were unbalanced. Seriously, it was toytown stuff.

Sorry Peavey. In your defence, I have fond memories of your guitar amps.

It's a straight choice? JBL or Peavey? No other manufacturers allowed?

Have you ever seen Peavey's mark VIII 36 channel mixer? msrp was $10,000 36 channels, 8 auxes (pre or post), 4 band eq with sweeps on every knob, a whole sub matrix for the engineer. This is one bad board! This isn't toytown stuff. Peavey gets a bad rap because people compare apples to screw drivers. (this one is red and this one has a handle on it!). Peavey is a serious manufacturer that steps up to the plate all the time. I own one of these and it sounds awesome.

[GZsound]

I have been using Peavey SP5 speakers for years with no failures and excellent sound, just for my five piece classic rock band.

I recently bought a set of JBL JRX 115 speakers at a great price...and sold them two months later.

For a band on a budget the Peavey SP series speakers hold up well and provide decent sound. You need to step up to MRX or better JBL's which cost a bunch more before you get the same quality and performance in a JBL.

And Crown or QSC amps are pretty hard to beat regardless of what speaker you are using. Very reliable.

I recently picked up four Yamaha S115V speakers which sound better than either the SP5's or the JRX speakers...by a long shot. And I'm using Crown and QSC amps and have for years.