Well I finally heard the ZX1A vs. the K8 today. Both had a good clear sound at a pretty good volume. I thought the K8's sounded smoother but the acoustic guitar they gave me to play sounded kinda muffled compared to the ZX1A. Vocals stood out more with the ZX1A but sounded almost harsh compared to the smoother sound of the K8. The salesman (who actually seems to know sound) pointed out that the EV's had more midrange which caused the vocals to sound more forward and he favored them as a stronger performance speaker for live cutting. He also favored them for the lower cost. I couldn't help but think that my Collings would sound better through the K8 than the guitar they gave me (wish I could remember what it was. I didn't really like the playability or the sound. Think it was under $400)
So, I felt the difference wasn't as drastic with the vocals. Both sounded clear. ZX1A vocals were a bit more forward but smoother through the K8.
Guitar sounded better through the ZX1A but I'd rather deal with brighteneing up the dullness of the guitar through the K8 with some eq (eq was set flat on everything) than to tame the "somewhat" harsher sound of the ZX1A.
Does that make any sense?
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