If not Bose S1 or QSC K10, then what?
 

I am on the market for a pair of powered speakers. The Bose S1 Pro and QSC K10.2 get a lot of love around here (well deserved, no doubt).

What else is out there and equally good but for less $$. Anything?

Everybody and their brother makes powered speakers if that's the route you want to go.

Peavey, JBL, Yamaha, E.V., Behringer, that list go on and on.

Sweetwater has reviews of all of them, I researched a bunch before I decided to go all Bose.

Best of luck.

The QSC CP8 weighs like an S1 and has power closer to the K class. It also makes a decent bass guitar amp. $340 during a 15% off sale.

"Less money" - what's your budget? Assume you want two speakers? Last night a friend and I were talking about the sound from a pair of S1's that the host was using at an open mic. Frankly, I think they are great quality and the features are good for someone who needs them (reverb, battery power, extreme light weight), but I don't feel the sound is 4X (or 6X !) the 10" Alto speakers I use.

The Bose S1 and QSC k10.2 are great speakers (I use the k8.2) but they are admittedly on the mid-high end $$$. Yes, there's speaker systems much higher $$$. But there are certainly very good powered speaker systems that can be had for less $$$. It would help us know what your end-use is, ie: what is it going to be used for? How many and what types of instruments/voices? What types/sizes of venues? What sort of equipment in front of it? (Mixer? Pedals?)

Guitar Center's house brand Harninger Vari speakers are decent for the price. I had a horn go in a 15" model I had, but it was an easy fix.

Anyway, yeah, knowing your budget would help. Yamaha DXR stuff is their middle of the road and is a little less pricey than QSC, but is excellent quality. I have a DXR10 that I got used for $375 that covers a hall with 150 people pretty well. Very clear sound reproduction with lots of head room.

The Yamaha DBR line is cheaper and still gets pretty good reviews.

Mackie, from what I can tell, is hit or miss. Some of their higher end stuff is terrific, while the lower end stuff under $500 isn't worth the box it comes in.

Here in Canada, the S1 pro goes for $750 and the K10.2 is $950. I would like to pay around $550 each if possible. The speakers would be for a duo using Play Acoustic (one mic, one guitarj used for house concerts and small venues. I would also use them for music playback when not used by the duo.

I'd suggest a pair of the QSC CP8, Daniel. They're $549 each at AV Shop, they're listed as in stock, free shipping and if you order them before Sunday you can save 10% (might pay for the sales tax?).

Phil

Have a look at Long and McQuades and check out the Yorkville, Electrovoice, or even the Alto Pro...They have some good sales on now.

Dan

What's your budget? The K series are fantastic (I have a pair of K8s), and while they are expensive, I learned a valuable lesson after rebuilding my PA several times in a couple of years: don't cheap out on your mains.

With that said, EV and JBL both make some fine speakers. But they're not that much cheaper than the K series, so why not just get the right thing?

What's that expression? If you buy cheap you buy twice.

If you don't mind spending $1800 to $2000, depending on where it's bought, try to audition the LR Baggs Synapse Personal PA System. I just received mine an hour ago, and upon playing a Skaggs & Rice CD through it, and compared to my Line 6 L2t, No More Ear Fatigue at the same approximate volume and louder--this must be what it's like hearing performances through a Daedalus W803! Really! This evening, I'm going to play my acoustic guitars through the Synapse to hear how it performs with my various guitars equipped with the ES2, Trance Amulet M, and B-Band systems. So far, the Synapse is a winner!

Another vote for the Dbr10, great price , quality and weight and to my ear better sound than their bigger brother the dxr

I have a pair of Yamaha DBR12's for mains and a DBR 10 for a monitor. I've had them for a few years. No problems with them, they sound good, plenty of power and well built. I also have a pair of Harbinger 2212's that I use when I don't want to risk damage to my Yamahas, such as bar gigs. The Harbingers get the job done.

Thanks for the tips, folks. As you may have guessed by now, I am not gear-savvy by any means (I'd rather play guitar) but I do know enough to go buy the wrong thing often time.

But not this time me thinks... I spent the day looking at speakers and I've narrowed it down to the QSC CP8 or the Yamaha DBR10 and will make up my mind soon.

Thanks again for the good advice, folks.