Review of Harbinger MLS 900 vs JBL Eon 1 (first gen)

[TheShadowKnows]

Since I don't sing, I won't be covering the vocal aspects of the unit. Here are the spec's for you to review: https://harbingerproaudio.com/mls900...ray-pa-system/ I’ll be going over its sound & performance rather than the features.

The guitars used:
2017 Taylor 214CE, gloss spruce top, satin ovangkol b&s, Taylor ES2 system. Yamaha A5M 2017, torrefied spruce top, mahogany b&s, full gloss, Yamaha's SRT system with piezo UST + 2 mic images (like fishman aura).

Location: the P.A. room of my local Guitar Center. There were 3 rows of p.a. boxes filling the 25'x25' room with a 12' ceiling & 2 walkways.

Set up: The Eon 1 was on the left as you face it & the MLS900 next to it on the right about 8" forward of the Eon 1 for clearance.

Settings: Both units were set to flat EQ (12 o'clock) The Eon 1's preamp & master was set to 12 o'clock. The MLS900 has no master volume so to match levels the channel volume was set to about 2 o'clock. I used the guitar eq switch setting only. On the Eon 1 I used the mic channel setting to boost gain to make it work.

Side note: the MLS 900 has 2 3/4" (x6) drivers. The Eon 1 has 2" drivers (x6). The MLS drivers are angled like a Bose L1 Compact. The Eon 1 drivers are not angled. Also, Harbinger only lists 'peak' power output which is ridiculous. I called the company & a tech told me there's a 250 watt power amp in it that is split between the woofer & the array.

MLS 900 + Taylor: I had a 20' guitar cord & was as far away as I could get. The 900 had good mids & bass without any guitar EQ. It just didn't seem crisp enough for me. So I dialed in the Taylor high EQ to about 2 o'clock & that really did it. Crisp, clean, clear, nice mids, plenty of bass. This was for finger style playing as well as strumming with a pick. The Taylor EQ was 12 o'clock for its bass & volume.

For the first round of testing I didn't have enough time to drag the Eon 1 out but did test the MLS 900 a lot with the Taylor. I tried cranking up the treble a bit to 3 o'clock & it was REALLY crisp. This was in addition to the Taylor's EQ. Then I added the same amount of bass & it got REALLY bassy, mostly in a good way. So there's no lack of EQ for the Harbinger. That little 8" woofer seems to really put out! With just the Taylor, it seems there's plenty of EQ on the Harbinger if you need it. It's only has Bass & Treble so you may want an outboard EQ for mids if you need that. FYI, the Eon 1 only has bass & treble EQ on the channels.

MLS 900 + Yamaha A5M + Eon 1:
This test was an eye opener! The Yamaha pickup system has bass, treble, volume & image blend between the piezo & mic images. I set the volume at 12 o'clock along with the piezo / image blend. The bass though was at 10 o'clock & the treble was at 2 o'clock. These settings for this guitar made it sound nearly perfect on the MLS 900. Everything was clear, crisp, very nice mids & plenty of bass. There wasn't a bad sound to be had whether you were piezo only or piezo + mic image. This array system really liked the Yamaha, or vise versa!

How wide is the coverage? The horizontal axis as best as I could tell was 160 degrees. Descriptively speaking, with the angled drivers, if you were directly to the unit’s side (180 degrees) there was a very noticeable drop in tonal crispness. You lost all your highs & mids. It was nothing but low end mush. If I walked about 2 feet forward, then it all came back, about 85% of the tone, as if you were standing right in front. It seems angling the drivers helps immensely. The Eon 1 doesn’t use that pattern but gets similar coverage.

Eon 1 + Yamaha A5M:
This was the biggest surprise! The Harbinger totally clobbered the JBL in the mids area. I’m guessing it’s because of the 2.75” drivers in the MLS 900 compared to the 2.0” drivers in the Eon 1. With the Eon 1 & the same settings on the Yamaha it sounded really thin with no mids. I’m sure it would’ve been tolerable but man! You sure could tell the mids were missing comparing the two!

The Eon 1 had great spread /coverage just like the Harbinger. It just didn’t have any much mids to speak of. Then I went over to the channel EQ and cranked the bass to about 2 o’clock. There! The low mids came back & it was starting to sound fairly nice. The bass filled in the bottom section of the EQ & sounded good. To really get the mids like the MLS 900 was putting out, you’ll need an outboard EQ box. I’m not saying the JBL sounded bad by any means. It’s just that the Harbinger with its EQ flat, sounded better with the Yamaha than the Eon 1 did. And I had to cut the bass on the Yamaha when using the Harbinger.

I now own both boxes so I’ll know what to expect if I couple the Yamaha with the JBL. Or maybe I’ll just leave the JBL at home when I need less umph & take the Harbinger & Yamaha on gigs.

And as far as “umph” goes, the MLS 900 was plenty LOUD, clean & clear for that 25’ x 25’ room. The channel volume was at 2 o’clock (it has no master volume) & could’ve gone to 5 o’clock to max it out.
I didn’t try maxing it out because it was filling the room plenty fine at the level it was at, plus it was sounding so nice I didn’t want to push it into distortion. Remember, both guitars were at 12 o’clock on their volume & could’ve driven either array a lot more if I maxed out on the guitar’s volume which would have resulted in even more array volume. At least the P.A. guys at G.C. didn’t come in to tell me to turn down, like they did when I was testing out the Eon 1 by itself.

MLS 900
Pro’s: Lots of bass output for that 8” speaker. Plenty of treble too! Angles array drivers like Bose does, for wide coverage. Great midrange out of the 2.75” drivers. 41 lbs total package. Amazing price for what you get! Control knobs are on top, easy to see & reach. Mic, guitar or line eq switch.

Con’s: Can be a little top heavy. Seems easier to tip over compared to other array systems. Could be because the woofer base is small. 250 watt power amp is shared between the woofer & array. Other similar system have 2 separate power amps. No channel EQ, only master EQ. No on board reverb.

Conclusion:
I’m very glad I got this unit as a backup or even in addition to my JBL Eon 1. Each unit has its strengths & challenges. One would work better for some gigs over another. They both weigh the same so that’s a wash. If I ever get a large audience booking, I can use both units at the gig & have plenty of power to spare. Since the MLS 900 has 2.75” drivers I’m guessing it’d work better on vocals than the Eon 1, but someone else will have to test that theory out. I sort of wish the MLS 900 was available when the Eon 1 was, because I would’ve bought it instead of the JBL. I only say that because I’d be saving a good chunk of money which I could put into another guitar or a new pickup & still have a great array system to gig with. I totally love my Eon 1 & won’t part with it. It's a great array for the price & features!

[SpruceTop]

Thanks for your review of the new Harbinger MLS900. For its value, you've made a good point for buying one. This is going to sell like hotcakes!