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EV ZXa1 Vs. QSC CP8 powered speaker pair


simajanpa

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OK that's three reports of bad ZXa1s .... in a single thread.

 

One would think that after 10 years of EV making this speaker they would be pretty solid.

Reliability is key, this has to be a bullet proof, plug and play item.

I certainly don't want a speaker that the tweeter is clicking on and off while playing. Really a shame, because I do love the sound of these. And you are correct, I'm not the only one having this issue. Ahh what to do?

 

Paul

I believe the low-end EVs and QSCs are made in China. Of course so are some very well-made products but at the prices these particular models are going for, I'm not too surprised to hear of reliability issues. Nothing yet on the CP8 but then again it hasn't been around that long either.

 

My K8s are nine years old. I've had two issues: one of them developed a bad op-amp (which I have yet to fix) and an inductor lead broke (which I did fix myself for $20 with the generous help of the masters here!). QSC revised the circuit board for later revs of the Ks, adding a large wire tie to stabilize the inductor.

 

What I learned about QSC and which might apply to other manufacturers: their authorized service centers do not do component-level repairs. They will simply swap out a main board or PS board. In the case of my $20 inductor, had I not fixed it myself with the help of the folks here, I was looking at around $300 for a main board maybe more. I'm not too surprised they only do board swaps it's mostly SMDs on the circuit board which I assume requires a little more time and expertise to deal with. A board swap takes minutes at most.

 

Assuming the music retailer has a 30-day return policy, I would push any of these speakers hard that first month! Any issues just return it. After that it's warranty servicing (i.e. shipping or driving it somewhere & being without for a while), and after the warranty is done it's likely to be a board swap.

 

Just looked... the new K speakers have a 6-year warranty, the CPs are three years. ZXa1? I couldn't find any definitive info on the warranty length but saw this on a music store site: "Electro-Voice offers the following warranties: 5 years on speakers; 3 years on electronics; and 2 years on microphones." Does that mean the drivers are warrantied for 5 years but the amps in their PPAs only three?

 

Good luck!!

 

They are now made in Mexico, not China.

 

As said before, I realize you get what you pay for, but my budget is <$1000 so as much as I would like some RCF TT-08s that is not going to ever happen. I have owned/tried Alto, JBL, EV, QSC, and within my budget the ZXa1s sounded the best to my ears. The only other speaker that I thought might sound nice was the Presonus Air10, but of course no sign of those in little RI.

 

 

Paul

 

 

 

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I'm pretty sure the ZXa1 is made in USA, or at least was. Though I think the cheaper ZLX is China.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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So quick follow up on my speaker choice. As I mentioned bad tweeter in the EV forced me to send them back and re-eval the QSC CP8s.

 

I have had my friends pair of CP8s for a few days now and think I am going to go in that direction. I'm not trusting the ZXa1s at this point and I definitely can live with the sound of the QSCs. I been using them without my Yamaha MG10 mixer and at 1:00 on the speakers I have plenty of volume....for my gigs/practice. Like the form factor better than the ZXa1s, and price point too. Just waiting for my refund and them the search is on for my own pair of QSCs.

 

 

Over & out

Paul

 

 

 

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Why is it that keyboard players focus on the axe and little on the amplification? High end pro level brand name boards we all know and love cost like 3-4 grand. We obsess over every little tiny thing in in those keyboards, this patch over that patch, the DSP puts a little shimmy in that sound, this AP has a whatever glitch in it over middle C, that kind of stuff. And then...

 

We're talking about cheap speakers. Really?

 

To me whatever is in your budget for the keyboard itself needs to include at least half that cost for your stage sound. Meaning you should be looking at about two grand for your amps. Otherwise what are you accomplishing by spending 4 G's on a top of the line keyboard? Who's going to hear that glorious sound if you're running it through a pair of $300 made in China speakers?

 

Bob

Hammond SK1, Mojo 61, Kurzweil PC3, Korg Pa3x, Roland FA06, Band in a Box, Real Band, Studio One, too much stuff...
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Why is it that keyboard players focus on the axe and little on the amplification?

 

......

 

Otherwise what are you accomplishing by spending 4 G's on a top of the line keyboard? Who's going to hear that glorious sound if you're running it through a pair of $300 made in China speakers?

 

Bob

 

Nobody hears my stage amplification but me. The most important thing is that it sounds good through the FOH and on the studio recording because that's what everybody hears. The stage monitor is just so I can hear what I'm playing. It needs to cleanly cut through the stage volume so I can hear myself, but nobody besides me cares what it sounds like.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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To me whatever is in your budget for the keyboard itself needs to include at least half that cost for your stage sound. Meaning you should be looking at about two grand for your amps. Otherwise what are you accomplishing by spending 4 G's on a top of the line keyboard?

The sound quality of the $4k NS3 is no different than the sound quality of the $2k Electro. Whatever amp works well for one works equally well for the other.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I'd have a hard time spending $2000 on IEM's to match the spending criteria for monitoring. Even active monitoring...pretty happy with my K10. Suppose I should sell my Kronos and find a $1500 keyboard since my K10 can't sound any better than that anyway...I could save the money.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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So quick follow up on my speaker choice. As I mentioned bad tweeter in the EV forced me to send them back and re-eval the QSC CP8s.

 

I have had my friends pair of CP8s for a few days now and think I am going to go in that direction. I'm not trusting the ZXa1s at this point and I definitely can live with the sound of the QSCs. I been using them without my Yamaha MG10 mixer and at 1:00 on the speakers I have plenty of volume....for my gigs/practice. Like the form factor better than the ZXa1s, and price point too. Just waiting for my refund and them the search is on for my own pair of QSCs.

 

 

Over & out

Paul

 

Did the CP8s sound any better upon a second listen? Curious if you still found the sound "muddy" or if they sounded better this time

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To me whatever is in your budget for the keyboard itself needs to include at least half that cost for your stage sound. Meaning you should be looking at about two grand for your amps. Otherwise what are you accomplishing by spending 4 G's on a top of the line keyboard? Who's going to hear that glorious sound if you're running it through a pair of $300 made in China speakers?

 

Oh no, I hear you gotta give at least five or six figures to a certain Berkeley based purveyor of sound reinforcement technology if you want your sound to totally not suck...

 

Seriously, the comment is nonsensical in that the right answer is very context dependent and today fewer uses are best served by putting a ton into keyboard only amplification. I certainly want a full sized Leslie as much as the next person, but for a space large enough to really use one, there's likely built-in PA or the band is supplying PA for the entire group. For monitoring, major acts are increasingly using IEMs on stage. Technology is changing rapidly and there's tons of competition in the powered monitor space that wasn't there a while ago. (IEMs are about to see a lot more competition too.) So the idea that every keyboard player should be spending thousands for their own stage amp/speaker setup... doesn't seem very au courant to moi.

 

-Z-

 

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So quick follow up on my speaker choice. As I mentioned bad tweeter in the EV forced me to send them back and re-eval the QSC CP8s.

 

I have had my friends pair of CP8s for a few days now and think I am going to go in that direction. I'm not trusting the ZXa1s at this point and I definitely can live with the sound of the QSCs. I been using them without my Yamaha MG10 mixer and at 1:00 on the speakers I have plenty of volume....for my gigs/practice. Like the form factor better than the ZXa1s, and price point too. Just waiting for my refund and them the search is on for my own pair of QSCs.

 

 

Over & out

Paul

 

Did the CP8s sound any better upon a second listen? Curious if you still found the sound "muddy" or if they sounded better this time

 

As said I stopped using my mixer and went directly from the Stage 3 to the CP8s. I did however find that using the DSP switch on the second click which is "using a sub" cleaned things up a bit for my ears. (ie. less muddy)I guess that rolls off some bass response. I'm sure different rooms will dictate different DSP settings.

 

 

Again, I'm 67 YO, retired now and it takes months for me to save up just a few hundred bucks for any equipment purchases. For what I do I certainly could never justify a TT-08 purchase.

 

Took me years to get enough money together to buy that Stage 3.

 

Thankfully these options are available now, I used to carry 2 Ampeg 4x12 cabs with a V4 head, just to amplify my Rhodes and Arp synth. Also carried 2 Leslies and a Hammond and played usually 7 nights a week. Ahh to be 20 again.

 

 

Cheers

Paul

 

 

 

 

 

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