Looking for opinions on the following...

[Brian Steele]

...and possible suggestions for alternatives, including DIY:

JBL PRX512MI (12" 2-way, self-powered)
JBL EON510 (10", 2-way, self-powered)
JBL Pro SRX718S (18", passive)

Use - indoor, small club.

Looks like it might be difficult to DIY equivalents for the first two, considering their flexibility.

[billfitzmaurice]

Looks like it might be difficult to DIY equivalents for the first two, considering their flexibility.
Inflexibility is a more appropriate term. Powered PAs cater to the entry level user who is mostly concerned with simplicity, which most powered speakers achieve at the expense of utility. They're OK if you don't have much in the way of technical chops. Where powered PAs are concerned QSC is probably the top of the heap.

[Paul O]

Yeah finding an equavelent plate amp to DIY the powered boxes would be a problem, with 4ohm drivers the Dayton PMA250 would do but it still doesn't have some of the DSP features built into the commercial products. Direct competition for the Orange badge would include the QSC K series, EV SX-A and Yorkville NX powered mains and LS powered and passive subs.

[emilime75]

...and possible suggestions for alternatives, including DIY:

JBL PRX512MI (12" 2-way, self-powered)
JBL EON510 (10", 2-way, self-powered)
JBL Pro SRX718S (18", passive)

Use - indoor, small club.

Looks like it might be difficult to DIY equivalents for the first two, considering their flexibility.

I have no experience with either the PRX or SRX models you listed, but I absolutely hate the Eons...I think they suck and I have never heard one sound good. This http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-797 could be used to make your own DIY self powered PA speakers if you insist on self powered units. I don't know what exactly the intended use of these will be... but I personally feel you'd be better off with a seperate amp and speakers, better yet, 2 amps, one for the subs and one for the mains, at a minimum. How big is this small club? What program material are you planning on putting through this system? Volume?

[billfitzmaurice]

I absolutely hate the Eons...I think they suck and I have never heard one sound good. That's not necessarily the fault of the Eons. I've never heard one sound good either, but I've only seen them used by semi-pro bands or DJs who don't know anything about running sound, and that's pretty much why they bought them in the first place. In the hands of a good soundman they might be OK, but I've never seen a good soundman using them.

[emilime75]

That's not necessarily the fault of the Eons. I've never heard one sound good either, but I've only seen them used by semi-pro bands or DJs who don't know anything about running sound, and that's pretty much why they bought them in the first place. In the hands of a good soundman they might be OK, but I've never seen a good soundman using them.

OK, let me rephrase that. They just don't sound good. I've been in situations where they had to be used by people I know are good sound engineers and they sounded mediocre at best. I also recall the early versions of the Eons having an irreplacable woofer... it was actually part of the plastic baffle. I'm not sure if that continued into later production, but it sure made for a piece of crap in the beginning.

Another line from JBL I found very disappointing, and misleading, is the MPro line. Someone brought me an MP225 a few weeks ago look at because there was no sound coming from it. It turned out that everything in it was blown up, crossover, tweeter, both woofers. Now, I don't know what happened to cause that, so I won't speculate on the quality of MPro's because of this one experience with them but judging from the crappy build quality I saw, and the cheap, cheap, cheap drivers used in the speaker, I'd say stay away. It's junk.

It's actually very disappointing the route many reputable audio manufacturers have taken. Jbl and Crown are the 2 that I used to feel were the $hit, now half their products are just that, $hit. I still have my Cabaret 4691 and 4699's, they were purchased new by my father, I own them now. These are from the early 80's, they sound great using good quality drivers JBL is known for, and have never been worked on. Can't say that for most of their products these days.

[SpasticColin]

I also recall the early versions of the Eons having an irreplacable woofer... it was actually part of the plastic baffle. I'm not sure if that continued into later production, but it sure made for a piece of crap in the beginning.

...

Jbl and Crown are the 2 that I used to feel were the $hit, now half their products are just that, $hit.

IIRC the Eon's integrated woofer frame/horn/baffle was cast aluminum, not molded plastic. JBL touted the heatsink advantages and structural rigidity. Yes, if you blew your woofer (and you probably would sooner or later) you were still boned. Eons actually can and do sound good within their limits; the problem is that the useful window itself is very small. As far as ROI, though, those overpriced crappy little boxes pay for themselves quickly and generously when deployed by pro sound rental companies. Welcome to commodity audio.

Too bad about JBL and Crown producing low-quality crap today (alongside some still very good gear) but it's really just another example of a universal corporate model: build a brand, and then spread the equity all the way down your product foodchain while cutting performance and costs. Blame Harman International for the ruthless pursuit of this approach, but admire them for their supreme exercise of capitalism.

SC