JBL MRX515

Front of house main, 2 way, 1x15 differential driver woofer with a 1.5" compression driver, made of plywood.

Passive, crossed over at 1.8K, 2 neutrick connectors, rated 400/800/4600 RMS/PROGRAM/PEAK, 43 pounds, 27x17x18, 98db/w/m, 65hz-20khz +/- 3db.

Horn is 70x70 degree dispersion. Very smooth. Retains good sound at high SPLs. Very high quality, balanced sound.

Very cool dual angle pole mounts....straight or 10degrees down, sturdy handles, like to see a 1/4" but I'm an old guy!

Back in the days (mid 80s) when we thought we were going to be rock stars : ) we scrounged for our equipment and played shows with what we could. Eventually we ended up with huge multipart Peavey horn speakers and big monitors etc.

I???m sure it was loud. But by today???s standards I know our sound was lacking.

About 8 years ago we got the band back together and started from scratch. Except now we all had mortguages, wives, kids, etc so the budget was somewhat restricted. We started out making our own PA speakers with one of the band members being a woodworker and they sounded pretty good actually.

Slowly we kept incrementing the gear to where we had a pretty good and transportable rig for weekend warriors! We ended up with the newer Peavey SP-2s and a JBL M418s for smaller shows and a pair of B-512 LX-18 folded horn subs.

This rig sounded good. But man, the SP-2 are not light nor small. I will say they are very good at their price point if you run a lot of low end out of the mains.

Long story short, where years ago, I???d buy anything if it sounded good, I turned a corner one night after playing a 4 hour show and just being physically drained. I loaded the SP-2s up and thought they had to find a new home.

I auditioned a pair of JBL MRX515s and I loved them. 90% of the time I don???t really need to eq them! I ALWAYs eq my subs though : )

I have to say the MRXs are a joy to move, they sound great, the ability to angle them 10 down or not is very nice etc. We just played an outdoor show where we used the MRX515s and the LX-18s and it worked great. When I could, I???d sneak out into the crowd to listen while the band played and I loved it. Everything was clear and well balanced and loud without strain.

I think they are smoother than the SP-2s especially when the sound pressure increases but I would give the SP-2s the nod if you would ever consider playing a show without a sub. The SP-2s are more solid under say 80hz.

Having said that, we always use a sub, cross the MRX515s over at 80-100 hz and I think the MRX???s have been the best investment I???ve made in a long time. It???s a very fine product that can play very loud relative to its weight and size.

And at 3am, a 40 pound main is a wonderful thing!

We use a 16 channel Yamaha mixer, into a DBX driverack, into Yamaha P7000s (stereo for the mains), Yamaha P3500s (bridged mono for the sub), and Yamaha P2500s (stereo for monitors)

Are there better values lurking out there? I know others would suggest there are. Is this the least fussy main I???ve ever used. Yes, without a doubt. Plug and play in most cases.
I would heartily recommend them to anyone.