JBL PRX515

15" Full Range Powered Speaker

You can easily search for JBL PRX 515 Specs. Impressive.

Here is the deal. The specs on these speakers are great. They are light to carry. However, these cabs have a built-in noise gate! This is great for taming the normal hiss that comes from active cabs. The fact is - At lower volumes the gate actually cuts into the program material. So.... these spekers work great for large rooms - outdoor gigs - loud performances - etc.. Not a good fit for small or intimate rooms - mainly because of the internal gate. Also - JBL has found a bug that causes intermittant static(loud) that is emitted from the speaker. There is a fix - but it has to be done by an authorized service center. JBL will replace the freaky part for free - but you'll be out of your new speakers for a while. Perhaps the very latest batch (Nov.'07) will have this addressed in the factory????? All of this info is from my dealings with JBL tech support & I can verify through my own experiences.

Specs are great. The internal noise gate is sort of a strange feature that is not mentioned in ANY JBL materials. However, it kinda makes sense & sounds/works well at loud concert volumes. The JBL tech told me that is exactly why it is in the design - to cut the hiss that you ALWAYS get from a cranked up active speaker at idle. Bottom line - 1-150 people - not a great choice - 150-300+ people - great speakers.

I would recommend these cabs for large/loud applications - just find out if the ones YOU are considering have the static bug fixed. If not - have your dealer do the fix BEFORE you drive off with them.