dB Technologies Opera Lyric 215

A powered speaker that can be used both for front-of-house main or as stage monitor.

OPERA LYRIC 215

Drivers: 15" LF + 1" HF
Output (RMS): 120W LF+40W HF
Ouput (Music): 240 W + 80W
Frequency Range: 50 ??? 20000 Hz
SPL: 123 dB
Input Sensitivity: -50 - 0dB
Input connection: Neutrik Combo?? 6,3 mm jack unbalanced / XLR balanced
Output connection: XLR balanced
Impedance: 20K Ohm balanced, 10K Ohm unbalanced
Dimension: 700 x 400 x 320 mm

Features had me sold out and I preferred buying it over the more expensive Behringer and Yamaha powered speakers available at that time. But later learnt that a lot of the features were only on paper and the actual wattage was less than what was mentioned.

I've owned this speaker for over 2 years now and its sound seems to be disappearing.

But it started out pretty well with well separated highs and lows. I was playing my cheap acoustic guitar through it (after routing through a processor) and I was amazed at the harmonic content that it seemed to bring out. Frankly, it made my acoustic guitar sound like ten times worth its cost. Ask my friends who have heard me play through it.

The bass driver is a bit too large and it does tend to start dominating the sound after a while if you turn it up or if you play anything which has more pronounced bass. Guess the presence of a dedicated mid-range driver would probably take care of this.

Maybe if you want to turn it up then it would best be suited for DJs who really want to "thump" the crowd !

Havent really tried to play it on very high volumes fearing the cone might burst and also because even at 40% of volume it has been fairly loud to play in my living room.

Also took it to my live gig (I play unplugged in a bar) and there too I never needed to turn it up past 60%.

But the sound has deteriorated badly which I why I give a rating of 5 (more on this later)

Thing is easy to carry around. 17 kgs isnt really heavy if you consider that includes the weight of the amp.

Also, the body seems to be tough and has taken whatever beating I dealt out in the last 2 years.

One definite negative in the features is the inability to play a stereo signal. So if you were to connect your CD player to this prepare to be shocked. If the input jack is stereo then the sounds cancel itself out and you get thin mumbled output.

Bottomline, you are forced to buy the speaker as a pair, which isnt quite what I was told when I purchased a single one to begin with.

While it started out as a fairly loud amp it seems to have lost its growl over time. Dunno why for I take really good care of the speaker.

I mean my 15w marshall gives it a run for money and that's saying a lot.

The sound has become boomy, with almost no more transparency in the highs. I got it checked at the authorised repair shop but they said it was working fine. Dunno what their benchmarks were but for a speaker/amp rated at 120+40 RMS this thing has lost all its steam.

Maybe that explains why it was not so expensive to begin with. It was half the price at which a similar speaker from Yamaha was costing me. I paid about Indian Rupees 15,000 for one speaker while the yamaha was almost 30+.

I was planning to buy a pair but because of shortage of funds started with just one. But the second one never got purchased since the first started losing steam.

I feel I am stuck with dead stock here. Even my acoustic doesnt sound the same through it. Just get a lot of bass with it and almost no mids and highs.

And like I mentioned above, since it DOES NOT play a stereo signal (???) I cant use it for playing backup tracks on my gig. I can either get only the right or only the left channel, the choice is mine.