Alto TS212 vs new QSC k12.2

[DJKLEEN]

Got some new powered tops at a really great price! Decided to give these new 12.2 speakership try!

Played them without subwoofer and the little Altos seem to sound similar at easy listening, alto had contour on, qsc had dance mode on!

Started to bring up the volume and bottom end on the Altos started to break up! The qsc had DSP ,,,so the bottom end is cut a little ! Kinda like loudness!

Took countour off and Altos cleaned up nicely! A little louder and the qsc started breaking up on the high end,,,, changed to live and cleaned up!

Played them both at the same time,,,,,and wow wow wow! They sound great together!

 

[DJKLEEN]

Put them to the test with sub, x=100hz. Altos and qsc. Together sounded great! Took the Altos out to see if the qsc could keep up, and they did! Pretty flat on RTA and sounded Nicely. Altos alone could not keep up with subs! RTA had a lot of mid-bass and midrange missing!

Midrange on qsc is brighter and more evident. 10k hertz and above is sharper on the qsc. The qsc has way more costly horn then the alto! Performance was evident on the qsc!

The volume on the qsc was quite impressive. Certainly clearer at higher volumes. The .2 has a lot of volume! Wow!

 

[DJKLEEN]

Brought one qsc to a back yard function Friday! They were impressed! Used the 3.5 mm plug right into phone! I have to say that was pretty nice! The volume was impressive! Stayed on dance setting! Placed up against wall about a foot out and on the floor. Bass was nice and tight! Impressive! I like them.

I think they will last longer in the heat of the day if you know what I mean!

I am impressed with the Altos. Worth every penny, especially right now at gutair center 250.00 ap. In the heat of the day though they fell out and just couldn't keep up with my main stack! I had to lower the gain 3 times to keep from clip lighting!

So far no one has seen a 12.2 clip light come on! Probably because they lost conscience before they saw it! I mean to tell you they are very powerful!

 

[Jas]

Thanks for testing these out quite thoroughly.

 

[Handinon]

Very nice! I think those are passive EV's I see in the background?? I realize it would be an apples vs orange comparison (because of all the ancillary equipment), but I'd certainly be interested in how they do compared to the newer powered speakers - if you ever get a chance.

 

[DJ Ricky B]

Wow, it appears you own more speakers/subs than me! lol

I agree those Altos are awesome for the price! Best bang for buck speakers. I think they should have kept the fans in them that the 1st series had though for those hot outdoor applications. The QSC K12.2s are apparently insane on the power/volume they can produce.

I get compliments on the audio quality on my Altos all the time. Doing a wedding today (Yes a Monday wedding) with my TS215 pair, and a single TS212 for the ceremony.

 

[DJKLEEN]

Very nice! I think those are passive EV's I see in the background?? I realize it would be an apples vs orange comparison (because of all the ancillary equipment), but I'd certainly be interested in how they do compared to the newer powered speakers - if you ever get a chance.

Yes, sx300. Those things have been my go to tops for 8 years now. I put them on top of those dual 15's and that is my best sounding 2 way passive setup! I put them on top of the 15's then on top of the 18's for a 3 way system! I power them with a gx5 or I have a 200 p/c Crown. They sound nice and perform quite similar to the qsc in a subwoofer setup! Qsc alone has more low end than the sx300. I think the Qsc's have a better Hugh end smoother at high volume . So I would say the Qsc's are a step up from the passive sx300 running 200 p/c.

Now! Do you see those JBL MR835's. running full range on a qsc plx3602. Ther is not a top made yet to match that single pair of tops in my opinion! Both in sound quality and volume! But they are a beast to lug around, it takes 2 people to,carry them at 90 lbs each!

 

[tunes4046]

Yes, sx300. Those things have been my go to tops for 8 years now. I put them on top of those dual 15's and that is my best sounding 2 way passive setup! I put them on top of the 15's then on top of the 18's for a 3 way system! I power them with a gx5 or I have a 200 p/c Crown. They sound nice and perform quite similar to the qsc in a subwoofer setup! Qsc alone has more low end than the sx300. I think the Qsc's have a better Hugh end smoother at high volume . So I would say the Qsc's are a step up from the passive sx300 running 200 p/c.

Now! Do you see those JBL MR835's. running full range on a qsc plx3602. Ther is not a top made yet to match that single pair of tops! Both in sound quality and volume! But they are a beast to lug around, it takes 2 people to,carry them at 90 lbs each!

There are a lot of tops that will sound much better than those they will cost more but the will sound better

 

[DJKLEEN]

There are a lot of tops that will sound much better than those they will cost more but the will sound better

Yea I should put IMO! There are some pretty expensive line array stuff that sounds exquisite!

Just remember that I worked for the speaker design company called Savard, if anybody remembers that speaker line. And I do side work for a company that installs NEXO! I have heard some awesome stuff in my travels! From building custom cabinets for both home and car audio to live sound installation!

I can say that you are going to be hard pressed to find a 2 way speaker to match the fullness of a 3 way 3/4 inch engineered strand board wood cabinet with audiofile grade drivers in it!

You are just asking too much of a horn and a woofer to cover the spectrum from top to bottom!

Most of today's 2 way tops are missing a large portion of midrange! Trying to fill the spectrum with 2 drivers is not the most efficient way! Now most of the high end tops that you may be referring to, could be line array application! Which they are built to be a mid bass on up. 2 way with wide dispersion with traveling capabilities!

I will say that the consumer market has changed in today's world also! Dispersion and power handling along with weight for flying applications are king in today's world! Spl rules today high end speaker market!

I can safely say when these mr series were made,,,, imaging, soundstage, separation, damping factors and a lot of work custom making this cabinet fit these In-House made drivers! Sound quality was the only goal in these models!

None of the speaker makers make their own drivers anymore! Most of them are pre assembled and the enclosure is ergonomically designed with the end user in mind!

These mr 835 will RTA flatline +\- 3db noise at over 140db with 1500 p/c. They are truly amazing for those who could afford them in 1991 !

And are still a truly remarkable sounding cabinet! Whose styling and handling has been left behind by today's fast overcrowded market!

 

[Handinon]

There are a lot of tops that will sound much better than those they will cost more but the will sound better

And be heavier. If you consider weight, and cost, IMHO the EV SX-300's have always been a contender, especially when used with subs. That the QSC K12.2 is slightly better and self powered is significant. Thanks DJKLEEN.

 

[Handinon]

"There are two real benefits to self-powered speakers that are now popular with mobile DJ's. #1 is convenience and #2 is idiot proofing - most have limiters built into them that prevents destruction of the speaker, but which also further limits it's maximum acoustic output."

Quote me. There is a third real advantage which helps produce better sound - the elimination of the passive crossover. Almost all current active speakers have two amps inside them (plus an active crossover) to drive the woofer and tweeter directly. Passive crossovers are a nightmare. For those who want the science behind this statement - Passive Crossover Network Design

All is not lost for users of passive speakers, like me. Good passive speakers (Like the EV SX-300's) usually have two connectors, so they can be daisy chained. It is very easy to open them up, bypass the passive crossovers, and connect the tweeter and woofer separately to each connector. Then, if you have a three way stereo active crossover like a Peavey XD 2/3/4, and three power amps (for sub, woofer, and tweeter), you're in business.

Since I once was a nut-job "High-End" Audiophile, and I still put a real premium on the importance of DJ's providing good sound (like always using subs), I actually do this - run a fully tri-amped system. Anyone who tries this, please put a large value film capacitor (like 10 uf) in series with the tweeter to prevent turn on/off thumps (from the amplifier) from damaging it.

 

[tunes4046]

I ran a three way Peavey system for years

 

[IceBurghDJ]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
have you people not got a . key on your keyboard?

Anyway... with all the competition on speakers I can only imagine a lower price point comes from a cut in quality someplace - maybe it will be noticed and maybe not, depends if you get lucky or perhaps how you treat your gear, how much you use it. Use it 2X a week and it lives in a trailer in 120F heat and humidity? Vs 3X a month and in a conditioned space?

I know with camera gear under normal (aka ideal) conditions they all do pretty well. However, add in darkness, motion subjects, humidity and rain and suddenly only the pro gear can get teh shot reliably.

I've yet to get my Yamaha DXR12's to clip..i've tried. They just keep getting louder and louder, no distortion or other issues (like overheating). they cost me less than $500 each, new, with covers and delivery.

I understand the temptation to cut costs (I do it all the time) and there are things you can cut costs on perhaps..lighting..if a light dies the night goes on. If a speaker dies...

And to be honest, how it sounds is well, very secondary. I've heard some absolute shit and some very good, some I like better than others - but we're MOBILE dj's, right? Every venue is different so it's tough if not impossible to nail it every place every time.

I've performed inside and outside, on porches, in barns (open and closed), in tents, in 40f temps and 100f temps, for 30 people and 300, in hard rooms and soft rooms, rooms with 8' ceilings and those with 40' ceilings, in a mall (hard, huge space), outside on a street (cars, buildings), in a park (trees, grass) next to a lake (nothing for 1/2 mile), in the middle of 4 football fields, for things are voice or country or rock or hip hop, for crowds that want 100db and others that think 80 is too loud, for 90 minute gigs and for 7 hour gigs...

I'd love one $100 10lb speaker that runs on a 3lb battery w/ perfect wireless reception to be the ideal item..alas, that's never gonna happen.

So i'm sure the alto has a place in life, as does the qsc or bose. Most likely - we need to own a little bit of everything!!!!!!!!

 

[DJKLEEN]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
have you people not got a . key on your keyboard?

Anyway... with all the competition on speakers I can only imagine a lower price point comes from a cut in quality someplace - maybe it will be noticed and maybe not, depends if you get lucky or perhaps how you treat your gear, how much you use it. Use it 2X a week and it lives in a trailer in 120F heat and humidity? Vs 3X a month and in a conditioned space?

I know with camera gear under normal (aka ideal) conditions they all do pretty well. However, add in darkness, motion subjects, humidity and rain and suddenly only the pro gear can get teh shot reliably.

I've yet to get my Yamaha DXR12's to clip..i've tried. They just keep getting louder and louder, no distortion or other issues (like overheating). they cost me less than $500 each, new, with covers and delivery.

I understand the temptation to cut costs (I do it all the time) and there are things you can cut costs on perhaps..lighting..if a light dies the night goes on. If a speaker dies...

And to be honest, how it sounds is well, very secondary. I've heard some absolute shit and some very good, some I like better than others - but we're MOBILE dj's, right? Every venue is different so it's tough if not impossible to nail it every place every time.

I've performed inside and outside, on porches, in barns (open and closed), in tents, in 40f temps and 100f temps, for 30 people and 300, in hard rooms and soft rooms, rooms with 8' ceilings and those with 40' ceilings, in a mall (hard, huge space), outside on a street (cars, buildings), in a park (trees, grass) next to a lake (nothing for 1/2 mile), in the middle of 4 football fields, for things are voice or country or rock or hip hop, for crowds that want 100db and others that think 80 is too loud, for 90 minute gigs and for 7 hour gigs...

I'd love one $100 10lb speaker that runs on a 3lb battery w/ perfect wireless reception to be the ideal item..alas, that's never gonna happen.

So i'm sure the alto has a place in life, as does the qsc or bose. Most likely - we need to own a little bit of everything!!!!!!!!

Ha. I didn't notice that I put an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence! I don't know why I do that! But I like it!

Dj Kleen!