Re: OT: Mackie SRM150 / tiny PA

[Duke Sexton <mech2@m3ch.net>]

Hey Daryl!

Sorry for the late reply, but we were off in Korea on a "visa run". 
(If there's anybody else from the Loopy list that would know the 
definition of that term, then I'm sure it's you).

I saw you mention the Roland CM-30 Cube Monitors in your original 
post.  I've got a pair of these that I use in a 2.1 setup along with 
a Gemini 12" powered monitor.  I was wondering: how much low end do 
you need to reproduce for your purposes?  The Roland's sound great 
and have a very good frequency response all the way down through the 
low mids, but their bass is fairly crippled -- which is why I 
supplemented mine with a powered sub. They have a pretty hefty 
rolloff below around 200 Hz, and practically nothing below around 
60-80 Hz.  But, with a 5" woofer, you can't expect a whole lot of low 
end response.

However, if you're just using them with your acoustic, I think they 
may be worth taking a look.  They're extremely portable; I can easily 
lift both of mine with just one arm.  There are a lot of I/O options, 
and They're a lot louder than you might think, with low distortion, 
and, if you can live without the bass response, reproduce tones 
nicely.

Just another $.02 to consider.  Regardless, hope things are going 
well and good luck!!!  :)

-- Duke.



At 1:02 AM -0500 5/14/08, Daryl Shawn wrote:
>hey Rick, thanks for sparing the kroner from afar, good to hear your 
>full and informed review. "Underwhelmed" is a strong phrase...I'm 
>hearing enough dissenting opinions here and elsewhere that I'm not 
>convinced I'd be happy with them for this purpose.
>
>The RCF's are getting great reviews everywhere it seems. I'm seeing 
>them for $450-550 which is more than I wanted to spend, but more 
>than that they're not something I can really regularly fly with, 
>small as they are. I have to weigh a bit more exactly what I want to 
>do and can spend, but at this point I'm thinking about getting 
>several passive 10" monitors, leaving one in each of my safe houses 
>on each coast, and traveling with a small power amp. I have plenty 
>of choices for passive monitors, but it's been hard finding a power 
>amp that's NOT rack size. There's this one 
>(http://www.stewartaudio.com/pa_series.php) but it's a fair amount 
>of cash for the low wattage.
>
>(Why can't everywhere that regularly hosts live music invest a few 
>hundred bucks in a PA appropriate to their needs? /gripe..)
>
>Much appreciated. Hope you slew the Norse tonight! (so to speak)
>
>Daryl Shawn
>www.swanwelder.com
>www.chinapaintingmusic.com
>
>>Ted Killian asked me to make a special trip to
>>check out the Mackie SRM 150 speakers at
>>NAMM.
>>
>>I went and tested them out with a very good singersongwriter and
>>some heavy duty beat boxing.
>>
>>I have to say that I was really underwhelmed.