JPhoenix19
Playing life by ear
Quick note: Unfortunately, I do not have a video right now. All I have to capture the sound is my iPhone. If you guys want a video I can certainly make one- but it will be my iPhone sitting in the room recording my crappy guitar playing.
The Skinny: If you're looking for a very inexpensive FRFR speaker for your live or practice rig, or you want a solid monitoring solution on stage- buy this speaker! You will get about 85% of the detail of whatever sound you put through it- and it performs at a level way above it's price tag.
The Review: I put this speaker through its paces, trying it using the following gear.
The Gear:
- ADA Microfet 100 stereo guitar power amp
- Ibanez RG8 (stock)
- Yamaha RBX375 (stock)
- Lenovo Y400 laptop
- Native Instruments Rig Kontrol 3 USB 2.0 interface
- iPhone 5S
- iRig iOS interface
The Modelers:
- Guitar Rig 5
- ReValver III.V
- JamUp
- Bias
Introduction: If you're like me, the idea of a compact FRFR solution that won't break the budget is very appealing. That's why when I found out about Seismic Audio's release of their SAX line of compact wedges, my interest was thoroughly piqued. I had been watching them since they came out, waiting for other people to discover and buy them and write their reviews. The few reviews I could find were not very detailed (at least as far as FRFR application was concerned). But then, a couple weeks ago, I saw an opportunity I couldn't pass up when their passive 15" coaxial wedge went on sale as their seismic deal of the day. I ended up buying it for a very good price.
Pics:
First Impressions:
Whoa, this thing is dense. At about 40-45 lbs it's a little weighty, so I imagine the active version is even heavier. It feels very sturdy, and is painted with what looks like a cross between textured paint and rhino truck bed liner. The very first thing I noticed was that the speakon jacks on the back are NOT combo jacks. This was kind of a bummer since I did not have a speakon cable or connector handy. So there was about a week's time where this thing sat in my living room unused while I waited for my speakon adapter to come in.
Sound:
This is probably why you're reading this review, right? Well I hooked it up to my ADA Microfet 100 power amp and began testing by playing some tunes through it. The sound was pleasant and clear- the low end was clear and not muddy, the highs were not harsh, and the mids were not wonky. Overall I though it sounded fairly balanced. A pair of these could easily make great compact PA mains for small gigs- especially with a sub to help augment the low end.
Turning it face-up (with rubber feet on the ground) places the bass ports right next to the ground. There was a very noticeable difference in the low end- no doubt this is the was to run it if you're looking for that "cab in the room" throbbing low end. The best part is that the ports throw the low end forward, instead of it dispersing all over the place.
Guitar Rig 5: I started off with my RG8 running through Guitar Rig 5, comparing the sound from the wedge against my headphones. Overall, I found that the SAX-15M reproduced the nuances of my guitar tone well beyond what you would expect from this price range. There wasn't this metallic property in the sound that I often hear in wedge monitor or PA-based FRFR rigs. Turning up the presence knob on my ADA Microfet (something I normally keep all the way down because of the harshness of other speakers) yielded satisfying results. With no post EQ on my patch (GR's 5150 model, tubescreamer as a boost, and a Recto cab IR) it made for a very convincing sound. The wedge had enough detail for me to hear most of the differences between various amp and speaker simulations.
Peavey ReValver III.V: With ReValver being a more detailed modeler than Guitar Rig, I was more critical with the tone when I decided to test the SAX-15M with it. As with Guitar Rig, the SAX-15M had enough detail to reproduce the nuances of each amp sim.
Jamup/Bias: Next up was to test how it fared with JamUp and Bias. I hooked up my iPhone 5S to my iRig (yes the original) and cranked her up. The results were consistent- it sounded great and had enough detail that I could hear changes in the amp when tweaking it in Bias.
Bass guitar: Next I tried it with my Yamaha RBX375. As one might expect from a compact wedge monitor, it will need another speaker (such as a bass cab or a subwoofer) in order to really get that thumping bass for a live main rig. As a monitor, however, it did very well all the way down to the low B without being muddy. It handled both my JamUp/Bias and ReValver bass patches swimmingly.
Overall: Obviously, I can't say it's on the level of some of the more expensive wedges (Mackie HD's for example), but I would not hesitate to use this speaker or recommend it to anyone who wants a respectable FRFR rig and doesn't have a lot of money to spend.
The Skinny: If you're looking for a very inexpensive FRFR speaker for your live or practice rig, or you want a solid monitoring solution on stage- buy this speaker! You will get about 85% of the detail of whatever sound you put through it- and it performs at a level way above it's price tag.
The Review: I put this speaker through its paces, trying it using the following gear.
The Gear:
- ADA Microfet 100 stereo guitar power amp
- Ibanez RG8 (stock)
- Yamaha RBX375 (stock)
- Lenovo Y400 laptop
- Native Instruments Rig Kontrol 3 USB 2.0 interface
- iPhone 5S
- iRig iOS interface
The Modelers:
- Guitar Rig 5
- ReValver III.V
- JamUp
- Bias
Introduction: If you're like me, the idea of a compact FRFR solution that won't break the budget is very appealing. That's why when I found out about Seismic Audio's release of their SAX line of compact wedges, my interest was thoroughly piqued. I had been watching them since they came out, waiting for other people to discover and buy them and write their reviews. The few reviews I could find were not very detailed (at least as far as FRFR application was concerned). But then, a couple weeks ago, I saw an opportunity I couldn't pass up when their passive 15" coaxial wedge went on sale as their seismic deal of the day. I ended up buying it for a very good price.
Pics:
First Impressions:
Whoa, this thing is dense. At about 40-45 lbs it's a little weighty, so I imagine the active version is even heavier. It feels very sturdy, and is painted with what looks like a cross between textured paint and rhino truck bed liner. The very first thing I noticed was that the speakon jacks on the back are NOT combo jacks. This was kind of a bummer since I did not have a speakon cable or connector handy. So there was about a week's time where this thing sat in my living room unused while I waited for my speakon adapter to come in.
Sound:
This is probably why you're reading this review, right? Well I hooked it up to my ADA Microfet 100 power amp and began testing by playing some tunes through it. The sound was pleasant and clear- the low end was clear and not muddy, the highs were not harsh, and the mids were not wonky. Overall I though it sounded fairly balanced. A pair of these could easily make great compact PA mains for small gigs- especially with a sub to help augment the low end.
Turning it face-up (with rubber feet on the ground) places the bass ports right next to the ground. There was a very noticeable difference in the low end- no doubt this is the was to run it if you're looking for that "cab in the room" throbbing low end. The best part is that the ports throw the low end forward, instead of it dispersing all over the place.
Guitar Rig 5: I started off with my RG8 running through Guitar Rig 5, comparing the sound from the wedge against my headphones. Overall, I found that the SAX-15M reproduced the nuances of my guitar tone well beyond what you would expect from this price range. There wasn't this metallic property in the sound that I often hear in wedge monitor or PA-based FRFR rigs. Turning up the presence knob on my ADA Microfet (something I normally keep all the way down because of the harshness of other speakers) yielded satisfying results. With no post EQ on my patch (GR's 5150 model, tubescreamer as a boost, and a Recto cab IR) it made for a very convincing sound. The wedge had enough detail for me to hear most of the differences between various amp and speaker simulations.
Peavey ReValver III.V: With ReValver being a more detailed modeler than Guitar Rig, I was more critical with the tone when I decided to test the SAX-15M with it. As with Guitar Rig, the SAX-15M had enough detail to reproduce the nuances of each amp sim.
Jamup/Bias: Next up was to test how it fared with JamUp and Bias. I hooked up my iPhone 5S to my iRig (yes the original) and cranked her up. The results were consistent- it sounded great and had enough detail that I could hear changes in the amp when tweaking it in Bias.
Bass guitar: Next I tried it with my Yamaha RBX375. As one might expect from a compact wedge monitor, it will need another speaker (such as a bass cab or a subwoofer) in order to really get that thumping bass for a live main rig. As a monitor, however, it did very well all the way down to the low B without being muddy. It handled both my JamUp/Bias and ReValver bass patches swimmingly.
Overall: Obviously, I can't say it's on the level of some of the more expensive wedges (Mackie HD's for example), but I would not hesitate to use this speaker or recommend it to anyone who wants a respectable FRFR rig and doesn't have a lot of money to spend.
