Altos are more comparable to mackie thumps and behringers. We tried them in our store and nobody was impressed at all. Sound quality wasn't too great. Eons are much better.

I have a pair of the Alto ts115a and have been gigging them for about a month now. My impression is "wow". I cannot believe the range, clarity, and power for the $$. My DJ's are equally excited about the upgrade. BTW, I am upgrading from the Berhingers. I'm not going compare them directly to EON's or SRM's, but my DJ's and clients are super impressed by these new speakers.

[post removed]

^^Haha sneaky self advertising.

Hi, my name is GaFFLe (ChannelLiveProductions.com)

"Light weight" - the Alto website says the TS115a is 39 lbs. yet it honestly feels heavier than the 49 lb. EV ELX115P. I and a friend compared the two speaker's weight, sound and feel and he came to the same conclusion as I did.

"Very powerful" - Compared to what, desktop speakers? No, they're not very powerful at all having only 126dB SPL of peak output and 123dB SPL continuous. Like the Mackie Thumps, they limit very quickly. At least the Thumps sound pretty good, even at light clipping levels.

"Very impressive" - Some people are easily and overly impressed.

"...we have plenty of these amazing speakers and more at..." - These are bargain-basement, low-budget speakers. People who reaLLy think they sound good, great or "amazing" have not directly compared them to really decent models like the ELX, SRM450, EON, etc... if you do, your opinion of them will most likely change.

I haven't heard the Alto subs so I won't comment on them. My $.02.

we have compared them to many other avtice speakers... they really do sound great!.. of course im not going to say they sound better then then jbl eon,rcf,qsc or ev... but for the mid range speaker price they really do sound great.. you can not compare these speakers with elx,srm, and eon! price difference is huge!

I have Yamahas DSR 15" powered.. ( I love them) I use the Alto 12" just for monitor refrence speaker when I dj. They do sound good, BUT I would never buy no cheap speakers to be my main speakers. The difference is that the cheap speakers are made with cheap parts. It can blow, burn at anygiven time. My advice is... SAVE YOUR MONEY..! Save your money for the Good quality brand speakers. They will last forever..Well thats if you treat them right.

I bought 2 Altos 15" in December and another one last month. 2 have blown woofers already under normal use. They sound great for the price but I wouldn't recommend them as they tend to have cheap woofers. I'm not sure if they heat up or what but, one minute they're fine (not peaking and not in the red) then all of a sudden the woofer blows. I've never blown a speaker in my life before these and now it's happened twice in 6 months. The only way these speakers are worth the money is if you get the Guitar Center protection plan. That way you can get them fixed or replaced when the woofers blow. (and they will) They're actually still a very good value even with the added expense of the protection plan.

If you're watching your levels and you're still getting this, then I'm assuming that these ALTO Truesomics are not true pro audio gear... you might as well use home speakers if typical gig music is gonna cause easy failures.

Check out Alto's new Black Line...they have wireless capability:

altoproaudio.com

I use two 15" Alto Professional TS115 PA systems l purchased from guitar center. These speakers are very impressive, but I replaced them twice within a month due to them getting blown out. I had the same problem with my behringer euro live PA systems. I will be switching to JBL or EV

So why do you consider them "very impressive"?

i have the 12 inch powered ones in my house.. for my practice room.. lol they do that job well.. probly could play out with them.. if you understand Gain Control.. and stay out of the red.. they are not overly loud... so if you stay within their limitations.. and don't use Contour.. (use floor sub) they could work..

Here's my thing... even a Radio Shack powered speaker "could work" and you "could play out with them" but as a PA speaker for the rigors of DJ'ing, they are a hoRRible solution. If DJ Freddy P blew 2 units in one month, maybe they (Alto PS) aren't very reliable at all. I wouldn't toss around the term 'impressive' to describe a potentially garbage speaker. At least he did inform folks of their reliability in his situation. We also don't know if he did or did not drive them properly.

Bottom line, you get what you pay for.

yo i had the mackie 450s and they lasted along time and i still have them. then i was in a bind because I wanted to 2 decent sized events on the same day because of the profitability factor. so i subletted one of the gigs to a friend for a profit and then had to run out and buy the cheapest active 15 speaker i could find with the intention of returning them if I didnt like them. Altos we not out out the time so i went with the behringer bd215s. i was so impressed with them that i have had them over a year now and with zero probs. i know they sold alot of shit products back in the day but since the eurolive series i cant find many bad reviews from people that actually own a set and use them like me at least 2 a week. they are hard to clip, far from distorting, punchy bass and loud and clear enough for up to 150 people in a bar or small club paired with a sub. but shame on the thread starter for using this as an advertising site. just my to cents

Agreed.. he probly blew them because he played past there limits.. i have had mine for a year.. not a problem out of them.. but again.. they are in a small room in my house... lol i might use them if someone wants to pony up the cash to hire a dj for it i may use them... with my lil EV powered floor subs... i think they would work for that.. that way i wouldn't have to drag out my amps and speaker cables... lol

I was meaning in a house party..

One of my customers recently purchased a pair of Alto TS115a. This was the first time I had heard of Alto. A week later they were replaced by Alto due to a problem with the outer cabinets. Then last week I asked to help because the 15in woofer in one of the cabinets had failed and a replacement was needed for an event that night. I was told that the cabinet was working fine one night and it wasn’t being pushed but failed the work the following day.

I provided a JBL PRX512m as a replacement and while setting it up I was able to compare the sound quality of the PRX vs. TS115a. The Alto lack sensitivity and clarity. However, the PRX is double the price of the Alto.

My advice for DJs, spend a bit more money and purchase a better speaker. Try JBL EON or dB Technologies instead.

See more about me at www.datarhyme.com

LOL... sticky material right'chere ^^^.

(nm)

Possibly! but - better speaker = cheaper speaker + replacement

Lucky thing I didnt go with those Altos.

Looks like the only wireless ability is for tweaking speaker settings. It does not have a built in receiver for wireless audio (from what I can see on the page). Funny they also don't list detailed specs on the site either.

Hi I bought 2 of these speakers just under a year ago, 1 blew within a week and it was replaced with no problems. The other blew about 2 months ago and was also replaced, i was told 'we must have been unlucky' and assured the problem was not likely to happen again. The customer service from alto was very good so i bought 2 more as back ups (now wishing i didn't), one of the new ones has already blown within 1 month. We wont be going for cheaper option again :(.

Junk


Nm nh

I have the 10" models. Not bad IMO. I've had them for almost 2 years and no issues. I use them as monitors or for small parties (unpaid).

TS115A vs EON 515XT
Watchwww.youtube.com

Man I thought I was going insane until I read this,I bought one 2 years back and still have it, everyone always praises it but imo it lacks mids SERIOUSLY as well as a fair amount of clarity. For the price, the bass is impressive as is it's db level, but I get much clearer mids and highs on my 5 inch m audio STUDIO monitors..

you're going to get clearer mids and highs out of any studio monitors than most PA systems - that's what those are designed for.

Not the higher end ones I've heard.. I own RCF 315 a's and according to them that statement is false..

Studio monitors are designed specifically to be flat and present the exact way the music was produced/mixed/mastered. PA speakers are designed for volume and coverage. Granted those m-audios aren't the best, and I agree that RCF make great sounding speakers, but studio monitors are designed for clarity and accuracy - they will always sound more accurate than a PA system unless you have poor room acoustics.

Keep in mind also that high volumes lead to a more "exciting" sound which is incorrectly interpreted as sounding "better."

This is the opposite, we did a side by side with the Eons, Altos, Harbinger's, and QSC

Besides QSC being better the Altos kicked out great sound and range for the price. I grabbed 2 Alto 15s that day. I used them at a mobile with 2 EVs 15 and the place sounded amazing.

I am quite amazed by some of these reviews ! I see a lot of ignorance here and an obvious lack of understanding about how to properly use PA equipment and not understanding gain structure etc...Having said that, My band which is a five piece, Classic Rock/80s metal band, uses four of these cabs for our FOH, Two ts12a per side along with two ts115s per side, splayed with the 12 inch cabs on the inside, So two of these cabs per side over one 18 inch powered sub per side. We play rooms of 2-400 routinely, every week, twice a weekend and have never once had a complaint that the Vocals couldent be heard and we also put the guitars in there along with all the drums we mic everything, we use a presonus digital mixer and could have afforded any cabs we wanted, these were simply the lodgical choice and at a great price for being in bars every weekend and getting kicked around, they are built like tanks ! Everything comes though loud and clear with these ALTO'S ! Many many compliments and lots of bands we know use the QSC's etc...when they hear our system they always tell us how amazing our live sound is ! Those here that are blowing them up need to learn how to use there equipment, first off there is a line level and mic level, My guess is your plugging your PA into these cabs from the mixer and turning the gain pots on the speakers all the way up ! We never, ever run ours more then 12 oclock and we many times need to turn down ! These speakers have gigged with our band for two solid years every single weekend, not one single problem what so ever ! And they sound amazing ! If your smart and know what your doing and are tired of paying for a name buy the Alto's, there an awesome speaker !

To put my money where my mouth is , have a listen to our band at www.brokenhalori.com

Bought a pair and initially loved them but as with many people, already sent them in to repair once and had another one blow again within the year. Doesn't take much to blow them if you run FX and go over certain frequencies while blasting them. So yes its my fault but the limit light wasnt red and damn it, they are supposed to be max 800 W! so... its not worth the problems. Going with the new EVs.

Drive rack PA is the only thing that will save you from blowing these speakers. If you run it straight from the mixer you are going to keep having to repair

People are generally quick to dismiss lower priced gear or your non legacy brands but I feel there is a time and place for anything. I've owned some Alto gear for several years now--as reference I currently have about 6k total RMS watts worth of active gear in my couple setups and there are many other low end speakers I purchased and unloaded in that time (Thumps, Behringers etc).While the Alto stuff is in the price point as those two I would peg it significantly above it despite some spotty support.Sound quality is extremely clean and the units put out considerable volume for their$ before clipping or reaching any sort of limit.For most of my smaller commercial gigs I use 2 TS112A's and 2 TSSub18's. The sound output has been enough for anything without having to push hard, the quality is decent, and the finish of the speaker (black, full grill on the front, newish) looks clean and professional. These things are important if you are gigging most private parties. I've never felt the system was nearing its peak. I have a 3rd TSSub18 that has a blown driver and I am currently navigating the warranty process for it--they are definitely not at the level of a pro speaker company there requiring you to RMA any of their equipment to their service center 1 way on your time (you ever look into UPSing a sub?). I also run a series of club nights and underground events featuring many different DJ's... the Alto subs are used for all of those and I've rarely ever seen those things clip despite the environment. The monitors are sometimes used in a 2nd room as mains or monitors, but I have some older or "better" gear I prefer to use at these events--some old SRM450 (RCF made ones), Impulse 12D, and HD1531s. The HD's are my biggest speakers and what I use to really fill up the room and sound gorgeous... they are known to have some issues. The Impulse speakers I bought to replace the Altos as my primary speakers but I hate the dead sound of the woofer on them and they spend half their time in the shop ... making the best use of the 5 year warranty before selling those things... the SRM450s I have are the old series and are solid work horses that just look rough. I don't think the sound is better than the Altos, but the Altos are much much newer. The old SRMs can probably be pushed a little more. I've never owned a pair of EONs but don't really like the look or sound of them ... but would much prefer the JBL powered cabinets to me HDs. If you have the money for some QSC's, Yamahas, or JBLs etc then go that route. If you are trying to save some bucs but need newer looking gear then I would recommend the altos over any of the lower end gear.

1 of my TS115a's isn't working, sound barely coming out so I'm assuming its an amp issue. I've been really happy with them up until I let a buddy borrow 1 and it came back that way...

Hopefully just the driver if the price difference is like the subs were. See many more of the 15's posted for sale on GC/Musician's Friend reading "needs repair" than the 12s. Not sure if that is because they get pushed harder, there are more sold, or there is a problem with the drivers.

Yours still under warranty?

They are out of warrenty.. suggestions?

Do you think there may be normal sound coming out of the horn? If the driver for the woofer failed you would have super tinny sound. You could verify this by trying the driver from your other speaker to see if it works. I'm not sure what the 15" woofer costs to replace but it could be worth it if that is the problem. If the amp is done it probably isn't worth messing with, but could be worth hanging onto the thing for parts.

you can barely hear any sound coming from the top horn almost like a whisper...

Not a the driver then, but if the woofer is completely dead sounds odd. I doubt there is more you could do than see if anything is loose inside or burnt up on the board or amp area. Problem with cheap gear is usually isn't worth paying for the parts repair. Amp is most likely but just thinking a couple other possibilities worth looking at.

Thanks for the feedback.

Just replaced my woofer and speaker is good as new. (Except that I damaged the screen trying to drill out the rivets). These have a dual line/mic volume control on the back so you have to watch your levels from never going over 12 o clock. Simple as that. Don't run FX without keeping your volume down before you punch it and they should last.
These are good reliable speakers that sound great, just be gentle. :)

We own about 10 112P's for rental and they're a popular rental unit. They've lasted well, and customers at the low end (house party, small race, bbq, etc) price point are very pleased.

I'd never use them for myself ... I don't trust the ability to push them all night like I do a high quality box like a QSC or EV ETX, but they're good *for what they are*.

Are they your better money makers considering their price and the profits you've made from renting them or do the QSCs/EVs turn a better profit for you? Also, which of your speakers tend to go into repair more often?

I was just about to buy a pair of TS115As when I saw this thread ;-)

I looked at all the customer reviews at GC, MF, and Amazon, and it seems like about 20% of reviewers were reporting reliability issues with the TS115As.

I also looked at the reviews for the 12" model (TS112A), and noticed that *nobody* was complaining about reliability issues with those. If the 12's will work for you, you might want to consider those instead.

I realize this thread is a bit old, but hopefully my research will help others like the info here helped me.

^ i would NOT buy any altos just from all negative things I've heard about the, the best budget minded speaker you can find now a days are

www.proaudiostar.com

www.proaudiostar.com

&

www.chucklevins.com

You forgot the new Yamaha DBR12 and DBR15. I guarantee you they will give any of those boxes a really good run for their money. :-)

Al

there so new i forgot those, but from you review you are correct there also a good budget box

wonder how the DBR stacks up against the RCF FDs as they're in the same price range...

Ultimately, yeah they make about as much money as the QSCs (which are generally requested by name) at 1/3 the price.

OTOH, I replace them roughly every 18 months since they blow out pretty easily. But when they're making me more than 50% of their purchase price (full disclosure: paired with mixer, stands, mic, cables, etc, but that stuff lasts longer) EVERY WEEK, that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

I have used two TS115A for almost a year now. I'm posting because i want anyone interested in purchasing these to hear a real life story of my experience. Putting together this post as well as the chasing a repair path has taken a lot more time than i think is fair so hopefully by reading this you can steer yourself away from the challenges I have faced with this product. I'm not saying don't buy them, But I am saying you get what you pay for: and the hassle of dealing with lower cost-point equipment can often be avoided by spending hundreds of dollars more and getting much more professional quality equipment. Even though this brand is newer on the market, In hindsight I wish i had the research available to be more informed about the level of equipment i was purchasing. I generally trust a manufacture warranty over purchasing an extended warranty. A gamble yes but I personally am very interested in purchasing higher quality products that are highly reliable and backed by a company warranty that is impressive.
I dj at three different clubs 2 to 5 nights a week, depending on events. I also double as tech employee (audio and visual) when not running the show as a dj. I've worked with many different djs from locals to nationally known, as well as a few sound techs much more qualified and more experienced than myself. In the four well known clubs i've worked I've been exposed to a nice difference in setups of systems. I use my Altos at none of these, but rather for wedding gigs and private parties, mostly as monitors in my home studio. At 400w standard 800w peak they are way over sized in db power for my home studio, and even at the biggest wedding I've played they remained turned way down while still providing more than adequate amounts of sound and clarity. For a low cost option the amount of power and clarity of sound they produce is impressive. My point is, in all the situations i've worked in since owning these speakers, i've paid close attention to the power output of systems in general as one of my professional responsibilities, with clarity of sound and equipment protection being top priorities. I understand thoroughly how to run a system up to max power without redlining and overstepping into distortion. In addition to running below redline on my mixer, in all settings (except for one) I've used the altos at well below their capacities (knob set somewhere between 9 and 11 o'clock position). At home its used in 8 o'clock position. In theory, even if i send a distorted level of sound through to them (which i don't ever), even if i did with the level of volume turned so far down i should never be able to blow the speaker. The speakers are designed to be "portable," however i still exercise great care to make sure as they are transported they are moved with shock protection (cushion) and they have never had any impact. It may sound like I'm being overly careful and i've witnessed many a dj treating their equipment with less care than i do, but I am more comfortable operating on the side of caution rather than on the side of maximum results risking destruction. I always treat my things expecting them to last long term. Unfortunately I'm getting what i've paid for in literal sense with these altos and i mean that i am dissatisfied overall with my experience. Within 4 months one of the speakers made a "tinni" high pitched sound only, no more bass. I had only used them on one gig at that point and a few instances around my house. I couldn't figure out how it had blown when i had been so careful. I also couldn't figure out when using both together, only one blew. They never stopped working mid performance, it was always on power up immediately at next startup. By the way I broadcast a mono signal (digital, never phono), with each side equal, neither side dominant and my auto gain set at 92dB. In contacting GC where i purchased them without service plan I was not directed to any qualified repair centers in my area, I was only referred back to the manufacturer. They processed an RMA and i discovered it would cost me about $85 to ship it back to them. They apologized that i was experiencing issues and they went through a troubleshooting process with me to explore the true resolution needed. Their diagnosis was that the low frequency driver had blown, either from over use or from a physical impact (i.e dropped the unit). This was covered under their normal one year warranty but I had to get it to their service center in NJ or Utah. Nothing in my area, no service repair options. So shipping was my only option under their warranty terms. I explored local options but found technicians that could not service the driver, spent $50 bench fee for their time to take it apart and tell me the same thing Alto told me. Except it was a driver they had never seen so they couldn't repair it, it was a type they'd not seen before. So I shipped it to Alto in Utah, complained to them again about the cost over the phone and received no further action/offers other than an apology and the repaired speaker returned to me within about a week. I continued using both speakers for weddings and other gigs but mostly they stayed at my house, used as studio monitors. Two weeks ago the other speaker blew out in same fashion. I had just used both at a larger wedding, and was very pleased with their performance. I brought them home, plugged in and used them at a significantly lower volume one time session and didn't move them at all. On the second session, without any possibility of them being turned up too high or moved physically causing damage, one of the speakers powered on with no bass again. Same "tinni" no bass sound as before. I wondered if it was the same speaker as before and a quick reference to serial numbers showed it was the other. So my conclusion is either both low frequency drivers were damaged in transit (either when delivered to store or somehow the unit was too fragile to withstand any small vibrations i put them through in my cushioned transport). $85 again to send to Utah and they have already offered to cover the repair still being within the 1 year time frame. IN MY OPINION THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. It's just been dumb luck that they haven't cut out on me at a gig and this lack of reliability is highly frustrating. In my opinion they should at the very least be covering all shipping costs, and at best they should have a network of local repair facilities in place to cover the inconvenience of this terrible display of reliability. So the one repaired unit has lasted me 8 months thus far and I hope whatever the original issue was (manufacture defect or destruction from transport) has now been fully corrected and i hope that these speakers will last me for years to come as they are expected to. If they fail again I will be beyond frustrated and disappointed and i will be even more vocal about my experience. At this point I do not consider them to be reliable enough to be considered professional and I will be upgrading to a more professional reliable system of speakers as soon as I can afford to. I'm very interested in the Yamaha club series V, FYI.

I can sum this up for you. DONT BUY THIS PRODUCT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FIXING SOMETHING ON IT.

Dont buy it guys dont buy it Alto is junk

Myles,
I have never been in a situation like yours, but if i were in your situation i would grt the blown one repaired and then get from under that set of speakers. No reason to keep putting good money behind a bad initial purchase. Sell them for whatever you can get for them and move on. Plenty of good low to medium cost options out there on proven reliable speakers. Ev, yamaha dbr's, and rcf lower lines have good quality sound and performance, and they are backed by companies that have proven track records of standing by their products.

In the short time the Alto TS series has existed, they already have a history of failure, mostly woofer failure and poor Customer service. Look at that, the old saying of "You get what you pay for" seems to apply once again... But they are cheap - so people will keep buying them.

Al

i've heard this story so many times. even if i was ever considering them as minitored i'd stay away. they are proven to be unreliable.

paragraphs man... paragraphs.

I have the QSC K12'S and i just picked up the alto TS112 A the K12 r bad ass but they peak real fast ever since i got TS 112 i put my K12 up for sale. 800 watts peak and 400 watts continuous i dont care what anyone says the TS112 sound great. They crisp, clear, and loud all i take with me is 1 sub and i rock the hell out every spot im at. If your looking for a high quality speakers and your budget is low the ALTO TS112 is the speaker you want. Who cares that its not a QSC, EON, YAMAHA, please give me a break save your money you wont go wrong with the TS112

Show of hands, anybody trust this guy ? anyone........... anyone......lol

gtfohwtbs........lol

People just be lyin on the internet........

C'mon lets be honest, NOBODY intentionally buys the speaker PROVEN to be unreliable if they can afford "any cabs we wanted ", that just makes no logical sense..........lol

i refused to read it....lol

Yeah... who needs to buy reliable, high quality, well backed and warrantied products when you can get cheap disposable crap that sounds decent to save yourself a few bucks - until the gear fails prematurely and you need to buy it again, and again. :-)

LMAO

Update: spent $100 to ship to nearest Alto warranty repair in Reno NV. To their credit they did contact me via email and said they "sometimes cover shipping on a second repair." I unfortunately did not get a box together in time enough be able to reach them, as they were closed from Tuesday on for the whole week! That was my bad, hope they take care of everything else. My 1 yr date of purchase was 12/28 so by the time they get it they will have an opportunity to go above and beyond and make an exception for the few days it me to get my shit together. I'm still pretty upset at the stress of the whole situation.
will feel much better if I can get my investment back by having a working speaker returned to me that continues to work for years. i don't think that's asking to much...but u know, Murphy's law can b a bitch... Will update again in a couple weeks. Happy New year gigs to all.

piddy i can car less what u think cause i promise i don't have and can't afford the gear i have so please. my point was and still is my k12's are bad ass but they peak real fast the sound don't suffer but i worry about them blowing out thank god everything is still perfect. but after picking up (just because i can btw) a pair alto ts112a with 2 alto tssub18 and i am very impressed in no way am i saying alto is better then any QSC but if ur on a budget but still wanna rock go to any guitar center and check em out you will thank me for it and they won't bankrupt you also

this statement is contradicting what you said earlier



huh???????

friends don't let friend buy alto's!!!!!!!!!

if you need to be convinced check out the altos black series when i get my new set ill give u my QSC'S go check em out

youtu.be

Only 800 watts for the 12"s? I'll pass my 1 QSC K10 blow these shits out the water. They get real staticky when reaching their limit. You can't put them up no higher than half way or you'll blow them.
www.pssl.com

Watts only mean so much you know... 500 real/continuous watts is more than enough for most 12" + 1" tops. As for the QSC Ks, the 1000 watts is actually THERE in the dual 500 watt amplifier modules, but CAN NOT be used, so it's really more 1000 "marketing" watts. A compression driver is MUCH more efficient than a woofer and will require anywhere from 20-75 watts to reach their full output in a 2 way box like the Ks. Applu more than that and the compression driver will be in danger failure and the box would be so top heavy as to not sound good at all - that's why there are built-in limiters in such speakers. It is important to understand that the quality and sensitivity of the transducers have a big impact on how much power is required for the speaker to reach a given SPL level. For example, a speaker that is 6DBs more efficient than another will get as loud with only 300 watt applied as the less efficient one will get with 1200 watts applied! Anyway, YES the QSC Ks are much better speakers than the Alto TS, but the applied wattts is only a small part of the reason. The quality of the transducers, better processing and overall quality of the QSC are the bigger ones. Al

this is one thing that i could never understand, the fact that some people actually believe the k series is actually 1000 watts, do you really think the compression driver in them speakers could really handle 500 watts?


lets put it into prospective the almighty ev zxa5 has a 2" 40 watt compression drive that screams

i don't like altos or qsc

i'm a ev/rcf man you hang on to them as back up…..when you other pair blows out on you as altos have shown hight failure numbers

Al got it right. The QSC's have a pair of 500 watt continuous program (or 250 watts rms) amps installed. So one 250 watt rms amp drives the woofer and they other amp is choked down to around 25 watts rms for the HF horn.

Don't hate on QSC, all the manufacturers do the amp math to make themselves look good, most of the better manufacturers give you the watts in continuous program, not RMS. The lower end guys give you peak numbers, so you can divide those numbers by four to get close to RMS.

I like to look at frequency response charts, and SPL numbers. For frequency response, I only deal with manufacturers that provide you a chart that is measured and are willing to post the -3db numbers, not just -10 or -6. On SPL, the better manufacturers give you measured numbers, not calculated and tell you at what frequency they are measured.

My KV2 (KX Audio) KX12s have the beefiest compression driver of ALL my active speakers and have a 50 watts RMS amplifier powering the 2.5" VC compression driver and 450 RMS to the 12" woofer. This is KV2 and these are top quality neodymium components in there, so if they feel 50 watts RMS does the job, I'm guessing it's true.

Al

I now own the EV ZLX 15 and no more problems. They come with built in limiters and sound way better. The Alto TS115 have dual amps, a friend of mine suggested getting an adapter that lets you run your line in to both amps and that may help. I don't know but good luck! after them blowing three times, I sold them at a loss.

Almost all active speakers are internally bi-Amped and have built-in limiters, some simply work better than other though to protect the transducers/can take more abuse. As for your friend's adapter suggestion, it doesn't make any sense to me... :-)

I have owned JBL Eon's, Mackie's and used a variety of others, but these were the best for the money. They are as good as speakers twice as expensive. They are also much lighter than other speakers, although nothing about them feels cheap. This is one of the better A/V purchases I have made.I have done parties of over 100 people and they always get compliments. They are not super loud compared to the big guys like QSC but they get the job done. For the price, they deliver an impressive amount of wattage and sound,My ideal choice would have been QSC's but the Alto's were about 1/3 of the price and very close in sound quality. They even sounded better than speakers double its price. This is my initial first impression and experience review.qsc$700-$900 and the altos $300-$375.

There is nothing special about the "JBL Eon's, Mackie's" that makes its sound quality deserving of a compliment......... maybe you're just a good dj and they were just being nice :)

YEAH MAYBE IS TRUE,BUT FOR THE PRICE THE SOUND QUALITY IS NICE VERY NICE, I UNDERSTAND YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. BUT THE SOUND QUALITY IS THERE,NOT AS GOOD LIKE A QSC,RCF OR YAMAHA,ESPECIALLY IN HIGH FREQUENCIES, BUT FOR THE PRICE, SOUNDS GOOD,VERY GOOD,[these were the best for the money].

Can someone give me advice??

I just bought 2 ALTO TSSUB18's for $350 each brand new refurb inc shipping. The sub sounded good to my ears, I did like the QSC more but not at twice the price. Should I expect to be replacing the sub every year?

FYI I did like mackie thump15s. I am not a DJ but like to do live shows in my party bus

If you play those subs within their limits, they should be ok. If you keep pushing them into limit/clipping, then yes you will end up replacing them if you get carried away with the volume.

My first piece of advice would be not to push these too far - I keep the speaker volume at 12 noon, and don't push it past that. I think this helps the speakers from blowing out.These are well built speakers.

Should I bother paying $40 for the extended warranty 4 years? Or should I buy two backup units for $700?

To me, this is a killer sub. I imagine it fails prematurely because the manufacturer is pushing the sub to its limit in order to get that extreme bass. I liked it a bit more than the QSC for this reason (QSC was definitely superior), but it felt like this sub was being pushed to the edge. I just wish I had an excuse to buy more of them. Do they stack on top of one another?

Absolutely pay the 40$ for the warranty. With Alto's track record, this should be money well spent IMO.

Al

Which qsc sub are you talking about? Ksub or kw181? If you are planning to build a serious sound system for a party bus, here is an idea. why not go to a car audio place and spend on 10 inch JL audio or orions sub speakers with some 6x9 's ? That will save some money and car audio speakers are designed to play in small inclosed area like a bus. Using pro audio speakers in a bus might be a bit too much. Its just an idea.

^enclosed ( fixed)

The bus already has a stereo and is just missing bass you can feel (we wanted louder highs as well). We do lots of live performances and use 2 Bose L1 compact systems and need to carry the gear anyway. The L1's were coming up short on bass so I needed to replace them. We play on our way to the show, after the show, while touring etc and wanted to host small shows on the bus from time to time.

I was talking about the kw181. It is my favorite sub if money were no object. I would think 2 tssub18's would be comparable to 1 kw181 at half the price.

Yeah. Well, if you have the money to buy a pair of Alto subs for $700 and asking me is it a good idea to buy a back up pair for an extra $700, then you do have the money to buy a kw181. That qsc kw181 is selling for $1400. That kw181 is a mid level sub, that sub comes with a 6 year warranty and is the most reliable sub on the market. You can beat those subs to death and it will keep running and running. I used to own the kw181 sub, put the switch on deep mode and it bangs. The reason I sold my sub is because I could not handle the weight of the sub carrying it up and down stairs from a 3rd floor apartment with my bad back. I would have kept it if I didn't have back issues. If you're heart is set on Alto, then yes get the extended warranty.

I like the QSC unit but not at 4 times the cost of the Alto unit. Alto was my second favorite sub I heard at Guitar Center. In some ways I liked it even more than the QSC but the QSC was louder and boomier. I would pay $100-150 more for the QSC when compared to the Alto. All of this assuming the Alto is not some piece of junk that breaks after a few months.

I have been researching using google to see why no one likes the Alto TSSUB18's as much as I do. I was about to buy it from Guitar Center for $699 but managed to find it half off on the internet. It seems to have very high reviews on amazon/GC/etc. I noticed on the forum sites people dislike Alto/Mackie alot. I really liked the sound that it produced but maybe I have novice ears?

^ enjoy them Altos'. Good luck with them, I hope them subs work out for you. Don't forget the extended warranty.

Altos have a reputation of blowing really easily. If you know what you are doing and don't push them beyond their means, then they will probably be fine. If you dont... We'll get the extended warranty.

The reason that you see good reviews on sites like Amazon is that the reviewers often don't know any better and are generally not using the gear for professional use and more often than not, the reviews are written shortly after purchasing the gear.

Forum users tend to be more serious about their profession and sound so they have much more experience with different brands and companies and have been doing it long enough to know which companies are trustworthy and which aren't.

Anyways, as the old adage says: you get what you pay for.

I can't thank you guys enough for your advice. I don't doubt your experience and really appreciate the straight forwardness. I ordered the Alto's last week it's too late to return them and will cost as much as what I paid to try to ship them back. I will use them and try to sell them on CL in the meantime. Definitely buying the warranty.

I wish I had the opportunity to use these speakers more than once a week but don't think I will be able to. So they will be seldom used. I will make sure that the clipping light doesn't come on.

Alto's are not reliable at "all" had them blow 3 times at a venue I play at (not from me) but they got smart and have a set of EV's that haven't blown since and it's been almost 2 months now. So far so good👍

Alto's speakers or subs? I read online the speakers had issues.

I got the thump15's today and opened one box and listened to it and it was louder than my Bose L1 compact. I am thinking about selling my bose l1 compacts.

I read online the thump 15 are not reliable and the altos had issues with the subwoofer of the speakers and the eon with the voltage it happened to me, if you want a professional speakers this are the best for the price imho:1.RCF 2,YAMAHA 3.EV For the thumps 15s and the altos my advice is dont push them too far and you should be ok.

I was at GC last night comparing the Alto's 15's to the Mackie's (I liked the idea of Alto's bluetooth feature). I didn't like the Alto's as much in terms of SQ, esp voice quality. GC salesman felt the opposite. He also suggested EV 12" sub over the Alto 18" for sub $500 sub. Had I not already pulled the trigger on them I might have gone that route.

I think since I am a beginner to this and have trouble playing very loud venues it will take me time to get used to 123db but when I do, I will be hungry for alot more. I am surprised no one likes the SRM650 (I think I'm sold on the Mackie Bass EQ feature which alters the sound and the feedback killer). I read a few reviews claiming that you don't need a separate sub when using them in certain venues.

mackies have a terrible reputation for reliability which is why most pros aren't into them.

Sound pretty good tho...

Does anyone know if Mackie HD1521/1531 are reliable now? Has Mackie fixed out all the kinks?

Would I be better replacing everything for 1 Mackie 1531?

^its too risky. I've seen too many Mackie powered speakers here in the repair shop more than any other make. The running man logo on the speaker grill is there for a reason, it means run away from it.

LMAO…….

agreed

MACKIE SRM650-$700-$750.1QSC K12-$700-$800.2YAMAHA DXR12-$600-$650.3RCF ART315-$550-$650.4DBR12-$500-$575.5EV ZLX15-$500-$550. FOR THE PRICE OF THE MACKIE SRM650 YOU CAN BUY ONE OF THESE TOP BRANDS SPEAKERS.IMHO.

I'm almost 68 years old, and still working karaoke shows in clubs in my area. I need to lighten up the load a little. Personally, I like the sound of the Altos when used for karaoke. BUT, can anyone suggest another LIGHT WEIGHT speaker to use to replace the heavier equipment I'm using? The Yamaha powered speakers are at 52 pounds, and getting a little heavy for me. I feel like the Alto 115 would do just fine for karaoke since you don't normally push it as hard as you would dance music. BUT, if anyone has an alternative I'd like to hear it.

You want light, ok. If you want to stay with 15 inch two way, go with yamaha dbr15. 40 pounds , price is affordable, 7 year warranty. If you want 12 inch two way, rcf fd12a is an excellent choice. Can't go wrong with these.

+1

also….if you have the money to spend the rcf evox 8 is a nice option that outdoes a lot of 15" two way boxes

Watchwww.youtube.com

Any thoughts on the Peavey PR series? They're pretty light weight.

No thoughts?

Active or passive 15's ?

Passive. Again, at 68, I'm looking for light weight. The PR15 or anything else very light weight. And I know these are not PROFESSIONAL GRADE, but something like this would be all I need.

Those do get pretty loud. With a 400w per channel amp, they will be loud enough. Sound is ok from them, a BBE sonic maximizer will help with the sound quality.

Thanks Mr. Jace. Agree with the BBE.

Not a problem

anytime, have a good day.

The active PR15s are pretty decent and will sound just fine to most people. A little EQ might make them better, but as usual, less is best. Same with the BBE. It can make things sound nicer to the ears at lower levels, but as you get the volume up, such boosts are generally not needed as human hearing response flattens out and too much boost may not be well tolerated by the lower quality transducers in these boxes leading to premature wear and/or failure from overexcursion.

Al

The person who is asking about the passive PR15 is a 68 year old who wants something light weight that he can handle and loud for karaoke parties. Yes the sound is ok, but thats why I recommend the BBE sonic maximizer to help the peavey sound better. Al is right about not turning the BBE up too much. Just a little processing. But overall, those speakers will be fine for him.

can serato make a Pa/Lighting section for these posts?

If Alto TS115 woofers fail so much, why don't people replace the woofer with a better woofer? Would that solve the problem of blown woofers, but still keep the powered speaker cabinet?

I have the altos and the dbr15, And I did a side by side comparison between this speakers, and this my review: the alto ts112a $300 vs Yamaha dbr15,$599. I personally think that the alto for the price, sounds very good, the build quality is nice and solid, and imho is one of the best speakers under $400,I used to have the JBL EON 515XT and I think the alto sound much better. I know some people compare the altos with the ev zlx, because the altos sound is very good,but the sound of the altos is very good until you hear the DBR, The DBR is loud very loud with a clean, crisp, hi fi sound, the bass is deep, you could feel the bass in your chest, IMO the big difference in sound quality between both speakers is the warm sound and the low frequencies of the dbr15,and is very light more lighter than the altos[alto ts112a 35 pounds and the dbr15 40]when I have each speaker in my hand the dbr15 feels more lighter and I ask to some friends which one is lighter and they answer was the Yamaha. When I use the alto I keep the volume at 12 noon because that is the max volume of the speaker and I use this speaker for small sized venues without a sub. my advice don't push these speaker too far. and for a medium size venues bring a sub or two. The DBR is a very loud speaker with a great low frequencies response, for a medium size venues you don't need a sub. I think that the ALTO,MACKIE THUMP,EVZLX,JBL EON615 are in the same level, maybe that can be an interesting review,and fair, but the DBR15 is a superior speaker if you put both speaker side by side you going to feel the difference. But maybe someone can argue with the price of the DBR I can get 2 ALTOS ok that's true but if you have a medium size gig you going to need at least one subwoofer. two altos and one subwoofer or two dbr15?. [this is a personal decision]. to finish it off the DBR15 7 YEARS WARRANTY VS 1 YEAR ALTO WARRANTY and the DBR has one rca input in stereo for playing portal music player and the mixer section is way better than the alto. my only purpose with this review is to add some information to the forum.

the ev zlx12 should be fine for your application

Heard them in the store blew me away in comparison to the Mackie thumps. To my dismay i will never recommend these at all. I blew them out BOTH at a sweet 16 venue only 3 hrs in...luckily i always have back ups in my truck. So i figure i pushed them too hard. Just had a wedding this weekend and figure i will give them a shot in the cocktail room. Sounded nice and they were good. Took 1 speaker and added them with my Yamaha's to face one to the one side of the venue that was l shaped....by the 10pm....low a behold....the smell of burnt speaker. Not repairing and into the garbage they go. Sad apparently no crossovers built in to prevent this.

Does anybody know what speakers ^^^^this guy is talking about ?

I'm assuming altos

Yamaha dbr15 demo on YouTube, I made this video with the purpose of showing how this speaker sounds,I know that is not the same than hearing the speaker in person but I hope it can give you an idea.

looks like DJ Feel It ain't feeling the Altos lol i feel it (no pun intended) we all know those joints are crap. hopefully people take your message seriously like the hundreds of others and stop buying Alto speakers

They are shit..One of them just blew at a venue I play at but thankfully the EV's still deliver. Those alto's are cheaply made they are garbage! If you want cheap then get a pair of Mackie Thump's they will at least last.

hi guys..i have a 1200watt alto TSsub15 and two alto 800w TS115A speaker tops. can anyone tell the best way to fix these 2 speakers with the sub.

I have a pair of Alto TS112a speakers. Bought them 2 years ago (almost to the day) and they have faired very well indeed. I use them for parties and have been impressed with them since the off.

I run my controller into an external mixer, and then run xlrs from there to the Alto speakers. I usually set the volume on my cabs to about 2/3rds and then make sure I keep Serato from peaking; I keep the master & gain volumes on my controller to no more than 50%. I control the main volume via my external mixer, which keeps the speakers from peaking into the red.

It's easy to go into the red when I run the speakers from the audio out on my controller, so having an external mixer gives me more control over the sound and levels - which makes it easier to play them loud, and not damage them. They sound great for parties of 30-200 people, and for the price were a great buy.

Get Alto Blacks. Holy shit... Those True Sonics aren't that great. Yeah you pay very little for them, and you get what you pay for. Alto Blacks are the way to go. You can tune them via WiFi as well. I have replaced the driver in one of my TS115A once, never had issues since, however in the other the driver has gone as well. A slight buzzing is audible like the other driver when that went. Will be replacing them and just using them as foldbacks. I also suggest RCF, JBL has gone to sh!t. I would rather Italian made speakers to be honest. They put such craftsmanship into their products over there and take care of their customers.

How exactly has jbl gone to shit. Im sure that current satisfied owners would like to know. Pdidy, you have your ears on? New srx owners listen up.

Dude, I tested the EON's, they're not that good. I was disappointed. I loved the old EON's better to be honest. The clarity wasn't there. Alto Blacks blow these out of the water.

WTF ?
gifsec.com

check out the link here then go to the site for specs ;) youtu.be

That's crazy shit right there bro. A test of 1 series of speaker within a company that makes several different lines has made that company go to shit. Im sure that JBL would really value your professional review and immediately get their shit together. I'm sure that many JBL owners on the board will get rid of their speakers and get Alto Blacks, because you say they are the shit. @pdidy, you better get those vrx's listed on craigslist nyc, before it gets flooded with JBL's.

Im on it bro, I'm dumping all this Jbl garbage before everybody find out about vinylshredders review.

Here's one thing I do like about alto black speakers Watchm.youtube.com

I love their Bluetooth remote DSP compared to on screen displays on the back of speaker used by EV and Jbl.

But that's were the love ends .......lol

my jbl prx make those alto blacks sound like cheap strip club speakers lol.

I wouldn't consider the bottom feeding product line of any major brand for anything other than monitor duty. Some people are just on a different level, usually comes from lack of experience/knowledge of/with true high end gear.

wait a minute, are you trying to say VinylShredder lacks experience/knowledge on this topic ?

O_O (shots fired)

I can get a pair of TS115 (no bluetooth) for $200. They belong to an old blues man, who only used them for vocals, at practice, and coffee shop gigs.

I'm reluctant to use them as DJ mains. They'd be good Texas headphones, though.

Primarily, I'll use them for announcing roller derby, and some background music.

@Ulrich IMO dont do it. If you need a good budget speaker for background music and vocals, check out the Yamaha DBR12 or even the DBR10. I own the DBR15s and love them. Check with Joee though for good pricing on them. He can get you a great deal.

Get some JBL EON 510 used they're light weight (17lbs) compact and sound great. Don't buy used speakers even for low level basic stuff because it will let you down regardless of expectations. One day you will want to use them for something else.

Thanks for the replies, Tweed, and Scully. Like a schmuck, I had already bought them.

I assumed that they'd be worth the $100 each, that I paid. After a little testing at home, I'm disappointed.

Weak mids: Duh reasonably priced 15" two way.
Weak bass: Even with the bass dimed on my TTM54i. (yes they're in phase.)

With hindsight, I think No name 15s are unlikely to compete with decent brand name 12s. Such as Peavey, Community, Yamaha...

I can only hope that they sound a little better when cranked up.

I'll try them at Roller Derby a couple times, before I sell them on.

I have yet to hear a decent budget Peavey speaker; much less one that even competes with my DBR15s. I would suggest trying to find a deal on a Yamaha DBR12/EV ZLX12P/RCF FD12A and sell your Altos.

I have the TS110As (the smaller ones) which I use as my keyboard stage monitor rig along with the small TS 12" subs which I feed to the stereo signal to the FOH sound system and it's killer. I couldn't rely on it as the only PA for 500 people but if I don't have a sound system to plug into it easily works for a room of 200-300 people. I haven't had the unreliability issues others have encountered. Maybe it's because I am using a different product (the 10"s only have 600 watts with 5 less Dbs than the 15"s which have 800 watts). Since every venue I play has an existing sound system, I am using mainly mine for stage monitors. I did DJ a wedding for a friend in a large pasture and it was pretty beefy enough playing top 40, classic rock, and country music with only one sub. I love the sound of the speakers - very clean, not muddied up and the subs have a built in crossover so that makes a difference.

These don't compete with my Yamaha DXR series with my JBL PRX subs (but I need an army to carry those things), but I leave these in my permanent practice space studio for jamming.

For what it's worth I've been a singer and played in more bands than I care to recall over nearly 40 years. I do the odd bit of DJ work in small to medium sized venues. 2 years ago I was out of work and whilst looking for a full time job I decided to go back on the road to earn some cash. I was on a budget and found a used PA system. A pair of Alto Truesonic 15A cabs and a basic 8 channel mixer. I use well produced backing tracks so I linked up my laptop and put MP3s into 2 of the mixers unbalanced jack inputs (NOT the LINE IN sockets) That way I can EQ the sound if required. I've used these cabs weekly often at VERY high volume - usually running the inputs on the rear of the cabs at 75%. Sometimes for smaller venues where Mono sound isn't an issue I use just one cab and use both inputs for L & R signal . I've used JBL, Mackie and RCF gear in the past but I am blown away by the sound of these Alto cabs, they have nice punchy bottom end, clear mid tones and plenty of top end - in fact way too much for most folks. I recently worked with an acoustic act using Fishman gear and I can tell you that the sound available from that "specialised" equipment was utter rubbish by comparison with ONE 12" Alto active I bought to carry around. No issues with anything blowing - great robust solid and dependable cabs that I would recommend to anybody looking for a great sound at a reasonable cost!