EV has introduced the Tour X line of Portable or Installed loudspeakers. This line seems to be aimed at small to mid sized venues, as well as sound companies needing a rig for small to mid sized events.
The line consists of 7 different boxes… Three Full Range FOH, Two Different Subs, and Two Wedges.
Lets have a look…
TX1122 – Two Way, 12″ and a 1.25″ HF Driver. ( EV / Sam Ash )
TX1152 – Two Way ,15″ and a 1.25″ HF Driver ( EV / Sam Ash )
TX2152 – Two Way, 2 x 15″ and a 2″ HF Driver ( EV / Sam Ash )
TX1181 – 1 x 18″ Direct Radiator Sub ( EV / Sam Ash )
TX2181 – 2 x 18″ Direct Radiator Sub ( EV / Sam Ash )
TX1122FM – Two Way 12″ and a 1.25″ HF Driver Floor Monitor ( EV / Sam Ash )
TX1152FM – Two Way 15″ and a 1.25″ HF Driver Floor Monitor ( EV / Sam Ash )
The Specs
All of these boxes have internal crossovers except the TX2181 (Dual 18), and DO NOT have the ability to run bi-amped. You’re stuck with EV’s chosen crossover point.
Now for what’s inside. All of the full range boxes use EV’s SMX line of speakers, and DH3 drivers outside of the TX2152 which uses a ND2 HF Driver. The Subs on the other hand use EVS transducers…
All of the LF Transducers in this line have a power handling rating of 500 Continuous, 1000 Program, and 2000 Peak… This means the EX2152 and TX2181 with their two LF Drivers both have a power handling of 1000/2000/4000! Nice.
The Monitors
The Monitors have a little special something packed in that could make one’s day… SST.
SST stands for Signal Synchronized Transducers, which the short version of is the drivers will be in phase when properly placed.
The Long Version? The HF and LF transducers are aligned by putting them on separate baffles within the enclosure, with a port between the baffles. This puts the centers of the LF and HF transducer’s acoustic centers closer together, which synchronizes the arrival time.
As for the results? I’m not sure. This is the first product EV has launched with SST, so we’ll have to see.
Final Thoughts
This new line from EV may be slightly misleading… outside of the wedges, I’m not sure how any of this line could be considered tour worthy. In this age, it’s Line Array or bust for any tour carrying a PA.
While I agree with your overall conclusion, I’m not sure I agree with your reasoning. Plenty of HUGE tours are carrying point source boxes these days, Kiss, TSO and AC/DC being three of the most noteworthy. As a matter of fact, AC/DC and TSO both carry EV trap boxes, the X-Array. However, you are right to say these boxes are not tour-worthy. Any non-powered boxes without biamp capability can’t be considered pro-quality.
Have you heard any of these guys yet? If so, what do you think?
Not Yet… Trying to talk the good ol’ boss man into purchasing some of the line, but the lack of bi-amp-ed-ness hasn’t helped the argument. Mehaps a few of the subs, to replace his ancient EV subs.
Seems to me he’d be better served buying some used EAW SB1000s. There are a bazillion of them out there and they sound fucking great. If he’s stuck on finding something new, try for the JBL JRX series stuff. They sound quite good for the money.
well, i sorted his issue with his VTC subs… he wired the R side out of phase, heh. so now i suppose his need for more subs is gone, and or he’ll wind up with two more of the VTC subs…