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REVIEWED
REVIEWED: NEXO P12
By Chris Gadd.
As the latest addition to NEXO’s range of point source speakers, the award-winning P12 gives us a sleek, powerful and compact unit that is suitable for a very wide range of applications including mobile DJ use. After hearing about such bold claims, what better idea than to try it for myself…

The P12’s sleek exterior shell contains a custom-built 12” Low Frequency Neodymium driver paired with a 3” diaphragm High Frequency driver arranged in a coaxial configuration, all protected by a steel front grille. One of many nice design features is that the cabinet has not two, but four NL4 connectors, with two ports on the back and one hidden underneath each handle. This will definitely be a win in any DJ’s book who likes to make their cable runs as neat as possible! The general look of the unit also gives it a very nice, clean and modern feel – so that you can easily tell that it is a premium product.

One of my favourite (and the most innovative) features of this unit is the ability to easily change the dispersion pattern of the sound, dependent on what you’ll be using the speaker for at a particular event. By default, you’ll get a 60° x 60° dispersion, however this can be easily altered through the use of optional magnetic flanges [90° x 40° or Asymmetrical (PS Type) 60° – 100° x 40°]. To do so, you simply turn two quick-release screws to open the front grille and remove/replace the flange for one that suits the application (which all totals about a 30 second process!). From my perspective, this immediately makes the P12 extremely attractive as (for example) it means you can use this speaker interchangeably as a monitor wedge or front of house PA in a wide range of environments without having to compromise on dispersion pattern. The fact that you can rely on one type of speaker to perform well in different scenarios is a massive bonus.

The curved, low-profile cabinet is built around a 15mm custom-profiled plywood shell, using poplar veneer for the inner layers and birch on the outside. This arrangement has been carefully designed to allow for strength, rigidity and low weight. At 20kg, the P12 is a robust speaker, but one that is easily portable. It has relatively compact dimensions of 531mm x 432mm x 317mm and has 35mm pole-mount fittings on both sides.

For a small unit, this speaker certainly packs a punch! By design, the P12s can reach a maximum SPL of 138/140db in Passive/Active mode, respectively. These modes can be easily changed via a switch on the back of the cabinet.

From first impressions, these units give a very nice, flat response – which is exactly what you need for this type of product. Having used them in a live music setting, you get an exceptional degree of clarity by just putting a couple of vocal microphones and a guitar through them, especially when pushing the boxes to high levels. This also works well when it comes to DJing; playing a variety of different tracks through the system you’ll get a great, natural sound.

The P12s offer a wide frequency response of 60Hz – 20kHz, however, if you are looking for a bit more bass, they pair very well with NEXO’s L15 subs, bringing the LF range of the system down to 40Hz. To get the best out of either of these boxes as a system, it is recommended that you use NEXO’s amplifiers, in particular one of the DTDAMP range or the NXAMPMK2. The latter is a lightweight amplifier that offers a host of controls as well as pre-sets for most NEXO products, including each of the different P12 horn configurations. It even has Dante support, letting you control your amplifier(s) from any Dante-enabled network. These amps definitely made a big difference in the performance of the P12 speakers, so it is worth keeping that in mind when looking at buying this system.

My only negative observation would be that, as an entire NEXO system (amps and speakers in all), it is not particularly designed with the mobile DJ market in mind. I know the thought of looking at complex amp controls and the word ‘Dante’ may put a few DJs off, but once you know what the system is capable of you can definitely use that to your advantage.

In summary, the P12 is a very flexible piece of kit that will perform well as a DJ PA or a monitor for many different applications. It sounds great, packs a punch for its size and would look good in any mobile DJ rig. From a price point of view, it may be far from the cheapest system out there, but you will definitely be getting what you pay for.
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 99, Pages 78-80.
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