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| W Audio Speakers
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Many DJs, myself included, love to buy up the latest lighting and effects equipment to create impressive displays at our events. Many DJs, again myself included, also like to offer more to our clients than a 'run of the mill' DJ service, acting as an MC for the evening, providing planning tools and working hard to ensure that everyone who attends our events thoroughly enjoys themselves. All these things are important, however it can become easy to forget that at the heart of everything we do is music; music for dancing, but also music for listening, and for that we need a good speaker setup.
Over the last few years W Audio have released a series of speaker units, of varying sizes and designs, all of which attempt to bridge the gap between high audio quality and affordable price. I actually own a pair of their PSR-12 polypropylene cabinets, which I have used for hundreds of gigs at smaller wedding venues and church halls over the last two years and they have never let me down. The latest additions to the W Audio range are the Concept 300, Concept 400 and WSR 212, a collection of matching speaker units that are designed for use in different combinations to cover every size of venue that a mobile DJ is likely to encounter.
The Concept 300 is a full range speaker fitted with a 12" low frequency driver and a 1" compression driver loaded onto a large constant directivity horn. It is fitted with an internal crossover between the high and low frequency drivers and has a 300 watt RMS power handling rating (at 8 ohms). The robust trapezoidal cabinet is constructed from 1/2" MDF, which is covered with a black textured paint to give a professional appearance. The front panel is fitted with a black power-coated metal grille and solid metal recessed carry handles are mounted in each side to aid with lifting and carrying. A 35mm stand mount adaptor is built into the base of the cabinet and twelve 10mm rigging points are also provided should it be necessary to fly the speaker from a lighting rig or permanently install it in a venue. Connections for the speaker are located on the back panel in the form of two speakon sockets, one for audio input and the other for daisy chaining to another cab.
I was initially skeptical about the Concept 300s, confident that I would prefer my existing PSR-12s because of their light weight. I'm not sure how they have done it, but some how the designers of these new speakers have actually managed to get them a fraction lighter than the PSR-12s, despite their wooden construction.
According to the promotional material, the Concept series of speakers have been specially 'voiced' for pre-recorded music and DJ use. When I tested the Concept 300s I was impressed by both the level and quality of the sound produced by these compact cabinets, finding them more than adequate for the majority of the smaller function rooms that I often find myself playing at. However, the ultimate test, at least in my eyes, was comparing them like for like against my trusty PSR-12s - I was amazed to find that the output from the new cabinets was noticeably 'fuller', producing deep bass tones, warm mids and crisp highs.
Written By John Fisher |
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The full article can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 35, Pages 70 - 71 |
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Copyright EJ Media 2003 - 2010
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