Audio Systems: Subwoofers for venue/live shows, jbl mrx, jbl speaker

Question
QUESTION: I was wondering if you knew anything about speakers for music venues. I work at a small music venue, and we're upgrading our speakers. We're going to get a pair of JBL MRX-525's as our mains, but we're also looking to upgrade our subwoofers. I have never bought anything like this and I don't know much about them. What do you think are the best subwoofers that we can get? We're looking to spend no more that $3,000 for a pair of them. Thanks!

ANSWER: You can't go wrong with the JBL's. The horns in that system have been in the JBL speaker line for decades.

Do you already have the amplifier and crossover for the subwoofers? If you don't, then not having experience with this type of system can lead to unfavorable results. Setting up a crossover and deciding the correct gain structure and achieving the right balance of high to low frequencies is critical to the health of the subwoofers. Setting them up incorrectly can lead to damage of the drivers.

My recommendation is to purchase powered systems which contain, speakers, crossovers and the amplifiers with user adjustable settings for volume and frequency.

You should stick with name brands like Tannoy, JBL, Mackie, Yorkville, Bose.

IE: https://www.allprosound.com/catalog/productdetails.asp?fprodid=8643&item=Tannoy%20Power%20VS15BP%20white

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks alot, we do have amps for our subs. However I'm not familiar with what a crossover is. What is it?

Answer
Typically passive (or unamplified) subwoofer speakers do not have filters to limit the range of frequencies that they produce. If in fact you drive it with a full range signal, it will not sound very good. The overlapping frequencies that it produces as high as it is able, will mix with the sound from your JBL high packs, thus causing the overall sound to be compromised. If you are to get any benefit out of a subwoofer you need to drive it below 150hz. Your JBL's are good down to 70 hz. The idea is to have an electronic processor between the amplifiers driving the JBL high packs and the subwoofers so that you do not overlap frequencies. That is the correct way of designing a 2 way sound reinforcement system. The crossover should be adjusted so that the low frequencies do not overlap the high frequencies.