Excerpts from (live2playezines.com/spl14/shootout-notes-from-an-anonymous-source.html):
Be it known that this source does not work for a loudspeaker manufacturer and has no allegiance or interest to say anything good, bad, or indifferent about any of the participants at the HAS Productions shootout.
The good news about PA’s nowadays is that none of them suck (outside the far east copies you see at tradeshows in the “cheap bastard” section). Every PA system represented here would be good to work on and can make a show sound very good. Some PA’s just have that “wow” factor and in the list below, there were two that had it for me.
VUE – Well…this was the winner. I had heard some other demos of Vue before and always thought it sounded very good. But when you get to hear it next to others, you get to hear just how good it really is. This rig had full bandwidth, power, punch, bigness, and a lot of other adjectives that are synonymous with ass kicking awesomeness. Did I mention the coverage was amazing? I knew it was good, I just didn’t realize how good. When it fired up I had the holy shit factor and that is what I want in a rig. Now on my list of must haves after what I heard. Well done Vue.
In all here are the rankings.
#1 VUE
#2 OUTLINE
#3 DAS
#4 RCF
#5 NEXO
In summary….
When I was a very young lad and I heard my first Peavey box and I was blown away (until I heard it next to some EV box). That said, it is not until you hear side-by-side comparisons that you understand and hear what strengths or weaknesses a system has. Thanks to HAS Productions for putting this on. I can’t wait for the next one.
PS: Speaker dudes…. get some new demo music. Amaze us with some new finds that showcase YOUR system. Jennifer Warnes, Steely Dan, and the Eagles are what the aforementioned copycats of your products are using to try and make their systems sound decent. Don’t be that freaking guy ☺
