| Tonight was the first night out for our new FBT MaxX4A and MaxX10SA powered main speakers and subs. These things are a lot beefier than they look on the FBT web site, and the amount of punch they pack is enormous. The first good sign was when the DBX DriveRack PA was able to perform a full Auto EQ on high-sensitivity mode. This has never happened before. The MaxX4A and MaxX10SA are surprisingly well-matched, with the MaxX10SA subwoofer providing a good stable mounting for the MaxX4A. I was surprised at how light these speakers are - they use class D PWM amplifiers for the subwoofer and midbass drivers, and a Class G (switching power supply, Class AB output stage) amplifier on the tweeter drivers. Initial testing involved playing recorded music - we achieved levels that we wouldn't dare operate our previous speakers at, while maintaining a cleanliness and clarity to the sound that I have not heard in any tupperware speakers. Those who have made the switch from Mackie know what they are talking about. The subwoofers are also impressive. The ceilings in this room are nearly 20 feet, and yet the MaxX10SA subwoofers generated enough low end energy to be heard even in the basement of the building we hold our meetings in. They are definitely capable of moving some serious air. As the band came in to practice before the show, there were many comments about the new speakers, primarily about how loud they seemed to be able to play without sounding 'nasty'. All night, we did not find the limits of these speakers, even covering 450 people. Initially, we did detect a mild edge to the sound of the MaxX4A speakers (which some have characterized as very bright), which we tamed by pulling down frequencies in the neighborhood of 9kHz. The MaxX10SA subs, when matched one-to-one with the MaxX4A main speakers, are capable of delivering some seriously thundering and powerful low end, and all night long (and even in our brutal initial testing), the speakers did not sound strained or like they were 'losing it'. Kick drum and bass guitar were rendered with a new weight that we never had with our previous subwoofers, a pair of Peavey dual-15" bandpass subs from the late 1980s, I suspect. The MaxX10SA subwoofers are rated to 36 Hz, and I certainly believe it. The speakers elicited a reaction from audience members as well, who were surprised at how good it sounded for as loud as it was, and referred to them as sounding 'awesome'. There are still things to tweak, and these speakers have brought out aspects of our mixes that we have not heard before, so there is room for improvement in our particular application. However, the FBT MaxX series is one very serious product range in terms of features and performance, and it definitely deserves your consideration if you are looking for a highly portable smaller system that can cover audiences of 500 people in large rooms with ease, with a wide variety of program material. |
