Gear4Music sub-zero brand? Yes, no, maybe?

[MarkOne]

Anyone got experience of any Gear4Music sub-zero gear?

Some of the prices look really good, for pretty well specified gear.

But is it a case of you get what you pay for? Even if you are paying the big brands for stuff possibly made in the same factory sometimes?

[Sam Spoons]

Drew is the guy to ask but which bit of kit specifically? A well known maker of 'well price' but very decent digital mixers also make the worst DI box I have ever encountered.

[S2]

Anyone got experience of any Gear4Music sub-zero gear?

Some of the prices look really good, for pretty well specified gear.

But is it a case of you get what you pay for? Even if you are paying the big brands for stuff possibly made in the same factory sometimes?

The drummer in one of the bands I'm in has a Sub zero PA - a pair of these...

https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Li ... layer/1O2U

I mean they are OK for rehearsing (just) but it's not a great sound. Comes across as a bit fizzy to my ears. However he didn't pay a lot for them and they do the job for rehearsing in his house. I guess it depends what you want to do with it.

[MarkOne]

Well, specifically.

this

(See my thread in the live sound forum about confusing tech specs - this reckons it has max spl peak of 121dB (which seems pretty optimistic for 200W RMS)

[Dynamic Mike]

I bought subzero wireless guitar jacks on Drew's recommendation and they are awesome. Even come supplied with a 1 into 2 usb charging cable! Plus I got a Bluetooth Marshall amp for buttons as part of the G4M deal.

[Sam Spoons]

Well, specifically.

this

(See my thread in the live sound forum about confusing tech specs - this reckons it has max spl peak of 121dB (which seems pretty optimistic for 200W RMS)

They give a lot of info compared to many, for starters the speakers efficiency is quoted as 95dB 1w/1m the max SPL (peak) at 600 watts works out at over 123 dB SPL so their quoted 121dB SPL doesn't sound exaggerated. 200 watts rms into those speakers should give you more than 116dB SPL.

But none of this tells you how they sound so if you can't go for a listen before buying you can always make use of the distance selling regs to send it back if it doesn't live up to expectations.

[Drew Stephenson]

I do have several bits of G4M / SubZero kit here it is true. I would generally summarise them as 'good for the money'.
Is it going to sound as good as an H&K or a Bose? Nope. But it's half the price so...

What I would say is that with budget manufacturers you generally have a narrower window of effective operation. By which I mean that if you buy a good PA (to stick with this example), it'll give you a good sound over most of its volume and frequency range and only start breaking up as it reaches its limits.
In my experience budget kit may technically have similar specs but may start losing fidelity earlier in the range.
So if you're expecting to be pushing the upper end of either the volume or frequency range you might be better off looking for something larger or an alternative brand.

P.s. I have no affiliation or connection to G4M, they're just my local shop!

[The Elf]

The way to look at this type of gear is whether is does an adequate job that fits the budget. Some jobs just don't need the 'best of the best'.

I have a few sub-zero mic's, to which I was introduced by a forumee, and they are fine for some of the jobs I do, rather than putting my 'A-list mic's' in harm's (i.e. sticks') way!

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Recently got a refund two Sub Zero 4 channel USB MIDI interfaces that both had intermittent MIDI througout on output 2, and one of them was getting power from a MIDI input without USB connected. They didn't need them returned. So I opened them up. Some of the worst soldering I've ever seen. It's not clear on the Irish site what their contact email is (the published one returns errors within 24 hours) so took four days to get a response, but they were extremely fast resolving the issue once someoen responded.

[Dave Rowles]

I've encountered g4m stuff in various forms, and have a couple of their guitar valve amps.

It's low cost for a reason.

That said, it's low cost. The guitar amps are loud enough and I use them for kids rehearsals so the fact that they don't sound great isn't that much of an issue.

The PA speakers that I've heard were not great. Alto stuff is better, and not that much more, though they don't do column speakers.

[Luke W]

When I was working at the college we took a chance on a pair of their small active PA speakers. We needed something light and portable for a small tour, and the price was such that it wouldn't be the end of the world if the students managed to do something silly with them (they had to rig/run everything themselves, and for the most part, weren't techies).

I was quite surprised, to be honest, they sounded a lot better than I expected and were more than adequate for low-level playback. As they managed to stand up to the tour we ended up keeping them on for extra foldback/hiding them in set for spot SFX etc.

'Good for the money' seems a fair assessment!

[cazchimaira]

DON'T DO IT!!! mines stopped working after only 5 months!!!! It seems amazing the bundle! I barley go on my computer & it's never touched. It was working this morning & now it's not.

[Wonks]

DON'T DO IT!!! mines stopped working after only 5 months!!!! It seems amazing the bundle! I barley go on my computer & it's never touched. It was working this morning & now it's not.

Hi and welcome.

Unfortunately you've not mentioned exactly what it is that has stopped working, so we can't provide any suggestions to help. This thread isn't covering a specific G4M product, so you need to tell us what.

Also, if nobody bought anything after one example stopped working, then there would be very little product ever sold, because all things electronic (and most things mechanical) do go wrong.

The real test is how well the company sorts out your issues. You are still within the warranty period, so there shouldn't be any hassle contacting G4M and asking what hey would like to do about it. They may come up with some things to try first before shipping it back.