SubZero HiCAST LA12

[DJandre]

Hello everyone. I'm new here, so I apologize if I'm posting in the wrong place. I'm very interested in purchasing the SubZero HiCAST LA12 sound system. Does anyone have one and use it? How does it perform at outdoor events and for DJing? Thank you very much for your replies.

[Sam Spoons]

Looking at the specification I would spend your money elsewhere, something like a pair of Yamaha DXR10's and a single DXS sub will be louder, sound great and be much less hassle to rig.

edit :- A couple of Yamaha DZR 10's and a DXS15 mk2 will come out slightly cheaper and be a much better system in every way.

[Wonks]

This rather uncomplimentary You Tube review by someone who clearly doesn't understand what a line array is, nevertheless gives you an idea what the tops sound like without the subs.

https://youtu.be/IBdq3zlYFd0?si=Q_RdoXUqcvvq2aeJ

The rather flimsy mounting arrangement is less than ideal. You probably would want to fly them rather than pole mount them, and then arrange the speakers in a curve to suit the venue. To be done well, you can get software that tells you the precise angle for each speaker, but the four fixed angled mounting holes of the sides of the speakers doesn't allow for accurate positioning, so you don't get the full benefit of using a line-array style.

However, the powering arrangement (described below) doesn't suit true flying of the line array.

The other main consideration is sound level. Each box can put out a maximum of 116dB SPL (with the right power input), and with 8 of them going flat out you still only get 125dB SPL.

That's matched by the subwoofer pretty well at 128dB, but you'll probably need to have it turned to max (with lack of headroom and probably not great sound quality).

But the 2x4" boxes are all passive, (whereas pro-level line array systems are all active boxes), and require a combination of series and parallel connections in order to keep the impedance of the eight boxes (each 8 ohms) to a value that the amp can cope with. This is not a reliable arrangement.

The power amp is in the sub unit, and only provides 200W RMS, and maybe 300W peak. So with 8 boxes, at best that's 300/8 = 37.5W per box, and a peak output of 112dB SPL per box and 121dB in total from all 8 boxes.

For a comparison you could get two Yamaha DXR12" active tops and two Yamaha DXS15" subs for a similar price. The subs have a maximum SPL of 135dB SPL and the tops 134dB SPL.

So you'll get a system that can be run at over twice as loud (or realistically run with headroom to spare) for the same money.

You won't get the same level of room coverage that a good line array system can give with it, but the sound quality will definitely be better. And the SubZero doesn't seem to be a good line-array system.

[Sam Spoons]

This rather uncomplimentary You Tube review by someone who clearly doesn't understand what a line array is, nevertheless gives you an idea what the tops sound like without the subs.

https://youtu.be/IBdq3zlYFd0?si=Q_RdoXUqcvvq2aeJ

Yup, he definitely doesn't like them (and, as he says, the speakers look like cheap car speakers).

However, the powering arrangement (described below) doesn't suit true flying of the line array.

The other main consideration is sound level. Each box can put out a maximum of 116dB SPL (with the right power input), and with 8 of them going flat out you still only get 125dB SPL.

For a comparison you could get two Yamaha DXR12" active tops and two Yamaha DXS15" subs for a similar price. The subs have a maximum SPL of 135dB SPL and the tops 134dB SPL.

So you'll get a system that can be run at over twice as loud (or realistically run with headroom to spare) for the same money.

Yup... And a good point about two subs, a DJ will probably want more bass than I would need.

You won't get the same level of room coverage that a good line array system can give with it, but the sound quality will definitely be better. And the SubZero doesn't seem to be a good line-array system.

Exactly, not sure if that actually qualify as a line array with the location of the tweeters.

Gear4M are usually pretty good but they seem to have dropped the ball with this rig...