Active PA Monitor to pair with a guitar multieffect

[andISeeMyOmen]

I'm looking for an active speaker to pair my multieffect with. So far I'm leaning towards a monitor speaker so I can use it better as a monitor on stage and a speaker on practice.

At first I was trying to decide between Headrush FRFR108 and Alto TS408. The more I look into things, I may be better to invest a bit more money for better quality(?)

The ones I could pick up as recommended would be QSC CP8, EV ZLX, RFC HD etc...

The ones I just don't know LD ICOA 12 A (BT), Turbosound Milan (M10)

I'm trying to keep the budget pretty low and the QSC CP8 is at the very top of my budget. I play directly from multieffect to FOH so this is just for practice and possibly for monitor usage.

What would you recommend for this kind of usage? You can also recommend power cabs for guitar if it would be a better choice for me?

[Wonks]

The Headrush units are just rebadged Alto TS3xx range units, so a TS308 in the case of the HeadrushFRFR108. I've played a Line 6 Helix through a TS310 speaker and whilst the Alto is good value for money, the sound is a bit scooped in the midrange and I found the sound required a lot of bass cut to sound anything like a guitar amp.

I haven't heard the TS4xx range, but they are supposed to be a better speaker than the TS3xx range and with an 8" speaker, shouldn't be as bassy as the 10" version.

I'm not sure if the QSC CP range would be significant improvement over the Alto. I think you'd need to go to the K8.2 for that.

I'd recommend the Yamaha DXR range, a DXR8 or DXR10, for flatter sounding speakers that should work better with an amp sim. Too expensive new, but you might find a used one within your price range. Likewise the QSC K8.2.

I haven't heard the other speakers.

[Sam Spoons]

I had a pretty poor experience with some very early Alto TS speakers, they sounded great for the money but reliability was poor. I'm assuming they have improved but I would hold out for the Yamaha's (I have DXR 10s) or QSCs (k12s in my case). Both are excellent speakers. My only caveat is that you should register any extended warrantee and, if you get a minor fault* within that warrantee, get it fixed asap.

* One of my DXR 10s had been occasionally going into 'protect mode' with the red LED illuminating, rebooting always cured this so I didn't bother sending it back for repair... Until one day it didn't and it was out of the seven year warrantee. Entirely my own fault and I really could do with fixing it but, as I can buy another used example for half the cost of a repair, it remains in the corner of the unit in limbo...

[Wonks]

Yes, the later model TS improved enormously in reliability. The 3xx and 4xx are very different to the original TS range in power output and DSP capability.

Alto would have done better to give each new version a completely different range name.

[Sam Spoons]

That's good to hear, I was quite evangelical about the original TS range when they were brand new and the reliability issue had yet to rear it's head. They were very good indeed for the money at the time and the later stuff looks like a significant improvement.

[andISeeMyOmen]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll try to see if I can find Yamaha DXR, QSC K or similar second hand. I checked and couldn't find any at this moment. I'm in no hurry with this so I may keep searching and asking around. If I can't find anything better second hand, I'll probably go with the Alto TS408.

I'd be interested on opinions about Turbosound Milan and LD Icoa. At least I'm under the impression that Turbosound is a decent brand and I've heard good stuff about LD as well. I'd like to hear if someone has any experience on these? They would be pretty cheap buy (cheap = poor quality?) so my wallet would thank me.

[BigRedX]

What is the speaker for? Is it just for personal monitoring when you play live or will you also need it to project FoH.

I've been using the multi-effects FRFR setup for over 5 years now. I'm primarily as bassist so I went for an RCF745 and a Helix Floor. That's a lot of money you might say, but the "traditional" bass rig it replace had cost me more at second hand prices and when I also sold all my guitar effects and amplification I came away with a small overall profit. For nearly all of the gigs the two bands I am in play these days, the FoH and foldback is sufficiently good so I don't even need to take the FRFR, and most of the time it lives in the rehearsal room.

It has been used as the main source of bass guitar for the audience on a handful of occasions and has preformed more than adequately, and because of the better dispersion of the FRFR I have found that I only need to be slightly overloud on stage compared with the levels I used to require from my previous rig in order to reach the back of the room.

[Wonks]

Turbosound was a decent brand and concentrated on the pro PA market, but is now part of the Music Tribe group, and I don’t know what the Behringer influence on the quality and reliability has been. The SOS review of the bigger (12”+) Milan boxes was favourable, but the smaller units aren’t quite as pokey as say the Altos with ‘only’ 600W power modules (which is still a lot).

[andISeeMyOmen]

What is the speaker for? Is it just for personal monitoring when you play live or will you also need it to project FoH.

It's just for personal use. Using it in practice with the band and as a monitor on stage.

[Dave Rowles]

I'd be interested on opinions about Turbosound Milan and LD Icoa. At least I'm under the impression that Turbosound is a decent brand and I've heard good stuff about LD as well. I'd like to hear if someone has any experience on these? They would be pretty cheap buy (cheap = poor quality?) so my wallet would thank me.

I've got 4 Alto TS310s, 1 Alto TS410, and 1 Turbosound Milan M10.

The TS410 is a more even sound, but everyone is correctly saying that they have a bass kick on them, and that's even more evident on the TS310. Means it's great for bass/drums/keys, but not the best for vocals and guitar. I usually end up putting a low shelf to reduce the bottom end if it's not being used for something with low content.

The Turbosound one is...quieter. If it's being used solely as a guitar amp, and not a wedge, then it's a nice sounding speaker, and would probably suit power wise. However, it's significantly heavier and not as nice to cart around as the handle is on the top and not the side. If you've got 2 of them, it would probably balance out, but I prefer moving the Alto stuff.

The Altos are great speakers, though they need a little bit of corrective EQ to make them sound their best. I'd recommend them over anything close in price, and given the TS408 is around the £300 mark, I'd expect to spend about £600 or more to get something worth spending the extra on.