You ignored my PM comments and then add what I would suggest you call yourself next time you shave and you are looking in the mirror. Jackass indeed!

Look I think we've all embarrassed ourselves enough (myself included) and taken this way beyond what any of us would be proud to admit so if we can all just drop it, agree to disagree, we can go back to enjoying the forum as it's intended to be. We're all out for the same thing here and I think I speak for all of us when I say nobody wants to make anything but friends and there's no reason we can't get back to doing that.

Fantastic review VSA, exactly what I needed to get me an idea as to what to...Bu...Audition!!
Yes, that's what (good) reviews are for, helping you pre-select items and then bring your attention on to what to look/listen for when you try them.
That's right.. still got to try them!

Those choices really seem to be in the ball park for the application I'm looking for. I'm glad VSA did take the time to try different tones (including clean patches) and not limit the audition to one type/style of sound.

Regarding the EV:
One question, the 3.5K EQ cut you made, was it necessary on all the patches? Isn't there a possibility to EQ on the speaker itself?

What about reliability?, Any issues since you have them (read some reviews with people having some recurrent problems with it although they loved the sound...)

Cheers mate.

Thanks for the review, when it comes down to it I usually have to hear more than one or two different people's advice so I don't see why this would become any kind of argument unless alcohol or marketing is involved which is what it seemed like but good thing I just don't want to care that much. All I see is a +1, +1, -1..."uncolored, colored, low volume" - then I take that and file it away with any new information. Any useless info not directly related to audio like friends, ages, etc; stays here for others enjoyment/confusion/whatever; until Sharon Osbourne shows up or something else happens. If there were any real results for best anything audio, there'd be one company making everything and having only one model of each amp, guitar, etc. It's kind of like when Walliman pulled out some old Boss pedals and to me blew away the more expensive Suhr overdrives and stuff. 15 years ago I much preferred solid state amps over tube amps now I need tubeyness. I sometimes think to myself, "are you sure you want that crappy sound?" when someone is recording an overdub in the studio, but I ask them if they are happy and that's the end of my input. I've recorded with someone who decided to even come up and dial up my amp the way they wanted after months of practicing with it a certain way. Everyone hears things differently.

Any way you look at it, you should be able to take a guitar, something that does distortion, some speakers, and make something good and say "hey, I took this and this and I liked this speaker with that preamp" without any kind of "well, you're wrong and everyone likes you better than me" lol wtf.

I'm wrong about liking what I like. God, I'm so stupid! It's right there in the manual. Why do they even have knobs, they could just solder the pots to the proper spec and everyone would have the perfect sound.

Thanks for the review VSA.

I've begun the hunt for a powered monitor to use with my 11R as well. I want to be able to sell off 4 or 5 of my amps (everything except my Mesa), and just use the 11R and my in-ears for everything, but for some reason, other people in the band want to be able to hear me as well , so they prefer some kind of onstage amp. A powered wedge is always handy, and can be used as an amp on smaller gigs.

A challenge I face in my search is that I can't A/B these boxes, because each line (EV, QSC, and Yorkville) are all carried by different retailers.... My special circumstance is that I also occasionally do bass gigs. While the 11R has a great model in the Blue Line Bass (sounds just like my SVT to me), I need a powered monitor that can support it, sometimes at pretty high levels.

I have not played the EV SxA250, but I was able to try out the new ELX115P, which is sort of the same thing (wooden box, 1x15 + horn), but made offshore, and has a 1000-watt class D poweramp. I have to say it's a very good sounding speaker - or should I say "neutral-sounding"? It sounds very much like the cabinets the 11R is emulating, whether that's a 4x12 with Greenbacks or an 8x10 SVT. And it was very nice with my 12-string acoustic as well (using a rig\patch with both the amp and cab bypassed). I can only imagine what the SxA sounds like. The one I tested was a loaner from the store's rental inventory, but if they had had one in their "for sale" stock, I probably would have bought it today. As it is, they'd have to order one in, and they want to be able to order more than just one piece. That means it'll be a while.

As a side note, the speaker I borrowed smelled like skunky pot. Made my family room smell like pot. Because it was a rental unit, I thought it might have been used at a REALLY good party over the weekend. But apparently not. The ELX series apparently smell like that because of an adhesive or spray used on the 15" speaker's cone.

BTW, according to my EV dealer, the SxA250 is not discontinued by EV (it's in the newest price guide that's only a couple of weeks old), but suggested there is a possibility that some dealers have stopped carrying them because of the LiveX series stuff - or it may be that the SxA is available by special order only.

Next up for testing will be the QSC K12s. One of the guys in one of the bands I'm playing with is the manager at the local QSC dealer, so I'm sort of obligated to at least try them out. I have to say though, that after hearing the EV, the QSC will have to be staggeringly good to substantiate the extra $200 price tag.

The other challenge I face is that the retailer that sells the more expensive QSCs also takes stuff in on trade (this may be a necessary option if I have a challenge selling my existing amps), while the EV guy doesn't.

+1 for the 'thank you VSA' vibe.
I was a lot better informed when I went to decide on/buy my powered monitors due to VSA's previous research....and as with everything else in music I just let my own ears make my final decision for me.

If your ears like different things than VSA then good on ya, go do your thing your way, but the negativity being projected just detracts from an otherwise interesting discussion.

And I own 2 EVs and an 11rack, and 3 tube amps, and I've lost track of how many guitars.....no apologies forthcoming from me for working hard in my 20s and 30s so I can do what I like now. My guess is if you are on the 11rack forum, you probably aren't a electronics purist playing an acoustic bluegrass guitar around the same single microphone as the rest of your band anyway, so what gear and how much of it is as individual a decision as your influences and styles of music that you choose to pursue.
I believe VSA is actually the secret illegitimate son of Bill Gates who is spending his hush money payoffs on gear.

I ended up buying the K12, mostly because of the trade-in - the QSC dealer would take a trade-in, and the EV dealer wouldn't.

Even though I didn't end up buying it, I actually liked the EV more - it was a more neutral sounding speaker, and sounded more like the actual amp and cab were in the room. Might be because of a wood cabinet vs PVC, or maybe the difference between a 12" and 15" speaker. Don't get me wrong though, the K12 sounds VERY nice, and seemed to handle a bass amp model better (I want this rig to be able to do every gig I do). That said, I still have a 30-day return window if I'm not satisfied at the next gig.

Ok, after reading VaiSatchAtrucci's excellent post and viewing his video RE: the EV SXA250, I went for it and bought one. Tried it at practice today, and it was AWESOME!!! Thank you VERY much for sharing this information. I had tried running my Eleven Rack through a Marshall 50/50 tube power amp into a Genz Benz 2x12 and a Splawn 4x12, which was ok, but I was thinking of getting a Mesa Simulclass 2:90, when I saw this post and ended up buying the SXA250. I really love it.

I have some basic questions that I am hoping you guys can help me with.

1. Would there be any significant advantage to getting another one and running it in stereo? Or maybe a QSC for the other output, to give the sound more dimension?

2. Did you tweak your presets for the SXA in any particular way, and if so, do you have any posted? I note that you use the Road King model, which is coincidental, as that is also my favorite. My rhythm guitar player actually plays through a Road King, too.

3. Is there any best practice for volumes? Today, I set the SXA master volume at about 75%, my Eleven Rack rig output at 0 db and my Eleven Rack master volume at about 6.5. It was loud but not crushing.

4. Have you been setting your SXA in front of you like a floor monitor, or behind you like backline? We have a gig this weekend, which will be the true test.

5. Today, I ran the XLR out of the Eleven Rack into the SXA. Is that the best way to go?

6. What about getting it into the PA? Do you mic it or use the XLR direct out?

7. Have you tried Craig Anderton's EQ ideas - parametric, etc.? I haven't but am interested in the idea.

Those are all the questions I can think of right now.

Thanks very much for your help!