Not a lot of people know this, but I used to be a huge guitar gearhead. Being in college, I didn't have a lot of resources to acquire a lot of the equipment I wanted, but I kept myself in the loop and lusted after what I wanted. As I grew older, I realized I had no talent in guitar so I sold my bright cherry red Ibanez, my 60 watt amplifier, and my effects to buy a computer instead. But that never really stopped me from loving audio equipment; only these days, I find myself favoring headphones instead. My neighbors are very violent people.
Last week, I was lucky enough to have been invited to the launch of a new product line by Electro-Voice. Electro-Voice is the part of Bosch that develops and manufactures audio equipment, including microphones, amps, loudspeakers, and the like geared towards pros.
These same speakers are installed in the Suwon World Cup Stadium in Korea, the Parramatta Stadium in Australia, the Philippine Senate, the Philippine Congress, and some other smaller establishments in the country. Even though these bad boys are installed in huge arenas, it doesn't mean that they can't be used on a consumer level. Electro-Voice says they've also catered to thousands of musicians, DJs and performers around the world.
In picture: A DJ from somewhere around the world.
The XLZ loudspeakers are available in powered and passive two-way models. What's cool about them is that their operation is pretty much as straightforward as advertised. It can be used for recorded piped-in music, live performances, clubs, speech and configured for the type of location. That's versatility for ya.
More compact and a little lighter than its big brother, the 12" two-way powered loudspeaker, ZLX-12P, was designed to give more power compared to other speakers of the same class size. It's better suited for smaller venues, stage monitors, and people who like their music really loud while living in a huge house. The 15" one, ZLX-15P, is obviously for larger venues and open spaces, providing (according to the press release) "crisp, clean highs and tight, deep lows." I have no idea how to gauge that so, I took videos.
If you're wondering how much these will set you back, here are the prices:
ZLX-12P - P30,600
ZLX-15P - P37,600
ZLX-12 - P22,800
ZLX-15 - P29,500
I honestly thought they'd be more expensive.
If you wanna know more, click here to go to their official website. These speakers are available now through a certified local dealer, EVI Distribution Philippines, Inc.