Al's Presonus Air 12 active speaker review

[@DjPetroni]

Thanks for the great review, really nice sounding speakers for the money, in UK at the moment they are around £392 free shipping! Excellent value for the money

[@AlekseyRomanyuta]

Electro Voice Zlx 12p or Presonus Air 12 ? 🤔

[@alpoulin1]

The Presonus Air series are actually on sale at the moment in Canada and the US (as far as I know). The Air 12s currently sell at 549$ a piece here in Canada, making them a spectacular value when considering the inlcuded 6 year warranty. I've used them on many gigs already and have been very happy with them. They have surprising deep bass considering the compact plastic cabinet and 34lb weight. I am considering getting another pair for my collection or perhaps a pair of the bigger 15s for stand alond use at smaller weddings and events. I really don't need more speakers though... I've got too much of a collection as it is :) The low price and warranty make them so appealing however! Feel free if you have any other questions. I am not familiar with EV at all, since we don't have a local dealer for EV.

[@AlekseyRomanyuta]

Thank you for your answer! I wanted to order them, but Thomann refused to deliver them to Kazakhstan. I ordered a simpler system - Behringer dr 112 dsp, it’s a pity that it didn’t work out with Presonus

[@Mr.Brolic]

I had the preSonos ult 18 sub amazing sub great sound great build

[@Tim_ArtistName_Tallent]

Very curious about these subs, could u tell me a little about how you used them and their performance?// sound signature? Thanks !

[@Mr.Brolic]

@@Tim_ArtistName_Tallent used as dj I have short video on my channel. They are built great warming sounding once you get your gain correct they hit hard they get low but do better with higher frequencies great subs only reason I don’t have mine is because I sent it back to get fixed and the company destroyed it and they didn’t have another one to give me so they just gave me my money back and I couldn’t find one at the price I paid $900

[@mickadvisor3187]

Can I use subs with the A12

[@mpageaustin]

great review can I ask you if there is a lot of "white noise" or "hiss" I am not sure exactly what its called when they are just on. I bought a pair of Mackie SRM 212's and loved the sound, but even with just the power cord plug in there was a prettly noticable hiss from the horn I am using them in a very quite room so and it just drove me nuts so had to return them. These had great reviews but wanted bluetooth but can also add something for the price.

[@alpoulin1]

Haven't noticed higher levels of noise vs my other active tops. These are things you will certainly notice more in a smaller room / studio setting vs in a venue though. What I can confirm is that they are a terrific performer and an outstanding value. They are currently on sale here in Canada and US as well. Current Canadian retail on these is 549$! They get significantly louder than their SPL spec would suggest...

[@mickadvisor3187]

Great video. I purchased a pair today for 1000 euro. Are the A 12s compatible for subwoofers as I saw maybe it’s only the 15-18 version. Im using mostly for djn so appreciate setting recommendations pls. Thanks from Ireland…..

[@alpoulin1]

They are a little more difficult to use with subwoofers (other than Presonus brand) because they don't have a built-in high-pass filter. Luckily, my Yamaha subs have filtered hi-pass outs selectable at different frequencies. That said, full range )without subs) at smaller events, I generally boost the lows +3 or +4 on them quite a bit using the knob/built-in bass/treble settings on the speaker (I don't boost on my mixer though, which is mostly flat, but sometimes with a littl mid boost at 1-4K), but when using them with subs, I'll reduce the lows to 0, quite simply, so as to not overworkk the woofer. Out of the box though, even in DJ mode, the low frequencies aren't that boosted to be honest (compared to competitive products), and they have a surpsing amount of headroom, so I wouldn't worry too much. I keep them in FOH mode, myself. Whatever you do, just keep in mind they ARE compact active 12'' speakers, so they do have limits (like any 12', woofer). I still do really like the size to performance ratio of these though. Very impressive!

[@mickadvisor3187]

@ great info….so with these speakers do you think they need subs and I’m mostly using in pub function room settings and what would you set the dbs too and maybe occasionally in a large parish hall for kids discos….. would they be enough on there own? Thanks again….

[@alpoulin1]

@@mickadvisor3187 Stand alone (no subs) in a pub setting, I would have opted for the bigger Air 15s, personally. The Air 12s might do OK, depending on optimized placement / room acoustics, but you may end up pushing them too much (woofer) trying to get a fatter sound. On the speakers themselved, I generally keep treble flat, but set the bass at +3DB. I use FOH setting and the on stands setting. I do not boost the lows on my mixer. The AIr 12s have great headroom and a nice full response for a 12'', but with any speaker, trying to get more bass out of it than should be expected will both gobble up headroom and overwork the woofer.

[@joefunsmith]

Good review Al. (ampnation)

[@alpoulin1]

Thank you very much my friend! I am still playing with these, they are very interesting. They get extremely loud for their size, but I'm still dialing them in it seems. I play with the EQ quite often depending on the song, and while I put up the top end and mids a bit at lower volumes, I often bring them down at higher volumes - it's like the speakers come alive at higher volumes... The Yamahas and RCFs do sound a little better overall (better balanced) to my ears, but for their size and weight, the little Air 12s really put out and are impressive! Loads of headroom.

[@rjermayne]

Can you compare this to DXR12?

[@alpoulin1]

Very comparable overall output wise in spite of the difference in specs. Better warranty on the Yamaha. Presonus goes a little deeper while the DXR12 has more natural highs and mids. Better mixer section on the DXR. Both are great over subs or will handle smaller DJ events (100 people or so) stand alone.

[@rjermayne]

Thanks for the response. I'm assuming that DXR are louder?

[@alpoulin1]

@@rjermayne If you only look at the manufacturer's numbers, especially max SPL, you would absolutely think so, but in real world application the difference is much less than you would imagine. Both the DXR12 and Presonus Air 12 have roughly 700 continuous watts available to a 1.4'' compression and quality 12'' woofer, both with 2.5'' voice coils. So, while they do sound different and the Yamaha has better processing / mixer section and warranty - in application, both will actually perform very similarly output wise. I've used the Air 12s stand alone and with my DXS12 mkii subs at a few weddings already and they perform spectacularly. The Presonus also do go deeper and sound fuller (with some eq applied), while the Yamahas sound more natural in the mids and top end. I find the Presonus seem to need some eq here and there depending on the song, while the Yamahas are simply more ear pleasing and balanced out of the box. Once the volume goes up however, the differences are less noticeable and both get surprsingly loud.

[@rjermayne]

@@alpoulin1 Thank you very much for such a valuable information. Appreciated it. ✌️