QSC KW 153 Overview

A basic run down of the speaker. Questions, comments?

[@aholder4471]

Ext = External. But I was really hoping to see these covers, so appreciate you showing them. Thanks. A friend of mine has these, and you just can't beat the natural resonance of these wood cabs. They add a little weight, but they are worth the extra struggle to us for sure. They make it easier to mix at FOH because you're not having to do as much to get them to sound great. They just do. Which always helps when you have a good starting point. I also personally thing that wood cabs make acoustic instruments sound better naturally. There just something about the resonance that you just don't get with composite of plastic cabs. Not sure why that technically is, but I've heard the difference many times. It's really apparent if you're the one mixing it, because you know rather you are fighting it or not. One of the best sounding gigs I did as far as acoustic amplified instruments (as opposed to an all electric band with a drummer) was on a D&B Pa system, and it just sounded great without me having to do much at all. And what was crazy is that I had this super nice PA to use, and all I had to mix with was an A&H Mixwizzard. But sometimes doing things with one hand tide behind your back can make you get back to basics and allow you to learn another lesson. It certainly did for me. I was impressed at how good I could get it to sound with only EQ and a great PA.

[@Rvalivesound]

QSC and JBL are such well known and respected brands that sometimes people fail to look closely enough into the specific model they are buying. The PRX 625 and the 635 had price drops because of issues people had with overheating and now the PRX 600 series has been prematurely discontinued. QSC has puts out fewer lines of speakers but you still need to look at each model not just the fact that they are both great brands overall. I would wait to see what JBL replaces it with or buy QSC.

[@superdjrumbero]

RVA Live Sound I used jbl 535 and are amazing never problems

[@Rvalivesound]

I wish I worked for QSC or JBL. Personally I try not to engage to heavily in blind brand loyalty as it can lead to making gear purchase you regret. Both QSC and JBL have some excellent products. JBL has a large line of speakers while QSC has a smaller line. Many JBL speakers are great, but some (like the recently discontinued PRX 600 line) have multiple issues. The same thing goes for QSC and every other manufacturer. Both companies have stellar reputations based on their histories.

[@aholder4471]

That's so true. I used to be a huge JBL fan and I still am, but I had a powered sub that was super picky about power. If the power wasn't perfect it wouldn't turn on. It drove me nuts, because how often do you do a gig where you have perfect power? Especially on small to medium size shows and venues. We had a gig where the JBL's wouldn't turn on, but we borrowed some QSC's and they ran no problem the whole show. Whoever made that call to include that protection, instead of figuring out how to make it work while still keeping it safe, didn't know their intended audience. But I've always loved the JBL sound. Kind of a scooped thing, But it's very 3d deep to me. But I have had some really good luck using my friends QSC system with these KW153 as the mains. It is so consistently reliable and sounds great with the wood cabs. We do live band stuff, so most of the time, we don't even need subs for the size of venues we are working half the time.

[@andrebryant516]

Settled for the 152 these were just two big and the 152 rock not sure if the extra mid matters

[@Rvalivesound]

It doesnt often matter IMO. One situation I remember where it did matter was when we were forced to leave the KW181 subwoofers at home. The 153's have as much low end as the subs do, but since the power is split and distributed differently in each speaker, the subs end up having more available low end headroom since they are not playing anything above 120hZ. The 152's still sound good alone, dont get me wrong, but they sound even better with KW181's! When running the tops with the 181 subwoofers it works great whether the tops are k12's, KW153 or any QSC matching mid range speaker.

[@WeBoogie28]

153..is my next acquisition for sure im just knit picking for final decision..have the 618xlfs their nice but oddly..they are better with one sub and two top I swear are I seem to couple my kw181s better than trying to mono with two tops

[@WeBoogie28]

i have prx625, but was thinking of getting theses to run with kw181s.

[@Sebastian-qu6vd]

Great Video - very informative. Question: When no music is playing how is the soundstage is it silent/black or is there an audible hiss? Ive read they are very quiet but figured Id ask around.

[@Rvalivesound]

Thank you! These speakers don't produce any type of hiss while program material is being sent throu them. Assuming proper gain structure and quality gear is used throughout the signal chain you'd strain to hear a hiss even during a break.

[@superdjrumbero]

I buy pair of this to used in top of my kw181 to replace my k12 I don’t know if is better to used with pole o just on top of the sub let me know you opinions.

[@Rvalivesound]

superdjrumbero it depends on the venue and the coverage pattern you are trying to create. If the audience area is full of people who will be seated then you might want to stack instead of mount on poles. If, on the other hand, you need maximum coverage distance then you'll need to raise the high frequency driver up over the heads of the audience members in front (to allow sound to travel to the audience members in the rear of the seating area). Its up to you to decide each time as there is no fixed answer that will work in all situations.

[@WeBoogie28]

You must work for qsc..lol sound very passionate about their quality..gonna get some. But will cont to use jbl prx simply because dispite the misinformation about the overheating, most ppl fail to tell you that they did not use the crossover correctly..with qsc the choice does not exist..because their crossover is engineered into the speaker

[@djgb1980]

Is a 15.2 coming?

[@probosse]

how do they sound at low volume?

[@Rvalivesound]

They maintain their sound all the way from a very low volume up until the clip protection kicks in.

[@megumind9939]

How many watts rms are these?

[@Rvalivesound]

1000 watts rms 2000 peak

[@JesusYyoUno]

Hey man what stand do you use for qsc 15

[@Rvalivesound]

I use a subwoofer pole that has a threaded connector that is designed to go down into the QSC KW 181 subwoofer. The KW 153 is a very tall speaker and I don't feel comfortable putting it on top of any of the tripod stands in my inventory. There are some other options besides mounting it on a tripod stand. The M10 kit will allow you to fly the speakers from a truss if the truss is rated to carry enough weight. I have seen other people put them up on tripod stands, but I think it is a lot safer to put it on top of the subwoofer directly or on a subwoofer pole, if you need to raise the height of the high frequency driver to get better coverage.

[@ras2472]

I would love these BUT they seem heavy, how do you lift/get them on stands?

[@Rvalivesound]

@@ras2472 The QSC subwoofer poles that match with the threads on the KW181 subwoofer is my favorite and the most stable way to mount these top heavy three way loudspeakers up off the ground. I have also used regular speaker poles to mount these beasts, but I would not recommend doing so. You have to lay the speaker on its side flat out on the ground and stick the pole in while it is down flat on the ground. Then, once you have the pole locked in there you slowly lift the whole thing up into a standing position. I have never done this alone and it works best if you have three strong dudes to help you.

[@Toboalpha]

Made in China or USA? thx

[@Rvalivesound]

Almost everything is made in China these days. QSC started manufacturing in China some time around 2012 as far as i know. In my opinion manufacturing has reached a level where it can be done as well as we do in the USA almost anywhere in the world. I trust the people at QSC to maintain QC and grow their China plants into facilities that rival plants anywhere on Earth. I have used older versions of the same speaker that were made in the USA and I failed to spot the difference in sound or visuals. The setup I have is less than 3 years old and it was all manufactured in QSC's China plant. I have not had one second of downtime in my travels around the east coast doing everything from weddings to corporate events, concerts and political events. With our sometimes hectic schedule we needed something reliable and that is what we found in QSC. Thanks for your question!

[@LV-bf5dx]

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