Yamaha DZR12 12" 2,000W Powered Speaker

I came into GC looking for a fairly portable but near hi-fi quality PA system that packed a punch, and initially was looking at the QSC K12.2 tops and various subs. In fact, a very knowledgeable GC staff member was encouraging me with a setup along those lines, mainly for ease of setup right out of the box. But after listening to a lot of speakers (JBL, EV, QSC, etc.), the DZR12s came out on top in my price range in terms of performance (sound quality, SPL), and not by a small distance. The DZRs were notably cleaner sounding (vs the QSCs which were "muddy"), louder and punchier, and have better base extension when running without the sub. Maybe it's the driver quality, or the 96 kHz DSP, the low phase distortion via the Yamaha's FIR filtering, or the D-Contour functionality of the Yamahas. Whatever it is, the sound quality was more than a notch above for the Yamahas. I also prefer the 90x60 coverage (rotatable) of the Yamaha vs the 75x75 fixed coverage of the QSC which will struggle in some outdoor settings and wider rooms. When paired with the Yamaha DXR XLF15, this is an amazing setup that is portable, punchy and clean. I put the Yamaha caster set (SPW-1) on the sub to help with portability, and picked up the Yamaha cover for each of the speakers. The covers fit perfectly and are made of high quality materials. I took a few minutes after setting the system up to create a couple of preset EQ profiles, for with and without a sub, crossed the tops at 100 Hz which I matched on the sub, and then ran a few sound checks. The interface on the DZRs is well designed and pretty intuitive. Final result: The system sounds amazing! Loud, clean, punchy, without annoying fan noise or buzz at low levels. I was blown away. It's no Wilson Audio, but a PA system isn't supposed to be. It's supposed to be loud, clean and musical, without being harsh, and that's exactly what Yamaha delivered. Before getting talked into some JBLs or QSCs, give the DZR12s a listen. And the folks at my local Guitar Center were amazing to work with!

I bought these for my DJ business. They sound decent and the interface on the back of the speaker is great. I don't use these all that often so I cannot speak to their overall reliability, so far I have not had any issues. My complaints about this speaker: The fabric covering the grill on the outside of the speaker is subject to snags, so I have to baby this thing....hence the reason they stay at home for most gigs. They limit easier than the my k12.2 when played side by side at same settings. No top handle, this speaker is just heavy enough that a top handle would be awesome to have. Would I buy this again? No. Plus they have been on back order worse than other speakers it seems.

Fantastic high powered speaker. Love it