Review: EV TX1122FM & TX1152FM Wedges
Tall and passive, these new foldback wedges aren’t exactly hangin’ with the low-profile active trendsetters – but they do sound remarkably good.
By Mark Woods
1 June 2011
To hear the late Bruce Jackson tell it, foldback wedges were largely developed in response to Elvis Presley’s demands – sometimes mid show – for clearer sound on stage. Bruce was Elvis’s FOH mixer at the time and developed the whole concept of the ‘monitor engineer’ so Elvis could hear himself over his vociferous – read: ‘screaming’ – fans. This largely solved Elvis’s problem but also simultaneously lost Bruce his FOH job. From that moment onwards, Elvis was insistent on Bruce sitting on the side of stage controlling the foldback. The idea quickly caught on and black boxes sitting on stage blocking the audience’s view of the performers’ lower legs are still standard issue for most live shows.
Before wedges there was no foldback. Bill Monroe (inventor of Bluegrass) is often quoted as saying that “foldback ain’t good for nothin” and for many acoustic styles he was – and still is – quite right. Trying to blast the sound of the on-stage vocals and instruments back onto the stage, usually directly at the microphones, just can’t be good for true fidelity, and feedback is always annoying.
THIN END OF THE WEDGE
The last decade has seen the rapid development and adoption of in-ear monitors that promise to eliminate the visual and aural problems of foldback wedges but, apart from making the performers look like they’re hearing-impaired, I’ve often found that those using ‘ears’ tend to wander around the stage in a disassociated daze. And they take the longest time to get their balance right at soundcheck.
So wedges it is, for anything other than pure acoustic shows. Moreover, good wedges, well tuned and positioned, can be the glue that binds the stage sound together, enabling the singers to hear themselves and instrument signals to go where they’re needed so that everyone can hear what they want.
As part of its new Tour X line of speakers EV now offers two ‘vertically-designed’ – meaning that the tweeter is above the driver – foldback wedges: the 12-inch two-way TX1122FM and the 15-inch two-way TX1152FM. Apart from the different woofer sizes the wedges are very similar in construction and are good examples of modern, practical passive speaker design. Both models fire upwards at 55 degrees and feature EV’s Signal Synchronised Transducers, where the horn and woofer are mounted on separate baffle boards with the horn flare mounted in front of the woofer baffle. This enables the LF and HF drivers to be physically close to each other with the drivers aligned to produce a linear phase response. The gap between the baffles further acts as a low-frequency port.
PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE
Both models use the same 32mm diaphragm titanium compression driver and 90º x 50º horn flare. These are passive wedges but the internal electronics include a 24dB per-octave crossover, some preset EQ and a HF protection circuit. Power handling is rated at 500W continuous (2000W peak) resulting in maximum calculated SPLs above 130dB.
The cabinets are made from plywood and MDF and finished with EV’s own EVCoat – a ‘paint-like’ waterproof coating. The waterproofing is a good idea it turns out – the recent floods near where I live have given me an insight into how readily MDF disintegrates when wet. The vertical design means they look tall compared to their width. The other distinctive feature of these wedges is the horizontal groove across the centre of the front of the cabinet that features a prominent EV logo. This makes the grilles feel solid and resonance-free. The 16GA black powdercoat steel grille is also slightly arched for greater strength but it flexes in fairly easily and I’m not sure what would happen if it got stood on. Both models do sit up quite high – 475mm for the TX1152FM and 440mm for the TX1122FM – but their footprints are as small as they can be given the components inside. I especially liked the four-way handles on the sides of the cabinets that make it easy to grab the wedges from different positions. Weight is reasonable at 20kg for the TX112FM and 23.5kgs for the TX1152FM. Connection to a power amp is via linked Speakon NL4 sockets on a recessed panel on the rear of the cabinet. This location keeps the leads safely away from the performers but you need to tip the cabinet forwards to be able to see the sockets and make the connection.
NEED TO KNOW
In use these wedges are fuss-free and very capable. Testing with a range of popular vocal mics displayed a flat frequency response that accurately revealed each microphone’s individual characteristic. I was pleased to see EV has included a frequency response plot as part of the specifications too. Of all the audio gear in the world, speakers generally have the least linear response, but both these models are within about 3dB of flat from 100Hz to beyond 10kHz, with the TX1152FM being slightly flatter across the range. The low-frequency –3dB point is quoted at 65Hz for the 15-inch woofer (70Hz for the 12-inch) and on both models the low-end sound is tight, rather than thick or deep, and not at all boomy. The mids are clear, slightly forward and accurate – just right for vocals. The horn is impressive in its detail and offers extended frequency response. The –3dB at this end of the spectrum is quoted at 20kHz, giving vocals a pleasant airiness and adding a good amount of sparkle to instruments, especially acoustic guitars.
STABLE SOUND
Both these speakers are stable at high volumes and the flat frequency response helps minimise feedback. When pushed to become unstable it’s more to do with the response of the microphone rather than any particular non-linearity in the wedges themselves. SM58s get edgy around 2 – 4kHz, Betas a little higher, while flatter condensers seem to become unstable more evenly from high to low. External EQ helps get more out of them but its only needed if the application requires the highest possible volume… and no, that is not all the time.
There’s not much difference in the sound of the two models but it’s noticeable. I preferred the bigger sound of the TX1152FM compared to the slightly boxier TX1122FM but the increased size of the larger model was a negative in some situations. As well as taking up less (valuable) stage space small wedges look better than big ones by not dwarfing the performers or hiding potentially attractive ankles.
ACTING UP
The first show I tried them at was Rick Price performing solo with an acoustic guitar on a very small stage. I used the TX1122FM with no external EQ and he was happy to comment on the clarity and accuracy of the sound. The bi-annual Castlemaine State Festival was next and for two weeks the EV wedges were used for a variety of acts from full-sound big-band acts using up to eight foldback sends, through to delicate acoustic groups seeking sensitivity and accuracy from their monitors. It’s a big stage at the Theatre Royal so the TX1152FM got the main vocal/instrument, with the TX1122FM filling in as required. Both worked every night and I didn’t find any limits to them in either volume or quality. The TX1152FM stepped in as a drum monitor by one act which didn’t want the larger house drum fill and in this role it worked well. There wasn’t much sub-bass available but plenty of whack and it didn’t overload.
It’s tempting to think of passive speakers as being old fashioned as they don’t offer the plug ’n’ play convenience of powered speakers, but these simple, high quality wedges do a great job at a good price. EV has developed the Tour X range for small to medium applications but I can’t see or hear any reason why the TX1152FM and TX1122FM wedges couldn’t be used on any sized stage with good results. Wedges live on. Thanks Bruce.
RESPONSES