Peavey PR 15

Two quarter-inch jacks are fitted to the rear panel for connection and onward linking, but there are no Speakons. I feel this is a bit remiss on a speaker of this power rating, as there’s a limit to the thickness of cable a jack plug can accommodate, and with high-powered speakers, the thicker the cable, the better the performance. Four bass ports are arranged around the woofer, and as well as moulded side carrying handles, there are threaded flying insert points for more permanent installations. A tough steel grille protects the woofer, and as with most plastic speakers, the box tapers towards the rear, which saves space and cuts down cabinet resonances. However, there’s no steep rear angle for floor monitor use. A 35mm pole socket is moulded into the base of the cabinet for fitting to a standard tripod speaker stand.

Rated at a generous 400W RMS continuous or 800W program, the 8Ω passive cabinet is loaded with a 15-inch woofer, which is powered by a voice coil over two inches in diameter and driven by a neodymium magnet motor assembly. This is teamed with Peavey’s RX14 compression driver, sporting a 1.4-inch titanium diaphragm, sitting in a constant-directivity horn flare moulded into the cabinet and providing a 90 (horizontal) x 40 degree (vertical) coverage. The passive crossover includes protection for the tweeter, presumably in the usual form of a series light bulb that increases in resistance at high power levels, thus limiting the current passing through the tweeter when pushed hard. Overall, the frequency response is specified as 49Hz to 21kHz, though in practice the low end isn’t that strong, especially when working at higher sound levels, so if you need to put bass instruments through the system, you’d really need to add a sub. This isn’t surprising, because even though a 15-inch driver is large enough to handle bass frequencies, it would need a larger and more rigid cabinet than this to do so effectively.

Modern speakers have really improved in efficiency over what was available a couple of decades ago, and this cabinet can manage a healthy 97dB for 1W at one metre. This is important, as the efficiency figure gives you an idea of how much actual sound level you can expect for the amount of amplifier power.

The directivity of these speakers is pretty well chosen, as the vertical coverage restricts the amount of sound wasted on the floor and ceiling. Also, the 90-degree horizontal coverage means less risk of a dead spot in the centre for members of the audience who are close to the band — a significant consideration for smaller venues. Speech intelligibility turned out to be pretty good with a nice vocal presence, and though the high end doesn’t sound as sweet and refined as you get with some of the more expensive systems around, it isn’t too harsh and carries well. Performance always has to be evaluated in the context of price, and in this instance the PR 15s don’t cost much more than unbranded, Chinese-made PA speakers. Given their relatively low cost, I’d have to recommend them as one of the better budget buys if you’re after a portable plastic box speaker system that can be driven from your own power amp or powered mixer.  0