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1. Dont be fooled by its diminutive dimensions this powered monitor from Italian company FBT punches way above its weight MIKE CROFTS chieving the best possible overall performance from a live sound system is the goal to which we surely all aspire but it s often easy to forget just how important a part the quality of the stage monitor system plays think have changed my main speakers two or three times over the past few years and have various rigs available for different occasions but have stuck with the same monitors throughout and never regarded them as very high up on my things to buy list So how tempting would it be to spend a while in the company of a hot little Italian job The StageMaxx 12MA is a self powered 12 inch stage monitor with a gas injected bass reflex polypropylene shell My first visual impressions were of a very compact extremely low profile design with a smooth up to date curvy look that is about as unobtrusive as you can get none of your chunky black carpeted rock amp roll boxes here The 12MA is a bi amplified unit with 400W and 100W Class D amplifiers continuous ratings are 350W and 80W respectively Crossed over at 1 8kHz the 400W amp powers a custom designed 12 inch diameter 2 5 inch voice coil B amp C driver with the 100W amp feeding a one inch exit 1 7 inch diaphragm B amp C compression driver The drivers are arranged in a coaxial format which significantl2. which preset works best at any particular time but after trying them all tended to just run it in original mode took the StageMaxx 12MA along to a couple of venues used it in rehearsal and also used it for a local choir concert as a piano monitor with excellent results partnering this with a Yamaha stage piano resulted in a lovely rich full sound and as space was tight was able to hide the monitor right beneath the keyboard If owned one or more of these it would definitely be my go to keyboard amp monitor no doubt about that Maxx Power Portable live sound gear should in my view be just that portable The icing on the StageMaxx 12MA cake is its sheer carry ability and versatility It can sit at an angle of either 35 or 55 degrees from the horizontal which makes it good for standing over or aiming upstage and the combination of light weight and generous effective integral handles on three sides makes it easy to pick up and carry The slightly convex grille is very strong and slightly recessed into the surrounding moulding and although the StageMaxx 12MA doesn t strike me as the sort of monitor guitarists would put their foot on whilst soloing they d look a bit silly as it s under a foot high it should certainly cope with some robust handling I ve been using the StageMaxx 12MA for a little while and I ve grown extremely fond of it It sounds great looks the business and can t thin
3. rated current in other words turning the plug acts as the StageMaxx 12MA s on off switch which of course must be rated to operate under full load conditions even though we would normally never dream of switching off a power amp without turning the levels down first noticed that the user manual shows a picture of a normal IEC connector so it may be that the StageMaxx 12MA is supplied in different configurations for i M axX PE enviar Processed Acive Monna different regions A real top score goes to whoever specified the length of the power cable that ships with the monitor as it s about 12 feet long exactly what you need for a powered stage monitor The Sound set up the StageMaxx 12MA in the studio and played some of my favourite CDs through it just to get used to its sound and right from the start was very impressed with what heard When describing the performance of live sound equipment try very hard to avoid using the word punchy but really can t think of a better one to describe the initial impact this unit makes It s extremely loud and clear tight and crisp with far more low end output than is reasonable to expect from a thing this size What s more the overall balance is maintained when working it hard and it remains clean sounding and pleasant on the ears To check the operation of the warning LEDs ran a hot signal into the StageMaxx 12MA and turned it up until got a
4. 7 DRL WO SA RIE S Subscribe and Save Money Visit our subscriptions page at www soundonsound com subscribe for more information on the Sound On Sound App go to www soundonsound com app Sound On Sound Media House Trafalgar Way Bar Hill Cambridge CB23 8SQ United Kingdom Email subscribe soundonsound com Tel 44 0 1954 789888 Fax 44 0 1954 789895 All contents copyright SOS Publications Group and or its licensors 1985 2014 All rights reserved The contents of this article are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part whether mechanical or electronic is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers
5. introduce high cut and low cut EO All the presets are effective and offer performance choices and noted that when switching between settings the changes are under the control of the DSP and not instant as you d get with a mechanical switch so a short wait for the system to adjust itself is necessary 98 May 2014 www soundonsound com before the new EO curves are properly heard In the top left hand corner of the control panel there are three dots which represent the three LEDs on the top front panel At first glance these look as if they are the LEDs themselves but it s actually a printed chart telling you what the real LED functions are power on input signal peak and a protection limiting indication Finally there s a mains input connector and link output which is actually worth a mention as the mains lead plug is an unusual Powercon type NAC3FX This is a Neutrik True1 Powercon connector easily identified by its black and yellow colouring FBT StageMaxx 12MA 699 PROS e It sounds lovely e Very powerful e Compact and stylish package CONS e Don t leave the special Powercon lead behind SUMMARY A powerful and portable coaxial speaker that should be able to handle just about anything you throw at it ATOA and the more common blue Powercon plugs will not fit it This is because the True1 series connectors are CBC Circuit Breaking Capacity types designed to break at
6. k of any gig I ve ever done where wouldn t have used it I m sure they re coming to take it away soon but might contrive to be away that day HMM 699 per speaker including VAT T FBT UK 44 0 844 310 4592 E info fbtaudio co uk W www fbtaudio co uk www soundonsound com May 2014 99 olsson As a professional admire Sound On Sound as one of the most trusted and credible sources of inspiration and information MPEAIHE Besides the excellent interviews and fascinating in depth recording and mixing articles can always depend on Sound On Sound for complete unbiased reviews of the latest pro audio gear Jack Joseph Puig mixer producer Grammy Award winner Rolling Stones U2 Mary J Bob Clearmountain engineer producer and Blige Black Eyed Peas mixer Grammy Award winner Bruce Springsteen The Rolling Stones Paul McCartney INXS eeccococooosooooosooooocococoocooooosoocooosococoooococoocoosoocoocooooososocoocoooooocoocooocoocoosooooosoooooocoocoocoosoosoosooooooooscoocoocoocoosoosoocsooooooooocoocoocoocooooosoooooocoscoooooocoocoosoosoocoooooocooooosoocoosooooosooooosoooooocoocoocoosooooooooooo SOUND A es OUND The World s Best Recording Technology Mele ErRE i ee T PRO OATH TEL CHHRAIES EHG Le BY AKER By aT Rar a SOUND 0 OVE RCI oe Panao es IP Keer ary ERRA E i i wo we F r ka 4 edition TECHNIQUE cust SINAR ASO PO HOS LIE STON WEN RIO OTO MDC
7. red light However it wasn t the peak signal LED but the protection limit LED that came on first presumably because these are monitored at different parts of the signal path and it s possible to drive the output stage a bit too hard even before clipping the front end A D stage have to say that making any kind of warning LED light up involved the StageMaxx 12MA producing far more output than I ve ever needed on stage and given the conservative specifications this is impressive When using the StageMaxx 12MA as a vocal monitor it delivered loads of very clean intelligible output and the coaxial driver format means that the sound balance LooP OUT AC INPUT oto 230 S0 60Hz ea0 2 300 50 B0HE 144 mai 2h max o The recessed control panel houses all the audio and power inputs and outputs as well as the input sensitivity control and four way EQ preset selector Alternatives Also consider the HK Audio Pro12MA DB Technologies FM12 and JBL s MRX512M is uniform no matter where you stand and this would pay extra dividends when using these in multiples mentioned before that the EO presets are subtle and don t instantly change the output so it s not possible to flick between them and instantly hear the difference This is probably a good thing as it forces you to listen properly to what s coming out in context As with all audio choices different situations and different ears will decide
8. y reduces the frontal baffle area required thus contributing to the compact cabinet dimensions A switch mode power supply helps to keep the overall weight down to under 30lb or slightly over 13kg however LAMA Active Monitor you measure it that s an easy thing to lift The acoustic output figures are given as 124dB continuous and 130dB peak which assume are standard on axis measurements taken at one metre Ins amp Outs The connectors and controls are housed on a single panel which is deeply recessed into one side of the unit This houses the single balanced XLR input and link through XLR output with a switchable low cut filter for daisy chaining to another monitor The input level control has a printed scale from co off to 6dB with a zero centre point Thankfully the control knob has a stripe on its end button so you can see easily where it is set A four way rotary selector offers DSP performance presets which are factory set and not user adjustable This sound shaping is quite subtle and it s definitely worth spending some time using these in different situations to get the best results The first two EO presets are named original which is the basic general purpose floor monitor setting and FOH which produces a somewhat fuller sound with a bit more bottom end and is intended for when the StageMaxx 12MA is to be used as a full range speaker on a bracket or pole The other two settings
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