Holy crap on a stick, Batman!
Stop the presses, I’m really impressed by this product. The last time I was this jazzed by a sub-woofer of any type was the Velodyne UL-18 (another sub-woofer from 25 years ago).

In the past 20 years we’ve owned this home– I could not even get a typical 18″ pro audio sub up the two flights of narrow (30″ wide) stairs leading from my basement to the upstairs home theater setup, but we really wanted to see “This Is It” (MJ’s swan song) with a super subwoofer!

The JBL PRX 718s cabinet is only 21″ wide, and is super easy to pick up and carry with its two ergonomic handles. Once I positioned the sub behind the couch, I then proceeded to bring the PRX 512m stage monitors upstairs, using them for the mains. This turned out to be a great match, they fit perfectly on our existing speaker stands.

Note also that the Eon 518s sub is TOO WIDE and not possible to carry like the 718s, which is 10 pounds heavier.
I wanted to run an A-B comparison upstairs, but from the moment I hooked up the new box, it was readily apparent that there would be no need to compare the two (more on that later).

Our surround sound amplifier is a Yamaha DSP (Dolby 2.0) putting 50 wpc into the rear channels. Its old but it still works great.
The system included a Blu-Ray player, which we also used to play CDs. I used some XLR to RCA adapter plugs that were laying around. Talk about over-kill, it was like putting a jet engine on a wright brothers plane.

From the instant we hooked this system up, we knew its days as home theater use were numbered, but with a couple of weeks between events, we could spend the extra time breaking these boxes in! On a concrete floor it was easier to set the gain, but in our very wood coated room (both ceiling and floors), the system had to be dialed down. Our original front end (for the last 25 years) was two Vandersteen 2ci speakers (10″ 3-way), powered by a 200 watt amplifier. We now were running 1,700 watts with an incredible
amount of dynamic range with an increase of an entire octave of bass!

Wow, it was great to see what MJ’s concert would have been like, and we got to experience it as close as possible to the original sound.

The 718s was reproducing every note of the bass lines, the kick drums, there is an immediacy of attack not apparent with other 18″ powered subs. Usually, you get a sort of delay, perhaps some kind of rumbling from transients, not with this box! Its painfully accurate, not thumping to excess like other 18′s. Hearing that lower end extension down to 33 hz, makes for part of the difference, but its also the upper bass (near the crossover point) that shines as well.

However, the PRX718s has an internal crossover network (120 hz) that does a fantastic job of making the seamless transition for the main speakers. That same crossover unit has a selectable switch that allows you to run the outputs to a second PRX718s cabinet.

Note also that the 512m stage monitors have their best response between 100 hz and 20k, so its giving them a chance to shine without having to bother with low frequencies.

The new sub experienced no delay or off-axis weirdness, like I notice with the Eon Sub at times. Less need to use the polarity switch, but its there if you need one I guess.

After a couple days of rigorous testing in our home theater upstairs, and watching various Blu-Ray and DVD movies, playing CDs of our favorite artists, the conclusion: When it comes time to replace our Home Theater audio system, this is going to be the subwoofer/satellite system that replaces it, but in the interest of marital harmony– the new PRX Series speakers had to say good-bye and the Vandersteen speakers returned to their stands.

The PRX718s now resides in my basement testing grounds– where its spending about 5-6 hours of daily break-in use…..Here’s the results so far:

With the PRX-512m speakers as the mains, its incredible how much bass energy can be transmitted with just one sub-woofer. I cannot image what it would sound like with TWO sub-woofers. Maybe if there were 300 persons in the room, and you wanted to balance the bass on both sides of the dance floor in a night club. But for my purposes as a mobile wedding DJ, doing a typical wedding reception for up to 250 persons, I should be OK with just ONE of these (although I will always want another one).

Even on a concrete floor, the new sub has a very steady response from every angle. Even though the most energy comes out of the front of the box, the off-axis response is very clear and distinct. I’m up on the 3rd floor of my home typing this review, and I can hear every bass note of every song being played. This cabinet has a tendency to be heard thru walls, which may be a problem at multi-use facilities with paper thin walls.

OK, let’s recap the TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY JBL PRX718s SUB-WOOFER:

1) Extremely portable (for an 18″ sub-woofer) and can go up a flight of stairs if necessary!

2) Contains a built-in Crown amplifier with 700 watts RMS and 1400 watts of peak power output.

3) Looks absolutely gorgeous with the lighted JBL/Crown logo on its front grille.

4) Matches perfectly with the JBL PRX512m Stage Monitor as a sub-woofer & satellite system.

5) Can be used for the ultimate Home Audio subwoofer, provided you kill your wife first (I’m just kidding about that one).

6) Is extremely affordable, considering its one of the breakthrough pro audio products of the last 25 years.

7) Should fetch a ridiculously high resale value, based on my past experience with JBL products.

I’m buying a SECOND one of these, as soon as I complete the latter part of #5 (I’m really just kidding guys!)

9) Reproduces audio frequencies at subsonic levels which were previously not possible for a box of this size.

10) They are for sale at AUDIOLINES

TO CONCLUDE THIS RABID RECOMMENDATION:

If you’re a DJ who wants to have a 700 watt 18″ sub-woofer that meets audiophile specifications (33 hz to 140 hz +/- 3 db, .01 THD) and not break your back loading it into the minivan, THIS is the sub-woofer for you!

One thing that impressed me the most about the PRX-500 Series (including the smallest model, PRX-512m) is that they are NOT made in China — they were designed and engineered in the United States and then manufactured in North America in a very high-tech plant in Mexico. Then it appears they do final inspection, testing, packaging and shipping from their main plant in Northridge, CA….where my brand new PRX-512m’s were shipped from.

Upon removing from the box, I was impressed by the build quality and overall box integrity. They seem to be alot like the MRX and SRX in that regard. Nicely appointed with steel grills that have a lit up JBL & Crown logo. The weight of the PRX-512m is only 40 pounds, which is really light considering what’s inside:

In addition to the high performance and lightweight Crown amps, each PRX-512 utilizes the latest JBL loudspeaker technology. They have neodymium Differential Drive transducers with dual voice coils which are very light in weight, yet they provide high sound pressure levels with minimal harmonic distortion and power compression. When you combine highly engineered enclosures with sophisticated electronics like this, the result is supposed to be the highest performance-to-weight ratio in its class of PA equipment, a truly PORTABLE system that can really deliver the goods!

Back to the goodies: I love the Dura-Flex (TM) finish, as well as the nice build quality of the foam-backed grills. Not crazy about the handle on top, but this is a small cabinet; putting two handles in each side would have compromised the acoustics. With the matching JBL-Logo bag covers (not included), these speakers should survive the long wedding season intact, without any scratches (except on the speaker bottoms, which the bags do not cover).

One particular application for these is using them as main loudspeakers for wedding ceremonies. I could also imagine them being more than sufficient for cocktails, light jazz, and classic rock music.

The JBL PRX-512m features a dual-angle pole socket, which allows for more options in aiming the speakers toward the audience. This is really helpful because as a practical matter, you want neither tops or bottoms of the speaker visible from the listener’s perspective.

The actual components of the PRX-512m are a 12″ (JBL 262F) low frequency driver and a 1.5″ (JBL 2408H) high frequency compression driver. Even though the 512m is the smallest speaker in the PRX-500 Series, it uses the same HF Driver (2408H) as the PRX-515 as well as the PRX-525. Not only that, but the 500 watts of Crown amplification are the same as the PRX-515, both have the same 400 watt LF Crown amp, and the same 100 watt HF Crown.

What’s readily apparent, after some real world testing– these speakers are a clear step above from my previous Eon G2′s, both the 15s and 10′s. There is a sense of wider space, a bigger sound stage if you will. The highs are higher, clearer, more distinct. The midranges are clear, accurate and defined. Guitars and pianos stand out in particular, but other aspects like sibilance of high-hats and cymbals get more definition, that HF extention to 20k must be the reason!

However, this does not mean I think these loudspeakers are perfect. The lower bass is still too thin to operate by themselves in a typical mobile gig that requires playing hip hop or RnB music. Yes they work fine for funerals, ceremonies, cocktail music on a patio. Light rock and light jazz, no problem.

One song in particular, “Right Place Wrong Time” (Dr. John) stood out as a stellar example of why these speakers sound so good when they don’t get a lot of lower bass frequencies. With a true bottom end of 90 hz, these speakers are more like control monitors than full range loudspeakers. When you press the EQ button on the back control panel, the bass comes alive, extending the response down to 76 hz. Songs from the 60′s and early 70′s like this one were made for AM car radios, with little or no bass response.

However, when you play a song that is from the current era, or even a song from 20 years ago with heavy bass (for example, “The Way You Make Me Feel” by MJ), then the lack of lower bass response is more obvious. Both settings sounded thin and weak, with the “Main” setting providing barely adequate lower bass. Highs and mids were stellar though, I heard details lacking when played thru the eons.

On all songs tested, these speakers were able to make very loud sound pressure levels, despite the lack of bass. It is impossible to overdrive the mic (as I was prone to do with the Eon 15′s). Feedback is way less of a problem with the new speakers.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the PRX-512m because they were NOT purchased as a stand-alone Main Loudspeaker but rather, for using in combination with the matching PRX-718s Sub-Woofer. They not only look great, but they demonstrate to my audience that I’m constantly reinvesting in my productions with the latest technology. They’re a huge step up in quality from the Eon series they replaced, and much less worries about system failure with Crown amps!

When used with at least ONE sub, these speakers would provide the typical mobile Disc Jockey or small touring band with the ultimate portable PA loudspeaker system. Did I mention– only 40 pounds apiece? When you consider how much a typical passive amp weighs, its truly amazing what they’ve done with audio components!

Once the new PRX-718s Sub Woofer system arrives, I plan to do a follow-up on these speakers,
Meanwhile, I’ve used them in testing with Eon 518s, and B-52 ACT-18, with excellent results in both cases.

The JBL PRX-512m is available at Audiolines.com

Not so with the new Eon 518s: this 18″ model had plenty of power from an internal 500 watt (RMS) amplifier. The lower bass is quite impressive, despite the small size of the cabinet.  The internal amplifier’s peak power of 1000 watts is more than enough headroom — I’ve never even come close to clipping, and haven’t ever pushed the input level control past “1 o’clock.”

Not only is there plenty of “kick” from this box, but it takes up a very small footprint — the Eon 518s actually fits under a small folding table!  With the Subwoofer safely tucked under the table, no longer do you have the typical problem of party guests using the Subwoofer as a drink table! (This was always the case with those B-52 ACT-18′s)

Finally, the matchup to my “older” Eon G2′s (both 15′s and 18′s) is seamless, with the internal crossover factory-set at 120 hz.

Please note that this sub does not produce the kind of output that would be conducive for a High School dance — but with TWO of them, it may just have enough bass for heavy rap or hip hop. (Since my company doesn’t do HS dances, this hasn’t been a real problem for me.)

Another issue (for me) is the back panel connections: I’ve been rather spoiled by the ACT-18 having more inputs & outputs. This sub doesn’t have an extra “full range” output for a second Eon 518s subwoofer. (You probably need an XLR “Y-adapter” cable)

Cosmetically, the exterior finish is that ABS black powder coating which is vulnerable to scratches. They now sell a Sub Transporter (Eon 518-T) that comes with its own wheeled dolly. Very nice indeed, but rather pricey at $250.

In conclusion: the JBL Eon 518s provides more than adequate bottom end, for mobile DJs that service weddings and private parties for 200 persons or less. For those companies that regularly do events which have more than 200+ guests, it is recommended that TWO of these subs are purchased.

Highly Recommended!

The JBL Eon 518S is available for $899.99 at audiolines.com.

Review by:
Matt Cohen
http://www.dj-mc.com