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REVIEWED
Pioneer Pro Audio XPRS Series
As far back as 1937 the founder of Pioneer developed a loudspeaker, so it's no surprise that the team at Pioneer Pro Audio revisited this idea in the present day! A few years ago, they launched the XY series, which is aimed mainly at the high-end club install market. These are passive cabs, and Pioneer collaborated with the well-respected amplifier manufacturer Powersoft to provide the amplification. The success of that project meant that Powersoft was also the amplifier supplier of choice when the Pioneer team came to develop the new active XPRS range. So, let’s find out a bit about the XPRS series and what it’s designed to be used for.
There are currently three units in the series: the XPRS 12 and XPRS 15 full range active speakers, and the XPRS 215S active subwoofer. As you can probably guess, the XPRS 12 contains a 12” woofer, while the XPRS 15 is fitted with a 15” version. Both of these also incorporate 1.75” titanium diaphragm compression driver tweeters. Finally, completing the line-up, the XPRS 215S has – you guessed it – two 15” woofers.
The XPRS range has been designed for use either as part of a fixed installation or for mobile events. The cabinets are all made of 15mm birch ply, finished with a durable black textured coating, and fitted with smart-looking steel grilles to protect the cones. They have decent recessed handles built in: one on each side of the full range cabs and two on each side of the sub.
The XPRS 12 and XPRS 15 units have standard M10 rigging points whilst the XPRS 215S has a set of four heavy duty castors fitted to its rear panel. The subwoofer also has an M20 screw mount to fit a distance pole so that you can mount one of the full range cabinets above it. Each of these is fitted with a dual angle 35mm slot in its base, which allows you to stand the speaker up straight above the sub, or angle it down by 7 degrees. This is useful if you find yourself setup on a high stage and want to point your mid/tops down at the dancefloor. Both full-range models also feature angled cabinet designs which allow them to serve as wedge monitors if needed. The horns can also be rotated when the cabinets are used on their side to switch the 90 x 60-degree coverage pattern.
The XPRS 12 will deliver a peak sound level of 135dB at 1W/1m, and its frequency range is 50Hz to 20KHz, whilst the XPRS 15 will deliver a marginally higher peak sound level of 136dB at 1W/1m, and has a slightly wider frequency range of 40Hz to 20KHz. Finally, the XPRS 215S will deliver a peak sound level of 135dB at 1W/1m, with a frequency range of 40Hz to 160Hz.
The XPRS 12 and XPRS 15 full range cabinets both have the same class D amplifier and mixer module, complete with DSP and protection circuits, capable of delivering a whopping 1200W RMS, 2400W peak! On this module, you will find an IEC mains inlet, mains switch, power LED and limit LED. A three-position switch also allows the LED on the front of the speaker to be switched between off and indicating mains power or activation of the limiter.
There is a master level control along with an EQ selector offering four different modes: flat, bass+, speech, and wedge. A separate switch also allows you to set the speaker to full-range mode, for standalone use, or low-pass mode, for when an XPRS 215S is also in use.
The in-built mixer offers two separate input channels, each with an individual level control. The first has a combined XLR and 1/4” TRS jack input with a rotary gain switch that allows selection between four different gain levels: 0dB and 12dB (for line-level sources), and 24dB and 36dB (for a mic). The second channel is fixed gain (line level) and also features a combined XLR and 1/4” TRS jack input socket, but this time alongside a pair of RCA sockets to allow a stereo signal from something like an iPod to be connected (this will be summed into mono). Each channel has an XLR line output ‘Link’ socket as well as a signal presence LED. The module also features a ‘Mix’ line output XLR socket. This allows a pair of speakers to be used, for speeches as an example, with the input sources connected to one speaker and the mixed signal passed on to the second speaker.
The XPRS215S has the same class D amplifier, which delivers 1200W RMS to the two 15” woofers, but the mixer section is a little simpler. It just has two combined XLR and 1/4” TRS jack inputs, each with XLR link outputs, along with a master level control, front LED switch and status LEDs. In place of the EQ rotary selector found on the full-range cabinets, there is also a rotary switch allowing the crossover frequency to be set to 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, or 150Hz. There is also a ‘Phase’ switch to change the polarity of the unit depending on its location. Mains is again supplied through an IEC inlet, with a rocker power switch.
There are currently three units in the series: the XPRS 12 and XPRS 15 full range active speakers, and the XPRS 215S active subwoofer. As you can probably guess, the XPRS 12 contains a 12” woofer, while the XPRS 15 is fitted with a 15” version. Both of these also incorporate 1.75” titanium diaphragm compression driver tweeters. Finally, completing the line-up, the XPRS 215S has – you guessed it – two 15” woofers.
The XPRS range has been designed for use either as part of a fixed installation or for mobile events. The cabinets are all made of 15mm birch ply, finished with a durable black textured coating, and fitted with smart-looking steel grilles to protect the cones. They have decent recessed handles built in: one on each side of the full range cabs and two on each side of the sub.
The XPRS 12 and XPRS 15 units have standard M10 rigging points whilst the XPRS 215S has a set of four heavy duty castors fitted to its rear panel. The subwoofer also has an M20 screw mount to fit a distance pole so that you can mount one of the full range cabinets above it. Each of these is fitted with a dual angle 35mm slot in its base, which allows you to stand the speaker up straight above the sub, or angle it down by 7 degrees. This is useful if you find yourself setup on a high stage and want to point your mid/tops down at the dancefloor. Both full-range models also feature angled cabinet designs which allow them to serve as wedge monitors if needed. The horns can also be rotated when the cabinets are used on their side to switch the 90 x 60-degree coverage pattern.
The XPRS 12 will deliver a peak sound level of 135dB at 1W/1m, and its frequency range is 50Hz to 20KHz, whilst the XPRS 15 will deliver a marginally higher peak sound level of 136dB at 1W/1m, and has a slightly wider frequency range of 40Hz to 20KHz. Finally, the XPRS 215S will deliver a peak sound level of 135dB at 1W/1m, with a frequency range of 40Hz to 160Hz.
The XPRS 12 and XPRS 15 full range cabinets both have the same class D amplifier and mixer module, complete with DSP and protection circuits, capable of delivering a whopping 1200W RMS, 2400W peak! On this module, you will find an IEC mains inlet, mains switch, power LED and limit LED. A three-position switch also allows the LED on the front of the speaker to be switched between off and indicating mains power or activation of the limiter.
There is a master level control along with an EQ selector offering four different modes: flat, bass+, speech, and wedge. A separate switch also allows you to set the speaker to full-range mode, for standalone use, or low-pass mode, for when an XPRS 215S is also in use.
The in-built mixer offers two separate input channels, each with an individual level control. The first has a combined XLR and 1/4” TRS jack input with a rotary gain switch that allows selection between four different gain levels: 0dB and 12dB (for line-level sources), and 24dB and 36dB (for a mic). The second channel is fixed gain (line level) and also features a combined XLR and 1/4” TRS jack input socket, but this time alongside a pair of RCA sockets to allow a stereo signal from something like an iPod to be connected (this will be summed into mono). Each channel has an XLR line output ‘Link’ socket as well as a signal presence LED. The module also features a ‘Mix’ line output XLR socket. This allows a pair of speakers to be used, for speeches as an example, with the input sources connected to one speaker and the mixed signal passed on to the second speaker.
The XPRS215S has the same class D amplifier, which delivers 1200W RMS to the two 15” woofers, but the mixer section is a little simpler. It just has two combined XLR and 1/4” TRS jack inputs, each with XLR link outputs, along with a master level control, front LED switch and status LEDs. In place of the EQ rotary selector found on the full-range cabinets, there is also a rotary switch allowing the crossover frequency to be set to 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, or 150Hz. There is also a ‘Phase’ switch to change the polarity of the unit depending on its location. Mains is again supplied through an IEC inlet, with a rocker power switch.
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 81, Pages 70-73.
