The Electro-Voice Tour X series of loudspeakers sits in that middle ground of live sound reinforcement speaker—higher-end than most MI boxes, but not something you are going to find on tour riders either. In other words, great for clubs and bands in a van as well as local soundcos.
Starting with the popular Eliminator series of speakers, the Tour X series improves on the design with features including a new “backbone” grill that looks like it can take some real abuse.
The Tour X line starts with single 12-inch and 15-inch top boxes, adds a double 15-inch top box for bigger work, then two subwoofer options are offered with either single 18-inch or double 18-inch enclosures. And shortly two very nice stage monitor options at 12 inches and 15 inches will be added to round out the series.
The Gear
For this review, I choose the TX1122—the smallest enclosure in the series. Weighing in at 44.5 pounds, the TX1122 is very portable and has enough enclosure volume to reproduce a full-range of audio frequencies. The external cosmetics are attractive with a 16-gauge black grill in front of a plywood/MDF cabinet coated with “EVCoat” epoxy for a rugged and durable finish. Both the TX1122 and the TX1152 have pole/tripod sockets for corporate event work and small-ish gigs.
Inside the TX1122, a passive crossover splits the frequencies for a 12-inch low frequency driver (SMX2120) with a 500 watt continuous power rating at 8-ohms. Above 1750Hz, the classic EV DH3 high frequency driver takes over and keeps the frequencies up to 20kHz cleanly reproduced. The DH3 driver is an old friend of mine, as it was my secret tweeter weapon when I substituted JBL 2416 HF drivers with DH3’s for better fidelity and ruggedness back in the 1990s.
The remaining parts are the plastics and fasteners for the TX1122. Each speaker comes with an owner’s manual that shows right and wrong ways to properly hang/fly the TX series cabinets, plus other useful information. The plastic multi-grip handles continue to be refined, and the rear recessed NL4 Speakon jack panel is very sturdy and the downward angle of the jacks is very much appreciated for both tight spaces and quick connections/disconnections. While not offering a bi-amp capability, the crossover inside is conservatively designed; and perfectionists like me can focus on flattening the few minor bumps in the frequency response instead.
Besides the 500 watt continuous rating (with 2000-watt peak), the general speaker coverage angle is the typical 90-degree-by-50 degree wide dispersion you generally expect from smaller cabinet offerings. Overall sensitivity is an average 97dB SPL at one watt-one meter that correlates to maximum SPL of 130dB SPL at one meter. One the low end, this front loaded and vented enclosure has a -3dB low frequency response of 60Hz that is usable down to 45Hz (-10dB).
The Gigs
My shop testing showed that the EV TX1122 speaker performed up to its ratings and had a reasonable sound right out of the box. However, I thought a couple modest equalization tweaks made it a touch more enjoyable to my ears. Like many small enclosures, I goosed the 80Hz by a couple dB over an octave to make up for lack of a subwoofer when listening to iPod tracks stand-alone. I also took down some of the presence band in the 5kHz area by a few dBs as that was a bit too strident to me at higher SPLs. After those tweaks, I was off to a couple smaller gigs for the road tests.
The first gig was a wedding reception/dance, where the bridal couple kept things on the cheap by offering up their own mixes on burned CDs and I baby-sat the gear. With the frequency tweaks in-place, the night was perfect, and I had several compliments on how well-balanced the audio sounded. The second gig was a small bar room where the TX1122s were added to reinforce the vocals for a country-rock cover band. Again, no problems keeping up with the instruments, and plenty of kudos on how well the speakers sounded. The EV TX1122 are general-purpose “keepers,” and I plan to keep a couple in the shop.
What they are: Middle-ground loudspeakers
Who they’re for: Clubs and bands, local soundcos.
How much: $775 MSRP
Pros: Compact, durable features, good sounding
Cons: No bi-amp capability
