Headrush FRFR 108 vs. Yamaha DXR 10 - my impressions

  • Hi Ingolf,


    thanks for your review.

    As I´m still searching for an FRFR solution for my Kemper

    I will try and test the headrush 108 against the laney lfr-112 in the near future.

    I know there should be a difference because of the different speaker size but the headrush is lighter and maybe the difference in sound is not that big?....

    Kemper Head - Kemper Remote - Palmer Box with Kemper Kone - TC Electronic BAM200 - Laney LFR 112

    Edited once, last by hafi19 ().

  • Yes, please post your findings! ;)

  • Hi Ingolf,


    After reading your findings of the Headrush Frfr 108 I bought one without even trying it out in the store (that's how much I value your opinion :):thumbup:) I already own the Laney IRT-X . They are about the same size. Both sound different - the Laney is more tweakable (1x12/4x12/frfr and eq) The Headrush defenitely has a warmness to it that the Laney doesn't , and it also is a bit boomier but opener sounding. The Laney IRT-X I will keep using with my Kemper, together with my JBL 305's . The Headrush sounds REAL good with my Tech 21 flyrig 5 v2 ( warm organic !!)

    Thanks for your post - I have 2 Killer setups right now :love::thumbup::thumbup:

  • Has anyone tried using the Headrush 108, as a guitar and vocal monitor? I'm tempted to get one to use for acoustic gigs, and use a DXR or two on poles for the FOH.

    Paul, FYI, I picked up a Roland AC60 on a trade, and it has been fine as such a monitor.

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

  • Hi Ingolf,


    After reading your findings of the Headrush Frfr 108 I bought one without even trying it out in the store (that's how much I value your opinion :):thumbup:) I already own the Laney IRT-X . They are about the same size. Both sound different - the Laney is more tweakable (1x12/4x12/frfr and eq) The Headrush defenitely has a warmness to it that the Laney doesn't , and it also is a bit boomier but opener sounding. The Laney IRT-X I will keep using with my Kemper, together with my JBL 305's . The Headrush sounds REAL good with my Tech 21 flyrig 5 v2 ( warm organic !!)

    Thanks for your post - I have 2 Killer setups right now :love::thumbup::thumbup:

    Thank you very much! :love:

  • Hi Ingolf,

    After your review i got myself an 108 (i always do the things you do :)).

    So now i have the Mustang III ,the dxr 10 and the headrush and yesterday i spent the day comparing all 3.

    I must say the headrush is impressive (for the price) but in my opinion not as good as the dxr, it works great as a second monitor but in mono is someway harsh for my tastes. I tested the output of my audient 44 for e-drums, keys and music and together with my dxr they sound great in stereo.

    In my case i'm thinking of selling my HiFi the dxr is a keeper.

    Thank you.

  • Hey, thank you, but you shouldn’t always do what I do (a lot of trial & error in my gear history). ;)

    That said, it’s totally cool that you find the DXR 10 superior.

    It’s a great box and it has served me very well for 6 years, flawlessly.

    It’s just that at his point in time the 'new kid in town' (i.e. the Headrush 108) has some features that I find very appealing: the lighter weight, the smaller footprint, the smoother highs/treble (to me), and the more neutral mid spectrum.

    :)

  • Ugh, I hate you guys. :*


    I just picked up a 108 at Guitar center for $199. I played around with it for about an hour this afternoon and it sounded good (by itself), I normally use HS8 monitors at home. I'll see how it sounds in a band setting (practice) next weekend. I've been using a EV ZLX-12p for a couple years, but we had a weak bass player and I liked the added bass with the zlx. We got a better bass player now and while I loved the compression driver of the EV for cleans and surf tones, I could never get it to sit right in the mix for consistently.

    If this doesn't work, I'll return it (guitar center has a 45 day return policy) and try the Yamaha DXR10, or a Mbritt cab, or whatever I can get my hands on.

  • Just go easy on the tweeter of the Headrush. Never let the clip light come on (if I have to believe the TS315 web posts).

    I got interested in the HW details so went out for a web search and dug up a lot of numbers, but not for Alto.

    I can't find any rating for the Alto drivers. It's easier for the other contenders which I both own:

    The DXR10 has a YD659A00 compression driver which appears to be a rebranded CDX1-1445 (1.4" Celestion, PETP membrane)

    The CLR neo 2 has a T5486A compression driver which is another name for a CDX1-1731 (1.75" Celestion, PETP membrane)

    Both are very similar in response (as in very smooth frequency curve), but the 1.75" handles double the power and is s couple dB more efficient, so you get about 6dB more out of it.

    The DXR v2 may have upgraded to the 1731 (don't know, just guessing)


    I also checked on the FRFR power myth - I think I can explain "2000W" of the headrush!


    To do that: first how it works for the DXR10.

    The DXR schematics can be found on the web. I see +/-55V rails. The woofer is differential driven by bridged mono. So it can actually put out 110V over 8 Ohm, for a power of V*V/R = 1500W. This is the type of funny nrs that manufacturers (but not Yamaha) talk about.

    In reality it could make an RMS sine of 110/sqrt(2) = 78V, for a power of 760W. That is the undistorted sinusoidal peak power that could be driven to the speaker. If the actual resistance of the woofer is 6.4 ohms, you'd end up at 950W (which is claimed).

    With a sensitivity of 97 dB/W/m for the YD655B00 woofer of the DXR10 (it falls off at the low end but that is compensated partly by +6dB because of bass-reflex), you need around 100W RMS to achieve 120 dB RMS. It's a vented magnet, it probably can handle that for a long time. With 100 dB sensitivity, you'd need 1000W peak to achieve 130 dB, so the 131 dB peak number is tailored to the 1100W claim.

    At 82.41 Hz (low E of guitar) we're limited by speaker excursion, not power. With 4 mm x-max, the speaker of the DXR10 can deliver about 107 dB (+ 6 dB for the bass reflex which effectively doubles the membrane area), so about 113 dB. I don't know the actual x-max of the DXR10 woofer. If it's 3 mm, the number goes down by 3 dB so then it's 110 dB. You need about 10W to achieve that...

    Only at higher frequencies you reach the 120 dB. In comparison, a 15" with 4 mm x-max puts out 115 dB (+ 6 dB) at 82.41 Hz.

    The compression driver of the DXR is also driven bridged by a 2x75W chip, powered between 0 and 55V. This means it can put a total of 55V over the compression driver - plenty for the 20W continuous rating of the driver. I suppose the DSP protects it.

    So 950W + 150W = 1100W, but the RMS power at full blast will be of the order of 100W, maybe 200W.

    On the DXR I checked the 400V capacitor of the multi voltage switch power supply. It's 680 uF. Given that I found a 120 W multi-voltage switch PSU with 2x68 uF, I believe the power supply can deliver about 600W to the amplifiers. I can't check the transformer rating, so I don't know if that link is a strong as the rest, but I could be believe it. It's all well laid out.

    So there you have it: the Yamaha actually isn't that far off of the specs, and that's why it's loud.


    Many FRFR's use a +/-40V rail and drive the woofer bridged like Yamaha does, but then with the TDA8954 or 8953 chip (for example in the ZLX 12P). This amplifier chip is tiny, costs only a few euros and puts out 320W peak sine power at 0.5% distortion over 8 Ohm. That means a bit less headroom than the DXR.


    If you use 4 Ohm speakers (Alto, Headrush do), the funny calculation could be made to fit with +/-40V rail: drive 80V over 4 Ohms = 20 Amps, so 1600W to the woofer. 40V over 4 ohms = 10 amps, so 400W to the tweeter. Together: 2 kW. I doubt that the switched power supply that supplies the amps is rated anywhere near 2kW. Reality remains bound by what the speakers can handle, so ~100W RMS, and peak 2 to 3 times that.


    I have owned both units for years and never felt the need to figure out what's inside. I just play. Anyway, now we know.

  • Yes, please post your findings! ;)

    Hi Ingolf,


    today I checked both the Headrush FRFR 108 and the Laney LFR112 at musicstore in Cologne for about an hour with the Kemper. I dialed in different profiles and switched between the two boxes. The Headrush does not sound so bad for that size an weight, but for me the Laney sounded more like a guitar speaker and the profiles sounded out of the box good for me. With the Headrush I sometimes had to change the hights or mids so it sounds correct to me. The winner for me is the Laney that I bought and I got it a little cheaper due to a cheaper competitor ;)


    Some nice and practical gimmicks are the frontlight and the tilt mechanism!


    Greetings

    Hans

    Kemper Head - Kemper Remote - Palmer Box with Kemper Kone - TC Electronic BAM200 - Laney LFR 112

    Edited 2 times, last by hafi19 ().

  • Very cool! The Laney looks great, but man it’s heavy! ;)

  • It`s under 20 kg. So it`s not that heavy to carry because of the handles. It´s way lighter than my Engl Sovereign 100 Amp ;)

    Kemper Head - Kemper Remote - Palmer Box with Kemper Kone - TC Electronic BAM200 - Laney LFR 112