Line 6 Stage Source L3t, Yamaha DXR10, DSR112 and Matrix Q12 / GT1000FX.....

Not knowing what to get for the KPA, I ordered two powered speakers on recommendation of friends. I tested the Yamaha DXR10 and the Line 6 L3t. I have been playing them for the two days now.

They DXR10 was due to a forum members recommendation that it was very close to the Atomic CLR, the L3t because a close friend has three of them in his club.

I will try to post a video or sound comparisons but I find these to pretty much be less than useful due to YouTube compression. However, in my studio, the L3t is open, very loud, the high and low end crisp, clean and defined and the speaker is significantly more transparent than the Yamaha. The L3t also have a great sound with my acoustic and no outboard processing other than what the L3t provides.

The L3t is more expensive than the Yamaha, but the difference is IMO worth the additional expense. When used on it's side, the speaker is 33" wide and 12" high/deep. Not small, but workable. I don't find it very heavy to move around but it is certainly not a lightweight by any sense.

The KPA sounds incredible through this puppy. I am not a metal/crunch/heavy distortion kind of guy, but for classic rock, country, jazz and blues, the L3t is blowing me away. Every note, every chord, every hammer-on is defined and articulated. I realize it's been only 2 days, and I really want to play more with the Yamaha, but every time I disconnect the L3t and play the DXR10 I shrug and jump back the the Line 6.

FWIW, just a few initial thoughts from a 70's rocker.

Quote from Laker

For the price of a LT3 why didn't you just grab a CLR and check it with the LT3? The Yamaha can be had for close to half the cost of the LT3.

As mentioned, I have both the Yamaha DXR 10 and the L3t sitting here.

However, the main reason I selected the L3t and a major consideration is the acoustic mode. I can play my acoustic with or without the Kemper and can use the one speaker for both electric and acoustic. With a footprint of 17-12" x 17-1/2" and 46 pounds for the CLR vs a footprint of 12-1/4" x 12-1/4" and 57.5 pounds, the weight was not an issue for me. Either way, I would be using a dolly.

One other thing that I am noticing, the Yamaha is exhibiting some hiss at lower volume levels. The L3t seems to be dead quiet. If I place my ear next to the speaker, I can make out a very soft fan noise. Standing a couple of feet from it you can't hear anything. So I hooked up the Schoeps mics to the Pacifica Pre and did a recording of room noise. The Yamaha is obvious, the L3t is not.

I will make a final decision in the next few days as to which one I want to keep.
Anyway, I do appreciate the thoughts.

I had two buddies come over this afternoon to write and jam in the studio. Without offering my opinion, I asked both to play through the L3t and DXR10 for a while and then write down what they thought without influencing the other. After about 30 minutes the verdict was that the L3t was clearly preferred over the DXR10.

It is important to remember that the DXR and 1-10" speaker and the L3t has 2-10" speakers. Both are excellent and sound great with the Kemper and both and very viable options. It came down to two things, 1. The L3t just sounded like it had a fuller FR and more transparency, and 2. The hiss at low volumes on the DXR was annoying. Both felt and responded very nicely.

Never the less, we all felt that the Line 6 L3t is a keeper.

Decided that more auditioning was needed, especially since I found the fan noise generated by the L3t (which at first I didn't find objectionable) wound up increasing as the speakers got hotter and presented a problem for recoding in the studio if tracking mics and guitars at the same time.

The LIne 6 L3t sounded nice next to the DXR 10, but one of my buddies brought a Yamaha DSR112 and we hooked it up to the Kemper. For almost 45 minutes we played and switched back and forth. The DSR112 blew us away. It was full, crisp clear at the upper end, tight and defined at low end. It put the Line 6 L3t to shame.

It also sounded much fuller and more transparent than the Yamaha DXR 10.

Talk about cognitive dissonance?

After all that our ears were4 shot, we couldn't tell an Bb from a A# , so we called in the big guns. The wives were in the kitchen over serving each other, but they reluctantly came into the studio to placate our request . After 20 minutes, they agreed.......the Yamaha DSR 112 is the one, at least for now.....and there is NO FAN inside the DSR 112!

Quote from burningyen

Once you get into that price range I honestly think you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't give the CLR a try.

In all honesty, I hear what you are saying and you are most probably right. The issue is that unless you know someone who owns one, the CLR is virtually impossible to get for a test. Reports seem to show that they are excellent and a credible alternative.

However, I have a Matrix Q12a coming from a friend this coming weekend. We hope to spend Saturday in the studio testing it thoroughly, He also has a Matrix GT1000FX 2U amp. I understand that the Q12a can be used as either an active or passive speaker. I don't need an ultra high power solution as this will be primarily a studio only solution, but on the rare occasion where I annoy people with my music, it will be nice to have a bit of power for the smaller venues.

Obviously, it would be sweet to have the Q12a and the CLA in the studio at the same time, but I don't think it's gonna happen.

Regards....

So I think that there is a disease called "Speaker Overload". It involves driving yourself insane testing, retesting and then imagining that the differences you hear are real and valid.

Life used to be so easy, buy a guitar, buy an amp, plug it in and play.