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Mackie has upped the ante in the crowded plastic active sound reinforcement speaker market by redesigning its SRM350 and SRM450 speakers. The resulting 10'' SRM350v2 and 12'' and 1.75'' SRM450v2 (reviewed here) feature an all-new power supply and amplifier section, new transducers designed by the engineers at sister company EAW, and complete revoicing of the speakers with Mackie Active electronics.
After unpacking the pair of SRM450v2s sent to me for review, I inspected the rear panel of one of the enclosures, located towards the bottom of the cabinet and belowthe large heat sink.The panel is logically laid out, and well-labelled,featuring a single volume knob.separate LED readouts for power and signal present (green), as well as thermal and peak (red), parallel input and thru XLRs, switches for 75 Hz low cut, midrange contour, and timed turnoff (more on this later). Rounding out the back panel is an on/off switch and the ubiquitous IEC mains input. I prefer the more professional powercon inlet for powered speakers because it locks into place; however, if you ever lose or forget your IEC cable they are readily available at most electronic appliance retailers, which can be handy in a pinch.
The SRM450v2 features a monocoque (single shell), asymmetrical trapezoidal rounded enclosure. This allows the enclosure to be extremely rigid and durable, with the drawback being that if you...