Most playa-durable PA/Subs

[Mattycakes802]

I'm putting together a new sound system for our (small-ish) camp this year. This will be my 11th burn, so I'm very well familiar that you don't bring anything to the Playa that you care about making it home, but that being said, anyone have experience with what brands survive best out there?

I've got a set of JBL EON 615s and an EON 618 Sub I could bring, but am also looking at similar setups from electro-voice, Mackie, or on the lower end Alto or Behringer.

Any feedback on experience with this size setup on the playa would be much appreciated. I know what brands are durable in the default world, but playa dust is a totally different beast, not to mention extreme heat.

We'll probably only be running the full system for public-facing events a couple of times for a couple of hours each during the week - just a couple of hip-hop shows and one 90's dance party; otherwise it'll just be used for (relatively) low-volume camp jams

[some seeing eye]

As you know, try to cover your speakers with something light and reflective to make them less of a black body sun absorber. Use a good quality power line filter between the speaker and generator - the Trip-Lite ISO Bars are some. They won't be perfect in the absence of a real ground.

99% of the speakers you use out there are ported, so the dust will enter the cabinet and can get into the woofer voice coil, as well as the plate amp. So playa sound systems are sacrificial, even the trust fund Funktion Ones.

Buy used if you don't have a trust fund or startup cash out. Before you buy, be sure replacement drivers are available and the plate amps are repairable.

15 years ago the Mackie SRM350, 450 and SWA1501 (1801 not recommended!) and the JBL EON G2 were playa tested staples. There may be some used around. After that Mackie shifted from Italian to Chinese drivers. Behrengers are famous for their Chinese quality - some work and some fail, at a rate worse than Harbore Fright power tools. The other main line brands are probably fine.