Best investment for live sound possible, end of story. Absolutely blows away other subs for live sound, especially the ones with external amps.
Peoples ears turn on to modern sounds. Since the 1970s, the bottom end has become increasingly more dynamic. It’s no coincidence that as technology got better at reproducing the audible frequency spectrum, music developed to explore and exploit those new-found domains. And now that we, as music consumers, have grown an affinity for big asses, it’s only natural to want that when we go to hear a band. I don’t care if you’re playing “It’s Raining Men,” crank that bass! And your best bet to meet the expectations of a bass-hungry audience is with the Mackie SWA 1501.
It’s been about six years since I bought my first Mackie Active sub, an SRS 1500. It was an add-on to my Crown PowerBass-1 driving Peavey 15” mains. Then I bought a second SRS 1500. Then I bought the matching Mackie mains, the SRM 450s. The SRS 1500 is discontinued, replaced with the SWA 1501, a monster even more vicious.
The features of the SWA 1501 are pretty much the same as its predecessor. All its connections are XLR. It has a full range input, full range output and a high pass output, all with left and right connections. It has a volume control and a phase reverse switch. Four back panel lights indicate power, signal, limiter engagement and thermal overload.
If you don’t have a bus mix for your lows to send directly and solely to the sub, you can send the entire signal to the sub. Then take the full range output or high pass output and send it to your mains. For a long time, I just ran the high pass to my SRM 450 mains, but noticed it left me unsatisfied in the 250Hz range. Since we don’t use a bass cabinet on stage, we rely solely on the subs to carry the bass keyboard (yes, keyboard…screw the bassists, too). Now I use the full range output and get much better, flatter results in the low-mids.
The volume control can turn the sub all the way down without affecting its output. It can also be cranked to +15dB, with the center position at normal line level of +4dBu. Typically, I set the sub level to about +9 (3 o’clock) and keep the 450s’ levels right in the middle.
If you’re working with more than one of these subs, you might benefit from the phase reverse switch. I’ve never had a problem, though. If your stage setup is flexible, you could keep two subs adjacent to each other and reap the benefits of mutual coupling. Since the sound source is basically in the same place, no canceling should occur.
Two features that really help you max out the 1501 are the limit and thermal protection. When the signal is consistently too hot, the limiter engages before damage occurs to the transducers. The thermal protection is a little more serious; it’s the fire marshal that will shut the party down. Basically, if the unit overheats because you’re pushing it too hard, the thermal switch triggers, shutting the signal down until it’s cooled off. In the many years I’ve played outdoor parties on blistering hot summer days, in direct sunlight and set up between a pig roast and a fire breather, the unit has never overheated on me. If it overheats on you, evaluate your life and lower the signal.
The only downfall to these monsters is their size and weight. It’s to be expected from a sub; actually for its sound, these subs are modest at 88 lbs. Anyway, my solution was to take a plank of wood, perfectly fit to the cabinet’s bottom, mount locking wheels to the plank, then mount the plank to the sub. The result is great, because it gets the sub off the ground and creates better isolation for better response. And it rolls and locks into place.
So how do they sound? Incredible. They shake the venues we play. They far, far outperform the flush-mount speaker cabinets, even with bigger speaker sizes. I wouldn’t recommend setting them near anything that is precariously balanced, for obvious reasons. Play with them once, and you’ll never want to play without them again.
