JBL PRX815W 1500-watt 15-inch Powered Speaker Reviews

It has very good vocal and instramental sound quality. The cabinets has a nice finish look. They provide good sound coverage in most areas. I like the size of the cabinet, it's easy to move around. The customer service was very good and effiecent.

I bought mine 2/2020. I have been using them since then and have had ZERO issues. If they are properly set up, and not abused, they are fantastic. if you're a turn everything in the gain stage to eleven type of person, then you deserve whatever happens.
If you utilize the tools it provides, such as input clipping indicator, to ensure clean signal, then crank them, and enjoy!

They DO require EQing, but nothing crazy, which can be handled through their wireless app. If they are coupled with a pair of PRX818LFW subs, and the built in high-pass X-over, you'll be happy as a pig in shiitake mushrooms.

These things sound great and will turn up VERY loud. I run two of these with two of the PRX 18 inch subs. Once you get used to the subs running, these seam to have a weak low end unless you eq them way up (LOL). They really actually sound very good on their own but the subs spoil you. If you don't have an eq, you can eq via the PRX Connect app. Be aware, you must have a tablet or iPad to use the app and a Wi-Fi router. These are not Bluetooth. Beware during start-up of the app. I had the system go full volume until the built in system limiter kicked in and shut the system off. Always mute the system until the app is up and running. It was scary loud and I was very concerned about damage to the system. I was about ten feet from the mixer and really had the volume set very low. SMH. Fortunately, the system came right back on and still sounds like new. Old PA gear would have had me changing the high frequency drivers out from being blown. With a crowd around, someone could have suffered hearing damage. I am not exaggerating. These things are tough and will play crazy loud. They are very light and look really good. They have two pole cups for a straight or an angle mount on a sub pole. Only one handle is present but that's all you really need, because they are so light. Beats old school box and separate amp that weighed a ton with half the sound that these put out. The fans never seem to come on until you reach a pretty loud volume for several minutes. Once the fans are running they are so quiet that I can't hear them run. Granted, I'm guessing there is a high speed with them but I have never got them that hot. I have ran RCA direct to the speaker and ran a mic to it as well. You can mix the RCA/input and the mic from the rear of the speaker and send the mix to the other cabinets right from the back of the speaker, no external mixer needed. These are shaped like a monitor and will lay on their side for that very purpose. Monitor, side-fill, main. I am very pleased with these but wish the app would work on my iPhone and I didn't have to worry with muting the system on start-up of the app. Having to have a Wi-Fi router is sort of a hassle as well since it is an extra device you have to bring and worry with. It would be so much easier if it ran off Bluetooth and your phone app. One device and you could play directly, and control it, from you phone. Not sure what they were thinking.

Amazing speaker when I got it I couldn’t believe the sound

Before I had the EV zlx15p and they can’t even compare to the sound of the prx815’s

So far these are the best speakers I’ve ever owned and wished I knew about them before buying the Ev’s

I highly recommend them to any DJ who takes djing seriously

So I had a couple of 12" behringers and after one caught on fire and was replaced, the other burnt up too. I got no response from music tribe. Horrible customer service. They even block you from giving them a bad review.
So I was given Sweetwater's name by a friend and have been shocked at the service. The guys helped me at every step finding exactly what I needed. These speakers are beyond what I expected, the quality of sound is top tier. The neighbors 4 acres away hear them crisp and clear. AMAZING! These JBL's are LOUD.
Probably the best purchase I have ever made. The speakers were on my door step in 2 days. Thank you to John for your hard work and help in my purchase. I have a new music partner in my quest to have the best toys on the farm.

Just love the loudness and clarity of this speaker
Enough bass to use alone with out bass cab for small gigs! Light weight and good looking! Just love it!

I'm using these with the 18s as well and so far I'm very impressed. I knew I had things hooked up correctly when the cops showed up! These cabinets are definitely in the right price range and the build quality is truly excellent! I'm using these with a Ui16 soundcraft mixer and the Wi-Fi stuff is ok but I'd rather just run things old school. Very versatile, clear and not to heavy. If your debating- go ahead and pull the trigger- I don't think you will be disappointed! Shelby at Sweetwater was my sales engineer and did a fantastic job helping me with my decisions!

i have use many diffèrent brand speakers before but we all know wen it come done to jbl you cant go wrong wen i here the prx 815 i was like wow clean sound very loud.

These speakers give a clear natural sound. Very efficient. Easy to set up. They have a nice-looking finish. The people I run sound for liked the sound quality of these speakers.

2nd use and pow.. One made a loud gunshot sound and started to crackle.. Then it went away and played good for the rest of the night..Happened B4 w my 515xt but that one shut off,.. Very loud and clear - but I feel the limit light comes on a bit to soon. My mixer isn't even at 0, not close to yellow and the light goes on so I lower the volume. Honestly I expected more for 137db.. loud n clear just limited w that limit light.. The WiFi eq.. Ehhh good if you really feel you need it.. I just use my mixer.. I think that's the reason its a little extra$.. Overall, it's good.. Light weight, Loud n clear, decent lows wo a sub..

I'm a wedding event DJ and i upgraded from the Mackie Thump 12's to the JBL 815W's
If I had it to do over again, probably would have just kept my Mackie Thump's but I sold them to buy the JBL's. Would the Bride and Groom notice the difference in quality? The would probably never notice.
Was it worth the extra cost? (double the cost of the Mackie Thumps) I'm not sure, like I said I would have probably kept my Mackie Thumps if I had it to do over again. I never had any trouble of out the Mackie Thump 12's and 18" thump subs. I've already had 2 problems with my JBL's in a year.
The first time I had bought one demo speaker and one new speaker when I first ordered. When I got them in I could tell right off that the demo speaker had a problem. Sweetwater was great, they took it back and I bought a new one to replace it with. A year later, this past weekend on 5-26-2019 I was DJing a party and the 15' driver in the PRX 815w stopped working. Thankfully nobody noticed. I saw on sweetwater's website that it has a 2 year warrenty. I'm waiting on a call back from Sweetwater this morning to see what I need to do to return it for repair or replacement. I have another gig this weekend so Ive got to get something done pretty fast. I like the sound of the JBL PRX815w and they get loud but I've noticed also as someone else stated that the limiter comes on way too soon. With the Mackie Thump's I actually tried to blow them and couldn't.
So in conclusion, yes I think the PRX 815w's are good speakers but for what I do the Mackies would have been fine. I'm all about quality and clarity and that was the reason I decided to upgrade.
If I could afford it, I would get the step up and get the SRX
Hopefully I will hear back from Sweetwater soon and be back in business by the weekend.

I bought the JBL prx series... 4x PRX815 and 4x PRX818 bass bins.

The top are amazing. Alot of power and never really need to limit the speaker. It does have a pre gain limiter... dont let it fool you, just turn mixer gain down.


The bass bins work very well in pairs!!! Super low bass and sounds great.


The first pair of tops i received did have problems... One speaker died with in the first hour of use and the other had a distorting woofer which was not sounding like JBL at all... Sales person sorted that out and i got a brand new pair straight away. Just be sure to test properly..


Bins are made in mexico and the tops are made in china... Makes me think.


The only thing keeping me from a 5 star rating is the prior problems that i have had as mentioned above

ok. I had these (PRX815) almost two years; bought a set. They sounded good as far as I could tell. Over time I got way better at sound and I bought an EV EKX-15P. I expected close to the same sound, but now I see why EV costs a tad more. BTW, the both PRX speakers power amps had to be sent in for repair.

The set up: EMO LV1 using DBX venue360 auto eq to flat. Used a db meter to verify the PRX were set to same exact volume during DBX 360 setup as the EKX. Ran a song I use for testing PA, Caribbean Blue. First off the PRX sounds hollow compared to the EKX. Then I started hearing a strange sound. I turned on the F6 plugin with RTA and noticed this song has a steep build up at 178Hz. I turned off the PRX speakers and the horrible sound went away. Not in the song, it just has a huge build up at 178Hz. The EKX reproduces the build up at 178Hz just fine. The PRX just sounded awful. I had to cut 11db from 178Hz on each of the PRX's and tighten Q to about 6. Then turned everything back on and boom, no more horrible sound.

This was just one test and in most cases this PRX will function how you want, but for critical ears you may want to spend... more for the EKX.

Sorry, long time JBL fan here.