Quest Marketing - New Products

N E W P R O D U C T S

For years people have come to a NAMM or AES wondering just what Greg and the bunch from Woodinville "will come up with this time". Whether it's a digital console prototype, power amplifiers, studio monitors, new mixers, whatever -- inevitably the industry is absolutely floored.

Well it was the same story at the recent Winter NAMM. This show represented Mackie's most ambitious new group of product offerings yet. 20 (yes, 20) new products, some in new product groups, that had almost as many "industry spies" in the booth the first morning as there were show attendees! Mackie showed new Mixers, new Amps, new Powered Mixers, new Powered Speakers, -- you'd have to say, "they did it again!"

A quick list of what's new:

VLZ Pro Compact Mixers
Unlike some other audio mixer companies, which build good expensive consoles but not so good inexpensive mixers, Mackie mixers at all price points share exactly the same design philosophy and components. After having designed new input circuits for the SR40.8 and 56.8, along with the analog section of the Digital 8 Bus, a new mic preamp has been perfected. Called the XDR (extended dynamic range) preamp, it gives even less distortion than the existing (and quite good) VLZ mic pre by a factor of ten, much more gain, greater headroom, even lower noise, wider bandwidth, and total RFI immunity. This new circuit has been integrated into the Compact Mixers, resulting in the new Compact Pro, the MS1202-VLZ Pro, MS1402-VLZ Pro, and the CR1604-VLZ Pro. It truly makes the best sounding small mixers available even better. Shipping Now!

PPM Professional Powered Mixers
Since Mackie's been making the best mixers around for ten years now, and the most affordable amps for about two, it's apparent that something had to be in the works. Everybody has been asking for the obvious, and now Mackie has done it. The PPM Series is a range of powered mixers that are radically different from all other products than can be compared. For one, they are the ONLY powered mixers that combine a professional mixer with a professional power amplifier. In other words, a Mackie mixer and a Mackie power amp in the same box! Of course that's not enough for Mackie -- how about adding a pair of graphic EQs, and a truly amazing effects section with 16 variable digital effects? There are five models, six to eight mic inputs and either dual 250 or dual 600-watt amps. And these are serious amps; designed to handle even 2 ohms loads. Compare that to all those other "MI" powered mixers -- these are PRO! Ranging in price from $699 to $999, the PPM Series will change what is expected in a powered mixer. Shipping NOW

M.800 power amp
Now Mackie has three pro power amps, the M.2600, the two versions of the M.1400(i), and the new M.800. Slotting in below the 1400i with 140 watts stereo at 8 ohm (275 stereo at 4 & 400 stereo at 2) and sharing all the ingenious features of its bigger brothers, the M.800 is a new workhorse with enough power to handle anything that doesn't require those amps. Of course, with the built in subwoofer crossover in the larger amps, the M.800 is perfect driving the top enclosure of a 2 way active system. $549 retail. Shipping this Summer

Active Loudspeakers -- SRM, MAS, and Fussion
It is already accepted that the best way to build a studio monitor loudspeaker is an integrated active approach. The excellence of the widely accepted HR824 shows that wisdom. Being able to design the drivers and matching electronics to take advantage of each other produces a speaker capable of outstanding performance that separately engineered systems cannot match, no matter how good the components may be.

Until now, nobody had taken that approach to building affordable sound reinforcement loudspeakers. The only "active" "PA" speakers available are either low performance or extremely expensive units. Mackie is about to change all that. After having bought RCF of Italy last year, they are in a perfect position to do to the speaker market what they did to mixers and amplifiers -- build a much better product at a much better price. At NAMM they showed ten different loudspeaker systems, six coming to market very soon.

SRM Series
Leading this series is the SRM450. A two-way system with 300 watts available for LF and 150 for HF. A composite enclosure with a special long excursion 12" LF driver gives the bass of a 15", but with better transient response and far better vocal intelligibility through the crossover region. Coupled with a 1" exit compression driver on a very sophisticated wide dispersion horn, the SRM450's output belies its size and cost. A very smart enclosure not only looks great, but unlike other "plastic" boxes, it's properly designed and internally braced to sound like a real speaker system. The input ranges from mic to line level. The electronics provide proper time compensation, phase alignment, equalization, and protection circuitry -- and like the HR824, the woofer is servo feedback controlled by the LF amplifier resulting in extremely tight & controlled bass. $799 retail. Shipping Now

SRS1500a
A subwoofer for the SRM450. A wooden enclosure holds a 15" LF driver driven by a 600-watt power amp, specially designed to maximize output from a very compact box. A top stand mount makes it easy to couple with an SRM450. $799 retail. Shipping this Summer

C300
The passive version of the SRM450 -- a perfect match to a PPM Series Powered Mixer. $399 retail. Shipping this Summer

MAS Series

What would you say to a three way triamplified trapezoidal enclosure with a 15" LF driver, a 6" MF on a short exponential horn, and a 1" exit compression driver, driven with 500 watts of power and all necessary electronics -- all for $999 retail? Read it again -- and look forward to hearing the MAS1530! Shipping this Summer

The matching subwoofer is the MAS1800a. It is an 18" with 600 watts of power for $699 retail. Think about the combination: a 4-way system with 1.1 kilowatts of power for only $1698 per side.

A two way passive will be available, the S500.

Is your curiosity properly piqued? Then we won't even tell you about the Fussion Series coming soon! More info later

For more information on any of these new products, go to http://www.mackie.com.
--John Saviano

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