Electro-Voice ZLX-15P
A 1,000-watt powered two-way that gigging musicians treat as a workhorse, not a luxury.
Overview
The ZLX-15P is the fifteen-inch member of Electro-Voice's ZLX Series of powered loudspeakers, part of a line that also includes the ZLX-12P powered box and the passive ZLX-12 and ZLX-15. The active version pairs a 15-inch woofer with a 1.5-inch high-frequency driver, the two mounted and time-aligned using what EV calls its Split Baffle design. A built-in Class D amplifier delivers 1,000 watts peak power, and the cabinet is a lightweight enclosure with a steel front grille and an LED power indicator on the front panel.
The rear panel is where the ZLX-15P earns its keep for a solo act or a small club rig. There are two XLR/TRS combo jacks, each with its own gain control, so a microphone and an instrument can go straight in without a mixer. An eighth-inch aux input accepts a stereo signal and sums it to mono for an MP3 player, and an XLR link output can feed the mixed inputs to another ZLX-15P or to a powered subwoofer. An LCD screen lights up when power is applied and defaults to a two-channel input meter; a single large knob handles the DSP functions and master volume, and the display flashes "Clip" if gain is pushed too high.
That DSP is more than a volume knob. A DSP Mode function selects EQ curves for Music, Live, Speech, and Club, while a Location parameter compensates for proximity to boundaries with choices for Pole, Bracket, and Monitor. Bass and Treble adjustments are available, along with LED on/off/limiting control. Crossover frequency options include Off, 80, 100, and 120 Hz, plus a dedicated "ELX118P" setting that makes adding a subwoofer painless.
The numbers are respectable for the class: maximum SPL is rated at 127 dB. In Pro-Sound (September 2013, p.55)'s review, the tester got a pair up to around 115 dB before self-preservation kicked in, and when used with a Yamaha 01V96 to mix a small band, the ZLX-15Ps achieved SPLs between 105 and 108 dB (C-weighted) while maintaining clarity and intelligibility. Kick drum and bass sounded tight, which the reviewer found somewhat surprising given that the cabinets flex at high SPLs.
Reception was warm. The same review praised the simple operation, high-quality sound, and easy system expansion, calling the ZLX-15P very good-sounding, easy to use, and capable of serving as the nucleus of a larger system. Small venues, DJs, and houses of worship with modest sound requirements were singled out as the natural audience. The limitations noted were specific: no phantom power on the microphone input, and limited EQ controls for monitor use. Those two caveats matter — a condenser mic needs its own phantom supply, and a floor wedge deserves more shaping than the ZLX-15P offers.
Pricing at introduction was $875 MSRP with a $499 street price, and Electronic Musician built an entire solo-performer system around a single ZLX-15P at that street figure, adding a ZLX-12P at $399 as a floor wedge and noting that a second ZLX-15P could be linked for larger rooms. The magazine totaled the complete rig — speakers, stands, cables, a passive Radial ProDI, and a Shure SM58 — at approximately $1,350, with another $550 for a second ZLX-15P and stand. That kind of system math is the ZLX-15P's real argument: it lets a performer start small and grow without replacing the core box.
For collectors of powered PA gear, the ZLX-15P occupies a practical rather than precious slot. It is a working speaker, and the things that make it good on a gig — light weight, simple single-knob DSP, combo inputs that skip the mixer — are the same things that make it unglamorous on a shelf. Buyers should expect the usual wear of a road-used powered box and confirm the DSP encoder and rear-panel jacks are functioning, since those are the parts that get handled every load-in. The lack of phantom power is a design limitation, not a fault, but it shapes how the speaker gets used.
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