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Audio Review: Mackie HD 1521 Two-Way Powered Loudspeaker
"Big Dog" in a crowded market offers sonic "honesty" - a neutral palette on which to build your mix.
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The Mackie HD1521 is currently the "big dog" in a very crowded kennel. At 30 inches tall and a full 80 pounds, this is easily one of the biggest speakers in its class. This cut-away image shows its 15-inch woofer (1,400 peak watts of class-D power) with a one-inch high-frequency horn watts). (Image courtesy of Loud Technologies)
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Out back a simple input panel includes a single XLR input, loop-through output, an input level knob, EQ section and an on/off button for the front-panel LED. Mackie's EQ offers high and low shelving filters, and a sweep-able mid band with fixed Q (bandwidth) meant for gentle shaping, and offer just +/-3 dB of adjustment range. Likewise, the input level control offers just +/-6 dB of adjustment. (Image courtesy of Loud Technologies)
OK, so maybe the self-powered speaker horsepower wars are getting a bit out-of-hand. Now Mackie has cranked up the output of their latest 15-inch, two-way speaker to a whopping 1,600 peak watts. That translates to about 125 dB of real-world volume, which is really loud for one compact speaker. Speakers just keep getting louder and smaller. What's next, 300 watts in a cell phone?
All jesting aside, the Mackie HD1521 is currently the "big dog" in a very crowded kennel. It combines a 15-inch speaker (neodymium magnet, 1,400 peak watts of class-D power) with a one-inch high-frequency horn (1.75-inch titanium driver, 200 peak watts). These drivers are packed into an attractive cabinet with Mackie's new "covert" look that reveals nothing about what might be behind the grill. Instead, the understated front of the HD1521 has a thin vertical stripe that features the Mackie logo and a bright blue power LED. With its rounded grill and clean lines, the HD1521 looks both classy and potent.
Out back sits a simple input panel that makes little attempt to be all things to all people. Rather than put a fully loaded mixer into the speaker as some competitors do, Mackie chose instead to use a single XLR input and loop-through output. An input level knob, EQ section and button for the front-panel LED round out the controls.
The Mackie's EQ offers high and low shelving filters, and a sweep-able mid band with fixed Q (bandwidth). These controls are meant for gentle shaping, and offer just +/-3 dB of adjustment range. Likewise, the input level control offers just +/-6 dB of adjustment. Mackie's attempt to keep users from ransacking their sound or damaging speakers is too "big brother" for me, and the limited control range feels like an insult to my intelligence. If I want to run my mixer's output hot and dial back the speaker's input level to -15 dB for a quiet gig, let me do so. An input level control range of -20 dB to +6 dB, for example, would have accomplished the same protection with greater flexibility.
The HD1521 is the big dog in more than just its bark; at 30 inches tall and a full 80 pounds, this is easily one of the biggest speakers in its class. Thankfully, its handles are large, comfortable and well-placed, which makes hauling the speaker feasible for one person. That person should get some help putting the Mackie on a stick, however. Unlike some of its competition, the HD1521 doesn't offer a dual-angle pole socket to keep acoustic energy focused down on the crowd instead of splashing off the back wall. Too bad. What it does have is a dozen fly points to allow hanging the speaker in vertical or horizontal orientations, and a rotatable 80x50-degree horn.
In a market where ABS plastic speakers are growing more common, Mackie stuck with a dense and very rigid birch plywood cabinet. Overall, the HD1521 has a reassuring feel of quality about it. Cabinet joints are well-fitted, and the finish is attractive. Back-panel knobs and switches feel sturdy. Hopefully, this speaker will continue to deliver the goods for many years. To that end, Mackie covers the Chinese-made HD1521's drivers with a two-year warranty, and the electronics for three years.
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Loren Alldrin is a regular contributor to Church Production Magazine.
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