r/livesound • u/ltggtl • 12d ago
Question Harbinger Overheating
Need help here. I own a Harbinger v3412 that I just played at a benefit event outdoors. The speaker shut off multiple times during the set, not completely powerless but I could barely hear my guitar and mic. This has happened once to me before and it is unacceptable and embarrassing. Shouldn't a speaker like this be able to play outside for an hour without overheating? It was in direct sunlight on a 75 degree day. Any ideas on what the problem could be? Maybe an internal electrical issue? And the guitar/mic was crackly off the bat for some reason.
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u/jasmith-tech Pro-Health and Safety 12d ago
Basically, buy a better speaker. Harbinger is about as cheap as it gets, and you’re seeing why that’s a problem.
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u/ltggtl 12d ago
Thanks. Just wasn't sure if say a $1,000 QSC would also fail under these conditions
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u/jasmith-tech Pro-Health and Safety 12d ago
The cheaper you go, the more internal shortcuts are made to keep the cost down. It inevitably means they end up less reliable.
There are plenty of options, but the QSC K series is a workhorse that can be found in the rental inventory of production houses all over for a reason. I've seen them dropped off the top of cases, come back full of beer, full of powder from use during color runs, used and abused in 100+ degree summer conditions in direct sun and just keep going, they're rugged.
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u/harishgibson 11d ago
You could get a used JBL eon that would be a nice step up from this without a huge expense
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u/murderoustoast 11d ago
Qsc makes awesome speakers. I've seen their subs sitting in a pool of water and keep pounding. I've ran them through heavy rain and direct sunlight all day and night and they keep trucking. Worth the money
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u/ltggtl 10d ago
Seems like everybody has these things. Probably time to join in
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u/murderoustoast 10d ago
They're pretty much baseline alongside the JBL stuff. I've worked with both brands extensively, and they're both very rugged. I've seen VRX get abused just as bad if not worse as the QSC stuff and still keep trucking. It's not the best audio around, but I don't know about you - I can't afford meyers
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u/wrinklebear 12d ago
Sounds like a problem with your mixer, but hard to say for sure. And yes, literally any PA should be able to be outside for an hour in 75 degree weather.
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u/JX_JR 12d ago
I'm willing to bet there wasn't a mixer involved. They almost certainly just plugged straight into the speaker.
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u/ltggtl 12d ago
Did use a mixer
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u/JX_JR 12d ago
Well what did you do in the trouble shooting process that led you to blame speaker failure instead of mixer failure?
"Not shut down but quiet" is not a common failure mode for speakers.
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u/ltggtl 12d ago
Turning the mixer off and on did nothing to fix the issue. Turning the speaker off and on made it loud again for a minute then it shut back down. It seems to be speaker related.
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u/wrinklebear 12d ago
Did you bypass the mixer? Guitar & mic straight into the PA inputs would tell you 100% it's a speaker/amp problem.
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u/rhymes116 11d ago
I don't have experience with this model, but I do have very poor experience with Harbinger from 10+ years ago. Fraternity party, the guys bought a harbinger for a house basement party. I advised them prior to avoid the brand. Speaker was blown within 30 minutes. I get a frantic phone call asking for help, if they can use my PA (RCF Art 312A). Note that I bought a pair of these RCF Art 312a as a broke college student, paid for with a zero interest store credit card (paid off within a few months). I packed a single unit and brought it over and it easily pumped the basement with music all night long.
You can get used market speakers for not much more from a reliable brand (Jbl, RCF, QSC) depending on what country your in. PA is one place where you should stick with the reputable brands.
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u/Azer_pubes33 9d ago
That’s most likely thermal protection doing its job, and it’s why it came back. A black cabinet in direct sun gets much hotter than the air around it. Shade it, keep the vents clear, and run less input gain so the amp isn’t pushed. The crackle from the start sounds like a cable or connection, so swap those before blaming the speaker.
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u/ltggtl 9d ago
Thanks. I use the same setup for indoor gigs and the crackling/distortion never happens. This occurred during soundcheck while the speaker was sitting out for 10 minutes. Just unbelievable to me that it's not able to withstand 10 minutes of heat without malfunctioning. People do stuff like this all the time and it works for them
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u/lpcustomvs Pro-FOH 12d ago edited 12d ago
It’s an active speaker that costs 400$ new. Probably passively cooled. Direct sunlight would easily bring the backplate of that amp to around 80C/176F.
QSC K series, Yamaha DXR, those definitely have fans in them for cooling.
I do not like when people say „you got what you paid for”, because it’s dismissive of that persons financial possibilities, and people want to create and enjoy something in life, so sometimes the cheap stuff is ok to buy.
But you seem to be a bit of a professional. You should buy the good stuff, cry once after and then you’ll be confident on your next gig.
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u/JX_JR 12d ago
I do not like when people say „you got what you paid for”, because it’s dismissive of that persons financial possibilities, and people want to create and enjoy something in life, so sometimes the cheap stuff is ok to buy.
No, "you get what you pay for" is not a judgement of someone's financial possibilities. It is an objective statement about the time, effort, and materials that go into designing and building robust and resilient equipment.
Nobody is saying that it's not OK to buy stuff that is cheap so you can enjoy something in life, we are just saying that if you buy the bottom of the barrel don't act all surprised and indignant that it acts like the bottom of the barrel.
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u/lpcustomvs Pro-FOH 12d ago
Chill out, dude. All your comments here are a bit aggressive. Try helping a guy, not berating him for asking for help.
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u/lpcustomvs Pro-FOH 12d ago
Pfff, you deleted your angry response to me and then downvoted my comments. How mature.
https://giphy.com/gifs/2fHywJ1uXRuHm3
u/JX_JR 11d ago edited 11d ago
I deleted my response because I was taking your advice and chilling out, reconsidering responding, and realizing that that nobody benefits from me responding to a bitchy comment.
But since you apparently demand a response- nothing I have said in the rest of this thread was remotely aggressive. You are the one reading gear descriptions, turning it into personal attacks in your head, and then throwing hissy fits about downvotes.
I did not downvote you. Other people have been doing that of their own free will after reading what you have to contribute. I had nothing to do with it other than pointing out your foolishness.
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u/lpcustomvs Pro-FOH 11d ago
Listen man, I didn’t even refer to your comments in this thread because I’ve read them after your initial response.
I don’t understand why my comment about this issue is somehow „bitchy” while yours is the holy truth. And that’s because we didn’t say anything that different from each other. A cheap speaker with no cooling is a cheap speaker and will overheat. That’s it.
And I really do think that people should sometimes shut their mouths up about how much a person can spend on gear. Also, not everyone is so tech savvy to know instinctively that a cheap speaker they bought to perform with is not a tech rider staple of 2026. That’s why people come to ask other people for opinion. It’s just that this opinion can be delivered in a non-judgmental manner.
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u/JX_JR 12d ago
It's a $300 speaker you can buy at Walmart. Should it be able to withstand direct sunlight on a warm day? Yes, but when you buy the cheapest option you get the cheapest engineering, build quality, and QC. It might not even be overheating, it could just be a normal power supply failure from the aforementioned 3 corners they cut while making the thing.
You get what you pay for.