PA recommendations- give em to me

[Ron's Brother]

I am in a band and we need to get a PA. I've never had to buy one before since all the bands I've played with ONE person seemed to always already have one.

In any event, we need to buy one and price is a MAJOR factor. The PA is primarily going to be used for practices and also have it as a possible set up for some shows. Most venues in the area have a PA but two that we will be looking to book shows at, don't. These two places are small rooms, maybe 100 capacity. about the size of a standard basement.

So here is the question. there are many different roads to go; Powered Mixer, unpowered mixer. Powered speakers, unpowered speakers. Or to use a Power Amplifier.

Looking at the price, they all seem to be around the same once you get all the pieces. Is there a difference between the three setups in sound quality? or power useage or loudness???

A. Powered mixer-unpowered speaker
B. unpowered amp-powered speaker
C. unpowered mixer-powered amp-Unpowered speakers

The only thing I can see with powered speakers is needing more plugs I.E, four speakers would need four outlets. Are there any other differences that I should be aware of?

PLEASE any suggestions?

[Front End Audio]

What kind of music (instruments) will you be playing through this PA and what is your budget for the whole system?

Cheers,
Nicholas

[Ron's Brother]

The band is two singers; acoustic guitar, Ukulele and drums. Will will be adding a bass later on. However, the only thing that HAS to go into the PA is the two vocals and yuke but it would be nice to be able to have enough inputs to put the guitar/bass/drums in later if we choose. The style is punk or punk if that makes a difference. (yes, punk.... think Ace of spades on a acoustic guitar)

Our price range is a few hundred either side of $500.

[JWL]

Bang for buck: I love the Mackie (actually mine are Tapco, they changed branding) Thump PA speakers. For $700 a pair of these will fill a room with sound.

Those and a decent mixer and you'd be on your way for sure.....

[Bro Shark]

I bought a Yamaha "powered mixer" from Guitar Center, and it turned out to be really gutless. It's mono, 200W. It wasn't cheap either. In retrospect what I wish I had done instead is buy a stereo power amp, and use a cheap little Behringer mixer with it instead.

[LazarusLong]

Generally speaking: active speakers + mixer. it's easiest, sounds best, and easy to upgrade. When the amp can be matched to the speaker, it doesn't need to be "the best amp ever", it just needs to be the right amp for the enclosure. everyone wins. Price goes down and quality goes up.

Specifically: use your ears. at that price point, everything (by reputable brands) will be.... well, about the same. FYI: B-ringer active PA sound terrible when turned up. They're well designed to sound good at low / moderate levels (IE, showroom floor) but have no testicular fortitude when turned up.

[smalldrums]

Craigslist.

[casey campbell]

i have found a great combination:

mackie hd1531 and yorkville LS801p.

epic!

[Ron's Brother]

i have found a great combination:

mackie hd1531 and yorkville LS801p.

epic!

How about something that doesn't cost 2-3 grand.

[ott0bot]

Personally I'm a big fan of using a standard mixer and seperate amps to power passive speakers.

I took a live sound class in school a few years back and the set up was pretty decent. Our teacher had tons of live sound experience everywhere from mega-churches to smelly little clubs. He selected the following itmes to be used for our large orchestra room (80-100 capacity) and out door live settings. We ran sound for everything from rap to folk to punk rock and even a choir. It sounded pretty solid on all of them.

Here was out set up:

Mackie Onyx 32 - $2g new

We used QSC GX series amps - 2 for the mains and monitors and 1 for the sub. You'll have to decide what you need based on the speaker requirements of coarse.

JBL MRX series speakers. - two large towers, an one sub

Some cheaper floor monitors...i think some old peaveys.

Also we had a DBX stereo graphic eq and crossover, not sure of the models.

It was pretty funcitonal, and the MRX series speakers are pretty lightweight for the size.

[ott0bot]

i have found a great combination:

mackie hd1531 and yorkville LS801p.

epic!

How about something that doesn't cost 2-3 grand.

oops! mine is past that for sure. But you'll have to check CL if you want a decent system for under that.

[Ron's Brother]

i have found a great combination:

mackie hd1531 and yorkville LS801p.

epic!

How about something that doesn't cost 2-3 grand.

oops! mine is past that for sure. But you'll have to check CL if you want a decent system for under that.

it does nto need to be decent. It is for practices. I am just wondering the difference between

A. Powered mixer-unpowered speaker
B. unpowered amp-powered speaker
C. unpowered mixer-powered amp-Unpowered speakers

[Gorilla]

I've had good luck with the mackie active speakers described above with a mackie board, and the yamaha mixer heads (mine was 6 inputs and 400 a side) with the BR series speakers with 15 inch woofers. New the yamaha is probably 11-12 hundred. If it was used, I'd expect to pay half that if was in good shape... that's just me.

Of course it all depends on the specific condition and level of the equipment.

Yamaha and Peavy I think have a wide desparity from their entry level PA equipment and even their mid level equipment. For example, I think the Yamaha BR speakers are pretty good, durable and have decent response and power handling. I wouldn't say anything like that about the A series, which of course is much cheaper.

With both those brands, I wouldn't generalize to say either, that's a great brand or that brand sucks... highly dependent on the specific model and equipment.

[JWL]

I definitely prefer passive mixer, active speakers. So much simpler (and lighter) to deal with. Pick up 2 of the Thumps and the best mixer you can afford. I definitely agree to look on Craigslist.

[Bro Shark]

I definitely prefer passive mixer, active speakers. So much simpler (and lighter) to deal with. Pick up 2 of the Thumps and the best mixer you can afford. I definitely agree to look on Craigslist.

JWL has a good point, especially when mobility is a concern.

My friends used to put on shows in parks using a powered Mackie speaker. Very easy.