Buying A PA System (UPDATE!!!)

I always view manufacturer refurbished as returned products - and so many firms offer money back if you don't like it guarantees, that it's a good source of bargains. Same with B stock, or overruns. I discovered a Chinese factory who OEM a well known American brand, and the paintwork rejects get a silly Chinese name stuck on and then they sell them off. I've had some rather nice kit that way.
 
I will update everyone this Saturday. I may get a great deal on some gear that is new and its the entire package. I go look Saturday, so I will be back then with a list of it all and pricing.

Thanks for the replies, I have learned stuff because of them. :D
 
So I have an update way before Saturday!

My friend has all this gear and is willing to sell it to me for $1,000, its all never used other then 1-2 times.

Here is the list of gear for that price (X=Quantity)

Behringer Xenyx QX1832USB x1
Behringer Xenyx QX602MP3 x1
Harbinger VaRi V2115 15' x2 ($300 each?)
Behringer ULM202USB x2 (one pack of 2)
AKG D8000M x1
BLUE enCORE 200 x2

He then says everything for the most part has the original boxes and everything has a case, none of it was rarely ever used and also included accessories such as:

Mixer Bag x1
MIC Stands x5
Cables & Misc xTons
Speaker Stands x2

He did send some images that aren't the best, but they were ones he got when he bought the stuff 6 months ago, which wasn't used by that guy either. The retail is in the $2,000 I'm told. GuitarCenter told him they would give him $1,300 for it all, and he rather sell to me for $1,000.

Images: https://imgur.com/a/aT2gEfi << Click link for ALL the images.

I figure I could buy all this for 1K, then sell the all the MICs besides the 2 wireless, then buy the 3 SM58's or something.

He is trusted and a friend, but is it all worth this 2K+? What should I do? I could go with the newer gear I had selected or his stuff.
 

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No way is this $2K retail. 1832 Mixer is $350 new, 602mixer is $120 speakers $300 new (each). All mics would be $250. Adding stands and cable is another $200 or so. Grand total is about $1500. I get coupon offers from Musician Friend weekly with 15% off. That would knock a couple hundred off. Maybe offer $900 to give you wiggle room for other mics. (yeah, he's a friend, but this is business).

You won't get a lot for the two other mics. The Blue is only $80 new and the AKG is $50 new. Selling used, you might get $75 for the pair. Better to keep them just in case you need a spare mic. Plus they would buy you time to possibly find a couple of SM58s used, or you can get a 3 pack for Sennheiser 835s for $250 every day, and you might be able to negotiate a better deal at GC or MF (probably 15% off). The Sennheiser is also a good solid vocal mic.

I might consider selling the 602 mixer, since you really don't need two mixers and with only 2 mic inputs it really doesn't offer you much. It looks like they sell for about $90 used, so that could go towards the mics.

I haven't ever heard the Harbinger speakers, but based on the specs, they should be adequate. Since it's a friend, I would suggest cranking them up to see how they sound.

Including lots of cables, speaker stands, and mic stands is a plus. While they don't sound like high dollar items, you can sink a lot of cash quickly buying them. $20 here, $15 there. Before you know it you've spent a couple hundred.
 
No, just no.

Harbinger speakers sound like crap when you crank them up to half power or further. They sell normally for $300, but you can always get 10-15% off at GC.
You don't need the QX602 if you already have the QX1832 (1 mixer is all you need!) I'll tell yu that I was not impressed with the Behr Xenyx mixer I bought many years ago - the preamps were crappy. The 602? You might get $40 for it used. If you're lucky.
You don't need the Behr wireless mics - they work via USB, so you will not be able to use them with either mixer and no one will buy them from you. The AKG mic is a cheapo. Shure SM58s will last you forever.
 
Yeah, I wasn't leaning towards buying this stuff from him. I didn't wanna deal with selling stuff I didn't want, etc.

I will be going through my list more tomorrow with the Sound Lead guy from church, so he should help a lot like you all have.

I will post what I'm getting soon and your last thoughts on everything. Turns out I'm going to be like $3K into this with the keyboard, mixer, MICs, accessories, and some Vista Print stuff along with the website.

Will update tomorrow I hope! Thanks.
 
No, just no.

Harbinger speakers sound like crap when you crank them up to half power or further. They sell normally for $300, but you can always get 10-15% off at GC.
You don't need the QX602 if you already have the QX1832 (1 mixer is all you need!) I'll tell yu that I was not impressed with the Behr Xenyx mixer I bought many years ago - the preamps were crappy. The 602? You might get $40 for it used. If you're lucky.
You don't need the Behr wireless mics - they work via USB, so you will not be able to use them with either mixer and no one will buy them from you. The AKG mic is a cheapo. Shure SM58s will last you forever.
I've got a Harbinger 12" powered speaker. Can't say I've brought the volume up enough to sound like 'crap', but there was an issue of one piece of gear that was connected to the line ins that over drove the input and clipped and regardless of the Harbinger's gain setting I couldn't stop the clipping (the gain control seemed to follow the first gain stage in the amp) I can't remember what I was running into it, but it had no means to lower its output. Had to make resistive pad to knock down the level. For the Harbinger, try before you buy. The one I have is older than the one being considered and perhaps it's got some improvements. There are a few reviews on Youtube might be worth watching

The Blue Encore mics I would likely keep, as they are supposedly decent Blue Microphones enCORE 200 | RecordingHacks.com

The Behr wireless mics presumably will work with the larger mixer via the USB dongle (see screen shot of manual below) and maybe adequate for speaking.

I would suggest finding and downloading the manuals for all the gear you're considering just to familiarize yourself a bit with what you're buying.
 

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Nobody in their right mind would consider this a sane comparison. The Shure SM58 is NOT the best mic in the world, but what it is, is a standard. A yardstick to judge other mics on, and of course one of the few mics that age is irrelevant. I have one in my mic box that I bought in 1976, alongside ones I bought last year to replace stolen ones. now they've been in and out of music clips a few times, I can't tell which is which. I do know that if the singer drops it on a hard floor, I don't worry. I don't care if they whisper or shout, I don't care if they hold the damn thing near their waist, or shove it down their throat - I can cope, and I know what it will do. The Blue Encore could well sound nicer to your ears. The Shure is bland, solid and unexciting, and that's why professional sound people love it. A known product, easy to EQ and make sound nice on any voice. Clever mics with subtle peaks and bumps in the response may sound nicer initially, but then you discover they don't like monitors, or make people with a gap in their front teeth sound nasty, or any other traits.

Buy a Blue Encore and stick it in your mic box alongside the SM58. Use the one that sounds nicer for each outing. If you can only afford one, the Blue Encore could let you down. The SM58 won't. One is a microphone icon, a real standard to use to assess quality of other mics. The other is a microphone. If I could only afford one mic - NOTHING would make me buy the Blue Encore. I'd bet that in five years time, the factory making it will have moved on and nobody will even remember it.
 
I wasn't aware of the new Behr mixers having a USB input (just for their mics, obviously.) At $129 for 2 (wireless!), sorry, but they've got to be crap.
 
I wasn't aware of the new Behr mixers having a USB input (just for their mics, obviously.) At $129 for 2 (wireless!), sorry, but they've got to be crap.

Shure and other wireless mics are likely much better, but you pay a premium for the performance and quality. Reading the reviews at Sweetwater the Behr wireless may be OK for what the OP wants to use them for which I believe was just speaking.
Behringer Ultralink ULM202USB Wireless USB Dual MIcrophone System Reviews | Sweetwater

Some of the Behringer gear I've bought in the last few years has been surprisingly decent and well built for the price compared to some of what they use to manufacture years ago.
 
Nobody in their right mind would consider this a sane comparison. The Shure SM58 is NOT the best mic in the world, but what it is, is a standard. A yardstick to judge other mics on, and of course one of the few mics that age is irrelevant. I have one in my mic box that I bought in 1976, alongside ones I bought last year to replace stolen ones. now they've been in and out of music clips a few times, I can't tell which is which. I do know that if the singer drops it on a hard floor, I don't worry. I don't care if they whisper or shout, I don't care if they hold the damn thing near their waist, or shove it down their throat - I can cope, and I know what it will do. The Blue Encore could well sound nicer to your ears. The Shure is bland, solid and unexciting, and that's why professional sound people love it. A known product, easy to EQ and make sound nice on any voice. Clever mics with subtle peaks and bumps in the response may sound nicer initially, but then you discover they don't like monitors, or make people with a gap in their front teeth sound nasty, or any other traits.

Buy a Blue Encore and stick it in your mic box alongside the SM58. Use the one that sounds nicer for each outing. If you can only afford one, the Blue Encore could let you down. The SM58 won't. One is a microphone icon, a real standard to use to assess quality of other mics. The other is a microphone. If I could only afford one mic - NOTHING would make me buy the Blue Encore. I'd bet that in five years time, the factory making it will have moved on and nobody will even remember it.

Some comparisons of the Encore 200 to the SM58 in these reviews.....
Blue Microphones enCORE 200 Active Dynamic Vocal Microphone Reviews | Sweetwater

I own a couple SM57's. Based on the way it sounds (for my voice) I know would not consider buying and SM58. Your description describes it well, "The Shure is bland, solid and unexciting". For similar priced mics I've stuck with either Sennheiser or EV's that I like the sound of much better. The best dynamic mic I have is a Miktek PM-9.

From your posts that I've read in this forum I'm suspecting you do a lot of sound work with a variety of different vocalists/instrumentalists. You need gear that's predictable and consistent for each intended performer. The SM58 is likely a good choice for you and it makes life easier knowing how it will sound.
 
I think I'm going to do some more research on the SM58 vs the enCore 300, not the 200.

The church I was at last night uses the 300's, they weren't using them so I didn't get to hear them.

But they are the same price as the SM58. They are $100 each. So I guess I have to decide between those two mics.

People keep saying that the 300 should be the new standard because it sounds better than the SM58. I definitely don't want something that is bland. It seems the build quality is about the same for both. But I do hear that the 300 is more sensitive to the environment noise wise, but sounds better vocal wise, more warm.

Maybe I need to buy both and test them out? I will try looking on YouTube in a little bit verses each other.

I should have more of an update in like 8 hours.
 
The encore 300 is a condenser mic. Not sure where you saw $100, Sweetwater shows them at $200 Blue Microphones enCORE 300 Black - Handheld Condenser Microphone | Sweetwater , but a couple other sites, including one Sweetwater link, show them discontinued. The $100 ones may be stock a retailer is trying to get rid of(?) My own feeling is you may be better off with dynamic mics which would be a bit more rugged and less susceptible to feedback. If you've bought the SM58's already, give them a try. You're not going to know if you like a mic until you actually try it.
 
Perhaps I didn't explain well. The Shure 57 and 58 I really believe can be improved upon. On my voice, I like the condenser 86, but if I go into a studio, or turn up at a festival and see 58s or Beta 58s, I know how they sound and I know how they will work for me. I've got a fairly large mic collection, and in the studio, I'll often unpack a stored mic, dust it off and give it a go because I'll know it will match a voice or an instrument better. Here we're buying for a church I think, so probably less informed users, and operators as a generalisation - no offence meant if I got this wrong.

What do you do if your singer turns out to have one of those sibilant voices, or is very nasal - will these short shelf life mics make it nicer? I suspect not. If you want to sell a twenty year old Shure, it has a value. Try to sell a brand from the 1990's nobody now will have heard of?

I have a short list of mics, that if provided to me to use, I'd have with no questions. Shure 57/58/B57/B58 Beyer M201 Sennheiser 835/845/865 in any of the variations. Drum mics from Sennheiser or AKG wouldn't have me worrying. That doesn't mean anything else is rubbish - it just means I cannot guarantee to do a good job if I've not used them.
 
I need a stereo system for my keyboards (synths) and have decided on powered speakers. That way, I can export each side from my mixer into right and left speaker and both have their individual power systems. I've been trying to decide on which system to get, and found this comparison of three different powered speakers on youtube. I can't decide for myself which would be best, even after listening to this comparison.

Price is also a factor for me, as I need power, 15 inch speakers, because of the frequencies in the synth sounds, and good frequency response. Since the OP is looking for a PA, I personally think powered speakers is the way to go. It's one less box to carry around and with two separate powered systems, if one quits, you still have mono, while getting the sick one fixed.

YouTube
 
Here is the update that I'm going with I believe..

Mixer. Budget $300.
Microphones. Budget $100 per MIC.
Speakers. Budget $700.
Keyboard. Budget $1,000.

Then all the accessories of course. At the end I'm going to be $3K into all of this, but should be set and future proofed for quite some time.

I think going with the enCore 300 or SM58 I will be good, but with the YT reviews I think the 300's are better, not that I'd lose buying the SM58's. Worse comes to worse I can buy both and return the one that doesn't work well. If you think you can do better with the budget I listed please link.
 
Here is the update that I'm going with I believe..

Mixer. Budget $300.
Microphones. Budget $100 per MIC.
Speakers. Budget $700.
Keyboard. Budget $1,000.

Then all the accessories of course. At the end I'm going to be $3K into all of this, but should be set and future proofed for quite some time.

I think going with the enCore 300 or SM58 I will be good, but with the YT reviews I think the 300's are better, not that I'd lose buying the SM58's. Worse comes to worse I can buy both and return the one that doesn't work well. If you think you can do better with the budget I listed please link.

Regarding the keyboard, are you aware it is a 'controller' and has no sounds of its own. It needs to be connected to a computer to play 'virtual' instruments or to a sound module that has MIDI connections.

The mics will likely be OK, although myself I think I would have gone for dynamic mics. Blue is a good name and has been around for a while with studio recording mics.
Good reviews here...
Blue Microphones enCORE 300 Black - Handheld Condenser Microphone | Sweetwater

Mixer and PA will do well for you.
 
I will most likely buy East West and plus I get some sounds from NI when I buy the keyboard. I will use my laptop.

The 300 sounds more warm and is just as good build quality, its hard to hear a difference. IF you look at any of the reviews for them, everyone is saying its better then the SM58, its the new legend MIC, etc. Just seems to be a great MIC. not sure why they are $200 each but can buy a pair for $200.

I don't think I can find a better mixer for $300?
 
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