Advice needed on live environent speakers

[RetroMan]

Recently i've started playing in a duo and it's proven to be quite a little money spinner! - we both sing, the other guy plays acoustic guitar, I play my acoustic bass. We've been pretty much playing raw & unplugged (no mics or guitars plugged in) and it's all well and good in small venues, but were looking at getting 'wired' soon as we starting to do bigger venues.

So i've been on the look out for some PA speakers. They tell me vocals and acoustic guitar is ok, but plugging in my bass by direct injection isn't good for the speakers?!? is this true? My acoustic bass gives off a fuller, rounded, fretless sound, similar to an upright, so do they mean it can damage the horn or something? I don't drive it hard, there's really no need to with the music we're playing.

My acoustic bass is a Warwick that I basically had to hand over my first born son to purchase, it has an onboard preamp on the top with an EQ, sweepable frequency dial, loudness slider control and a master volume knob on it, so it can kick out some serious punch if you need it to, but shouldn't it be fine if I take it easy and don't drive the preamp too hard?

I was thinking of a pair of speakers loaded with 15" subs and a horn like some EV's or JBL's - surely they would be ok?? it's just 2 vocals, guitar and bass - no percussion. I can't work out why plugging a bass direct is such an issue

All advice would be good and taken on board This is the first time i've looked at getting some PA gear for myself, I've always used in-house systems or somebody else's setup.

 

[xstatic]

PLugging a bass directly in to a system is not actually a bad thing, as long as your speakers are capable of reproducing what you are asking them to. Much of this will be decided by the quality of your system compared to its configuration compared to how you are using it. Running your bass through a PA will not hurt it one bit as long you stay within the limits of your system. The biggest problem that I see is that you may not be happy with how the low end is reproduced in a full range system that does not incorporate subs. The only damage would come from misuse. I put bass in monitor mixes all the time and sometimes even at a pretty high level.

As for what speakers to look at, I would give some serious consideration to the Turbosound TXD line if your budget permits it. JBL and EV have been around for a long time and offer a full range of products from very cheap and not so great to some pretty decent and fairly expensive stuff. If it were me, between the two of those I would go with JBL. For sound quality and build quality reasons I would not look at anything less than the SR-X line. Your budget however may not permit this as an option. With the Turbosound however, I would squarely place the TXD line alongside the SR-X line. Between the two I definately prefer the Turbosounds. They have a fuller and richer sound, are still built well, and on average should cost you about 25-35% less. The biggest problem that I can think of is that both Turbosound and JBL are typically a little more expensive than some of the other comparable common lines when it comes to replacement drivers should you ever need one. I would also if possible avoid any powered plastic molded speakers. There are very few of these on the market that sound very good at all in my opinion.

It should be stated though that my opinion could be partially biased due to the fact that I am a Turbosound dealer. I also have never cared much for JBL either, but the SR-X series is definately a step above the older SR stuff and leaps an bounds better than the cheaper JBL speakers that places like Guitar Center carry. I guess your set of options will mostly likely be decided by your budget.

 

[RetroMan]

Now that's the sort of advice I was looking for! everyone I have been talking to off-line has been telling me something different and it's sending me in all directions!

Turbosound certainly sounds like the go I don't mind spending a bit more money to get something that performs well. The saying "you pay for what you get" couldn't be more true in these times

You may sound bias towards Turbosound because you are a dealer, but you wouldn't be carrying the stuff if you didn't believe it was good gear you've obviously been out there in the field to see what sounds good and what doesn't.

Thanks a ton xstatic, you've been a big help!

 

[xstatic]

Thanks for keeping an open mind on the dealer thing Retro. The sound company I run switched to Turbosound 2-3 years ago when it changed owners. We are Turbosound dealers for exactly the reasons you described. When the company changed owners we had to open/reopen lines because one of the old owners retained a few, including RCF where we were getting our drivers. Basically, I came with the company during the ownership changes since most all of our clients were kind of "my" clients. My new boss asked me what direction we wanted to go. I chose Turbosound because we were immediately able to get some older high quality turbo boxes at a low cost and because they offered excellent high end cabs, as well the best "bang for your buck" more affordable cabs that I could find. In my area we aren't really going to be able to sell the $4500 per cab stuff, so finding a line that offered something decent between $400 and $1200 a cab was very important. If I had not chosen Turbosound, my next choice would have been JBL, unless we just bit the bullet for Nexo or D&B.

What I reccomend is the you try to find a large retailer in your area so you can listen to a few of the different offerings. Hearing is believing and I do not think you will be dissapointed in what you hear out of the Turbosounds. My first experience with the more affordable Turbosound stuff was years ago in a Guitar center. I caught the blue speaker out of the corner of my eye and it saddened me. I thought to myself "there goes another good speaker manufacturer". What surprised me first is how well it was built for the price they had it tagged at. The next thing I did was trun on some of the JBL SR-X stuff since I am fairly familiar with how they sound. It sounded pretty decent. Then I switched to the turbosound rig and I was very surprised. It was smoother, handled dynamics better, less fatiguing, and seemed to relay a deeper soundscape. I was very suprised to hear that out of a budget speaker line

Good luck in your searching!