buying a PA

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musicsdarkangel

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I'm planning on buying a vocal PA (amp for vocals), and I'm not sure on what is a good deal or what I need.

I'm in a live gigging local band playing about at a hard rock level of volume.

Is 300 watts good?

I want to get the PA (included mixer and all) and 2 separate speakers all for 1000 dollars or under if possible.

Do any of you know of any good selections, or nice PA's for this price range for me to check out?


thanks
 
That's a pretty tight budget even if you were just looking at speakers. Stick with JBL and EV and you should be good. Don't get one of those powered mixer/pa heads or you will regret it later.

300W per channel would be a minimum power requirement. 500-1000W is recomended.
 
Right. 300 watts total (only one amp) isn't going to get you very loud - you'll probably be struggling to get over the drummer. Keep in mind too, that if you want to run monitors, you'll need a separate amp for them (wouldn't need to be as loud).

I'd check local used shops - usually best bang for the buck with PA equipment (IMO).
 
powered mixer/pa heads?

You mean the ones with both the mixer and the other stuff besides speakers in it?

Thanks a lot for the advice both of you.

Anything in particular you can recommend to me? EV's are definitely my number one priority in speakers.


I'm really bad with this stuff, not sure what to get. I had no idea that I needed that much power, thanks a lot.
 
I've got a mackie1400i that I'm very happy with. Bridge it and the rest of your band will be the ones going out to buy new amps...
 
Or you could put an industrial sound to it and get a big bullhorn!

Sorry, I just needed the post...
 
anyone know places online that I can check out these pa's, there features, prices or any of that good stuff?



Man I really don't wanna buy somethin i'm going to regret
 
I have no idea on how to start doing research on these PA's
 
sorry i'm triple posting, but one other thing.

If I want to view all the PA's on Ebay.com, then what should I type in in the search? PA definitely won't work, and neither will Vocal Amp.
 
thanks gidge!

hey heres the gear i'm looking at.

Any advice or warnings about any of this gear would be helpful.

These are the speakers, mixers, and pas i'm looking at (getting on ebay)

Mackie M1400i FR-Series High-Current Professional Power Amplifier

Crown CE1000 Amplifier

Crown CE2000 Amplifier

QSC RMX1450 Power Amplifier 700 Watts

Yamaha CP2000 High Output Power Amp

JBL EON1500 15-inch 2-Way PA Cabinet (Single speaker)

JBL SF25 Soundfactor Dual Cabinet (15 in., Quasi 3-Way)

ElectroVoice SxA100 Powered Loudspeaker

JBL EON 15P 2-Way 15 In Powered Speaker

Behringer MX2642A Eurorack MixerMackie 1402VLZ PRO Professional 14x2 Compact Mixer

Behringer MX1804X Eurorack Mixer

Behringer MX2004A Eurorack Mixer

Are JBL's and EV's really the only two I should probably choose between? They are pretty expensive, and I can only find like 1 pair of EV's on zzounds and 5 pairs of JBL's, all outta my price range. Would I really regret getting a pair of Mackie's or something else?

please help.

Thanks for all of the help already, btw. You all kick ass.
 
Those eon's are really nice and easy from what I know. Like I said I got the 1400i, and I'm sure there are alot of people that will back me when I say you won't be dissapointed with it. But if you don't get it, I would stick with crown or qsc.

I may be wrong, but I don't think the mackie spkrs would be a bad choice. I have the 1402vlz mixer, and for the price the vlz' are the best. Everything mackie makes is pretty solid. I would stay away from behringer...

Try www.prepal.com for used prices , as well as ebay
 
Alright tell me what you all think of this setup for PA.

Mackie M1400i FR-Series High-Current Professional Power Amplifier

A pair of JBL EON's (JBL EON1500 15-inch 2-Way PA Cabinet (Single speaker))

Mackie 1402vlz mixer

all of this would be around 1000 used probably.


Argh I probably need to go a bit lower (seeing as I can't find used EON's)

should I downgrade from the JBL's. ( :( i really want them, they look nice)
 
Thats exactly what I have except the jbl's are are TR series 2 way 15". It also pounds a 12" 1000 watt sub at the same time bridged. I like it alot. It's been my only pa, so I guess I'm kinda biased, but I'm pretty sure it's all good. I spent alot of time researching most of my purchases, and have been lucky on the rest. I've only got two or three pieces of gear that would be considered anything but "best bang for your buck". And none of them are the gear in this conversation so...

The 1402 is the best buy mixer in that price range, and perfectly suited for your needs since it has the best mic pre's available in pretty much any compact mixer. The 1400i is a tank. One seriously solid piece of equipment meant for putting out high amounts of power for extended periods of time. It's hard to even make it get hot unless you really got it maxed out for a while. And the jbl's are practically unblowable. I've tried with no success. I like to jam extremely loud at times and that system will rock and rock hard, and it will do it for a long time. That's all I know. Hope I helped.:cool:
 
TexRoadkill said:
That's a pretty tight budget even if you were just looking at speakers. Stick with JBL and EV and you should be good. Don't get one of those powered mixer/pa heads or you will regret it later.

300W per channel would be a minimum power requirement. 500-1000W is recomended.
Click to expand...

What's the matter with a powered mixer? I have a Mackie 808s and I love it.. I'm pretty sure I would take what I've got over a seperate amp/mixer combo of the same price..

Scott
 
Personally, I've had bad luck with powered mixers. I owned a Yamaha (can't remember model) 8 channel deal that sucked - it was noisy, flaky, and the monitor channel died within a month (I got what I paid for).

Also worked with a Samick powered mixer that died less than 2 years old (belonged to father-in-law). He had it in "the shop" for 6 months, and finally gave up and ended up with a Mackie 1404 and a pair of QSC amps that he's really happy with.

I do like powered mains though. My last band had a Mackie 1604 and 2 powered Mackie mains (450's? - can't remember model). They were heavy as hell, but they weren't too bad to carry, and they sounded as good in the back of the bar as they did in the front.
 
musicsdarkangel said:
Alright tell me what you all think of this setup for PA.

Mackie M1400i FR-Series High-Current Professional Power Amplifier

A pair of JBL EON's (JBL EON1500 15-inch 2-Way PA Cabinet (Single speaker))

Mackie 1402vlz mixer

all of this would be around 1000 used probably.

Argh I probably need to go a bit lower (seeing as I can't find used EON's)

should I downgrade from the JBL's. ( :( i really want them, they look nice)
Click to expand...

That looks like a good setup. There are powered Eons so you might be able to get away without a poweramp. Price the different options. I've seen quite a few Eons on Ebay so be patient and some will show up. Those are great no hassle speakers and tough as shit. You could also add their smaller powered Eons for monitors later if you need them.

The main reason I don't like most powered mixers is that they are usually too noisy for recording and rarely have enough power. They are cool for jamming but I personally hate them for gigging. You always have a more flexible upgrade path with seperate components.
 
very good point.


Hey will this pa work for bass maybe?


Just wonderin if it'll work better then my Line 6 AX2 guitar amp, cause i wanna get a bass sound, but can't get a bass amp.
 
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