
Sky Blue Lou
Well-known member
This is posted at RP in the Live Gear forum. We don't have one of those so this looks like a decent place to drop it.
Hi guys - I'm gettin' the urge to acquire some gear. Well I'd like to step up the level of the PA system anyway. I'm turning over possibilities and I'd appreciate your thoughts.
I'll start with what we have:
Mackie VLZ 1604
4-way compressor for vox
BBE Maximizer - 2 channel Main/Monitor
Alesis multiverb or some such - depth for vox
Some Behri effects box - for oddball shit - telephone voice, etc.
All that stuff is fine and I have no desire to change any of it.
Power side:
Tapco Juice (by Mackie) 2500 Power amp - 700 watts/side into 4 ohms
Peavey SP7G speakers - handle 600 watts continuous, 2400 peak
Older Peavey XR600B Powered mixer - This is our monitor amp, 210/300 watts into ---
Older Peavey MDJ 1150 Speakers - Damn big for floor monitors.
Concerns and questions:
I've always worried about relying on one amp - if she croaks we're a no-show. I suppose we could use the Peavey for vox and go w/o monitors in a pinch but I think it might be a tad chaotic.
The big speakers can be bi-amped so I was thinking another Juice and a crossover. I wouldn't need as much power for the high side so I could step down to the 1400 and still have plenty of headroom and enough to sub for big brother if it goes down. Bi-amping should give a better sound and more control as well, no?
Monitors - Another amp and passive floor wedges? We are trying to keep the monitors for vox only. Both guitar amps and the soon-to-be new bass amp have direct outs and we want to try the guitar cabs on the ends of the stage facing center as opposed to the typical back line. The Peavey can certainly handle the job but as mentioned the speakers occupy a lot of floor space. Also the Peavey won't mount in a rack. (Speaking of racks...)
One note before I talk about racks: The Juice amps are mono/stereo/bridged mono. They are essentially two amps in one. We run mono, one input and two sends to speakers w/ separate volume controls. I take it this is standard stuff? Has anyone used this configuration as two amps with one side taking main input/output duties and the other side doing monitors? I can daisy-chain the speakers in normal mode but can't if bi-amped.
Racks:
I want all this shit in one rack, hooked up, with the snake and speaker wires coiled and ready. I am so fuckin' sick of setting all this shit up for every gig you do not know!! (We should have done this first, I know...) I've looked at the SBK Gig Rig but besides being bloody expensive I'm not sure I could fit the snake and speaker cables in there once loaded. We're leaning toward building one - it's gonna weigh a ton!! Suggestions?
All right - done. There are no budget constraints other than reality. A couple thousand tops - I should think we can stay well within that.
I appreciate your thoughts and recommendations. I'll check back often.
lou
Hi guys - I'm gettin' the urge to acquire some gear. Well I'd like to step up the level of the PA system anyway. I'm turning over possibilities and I'd appreciate your thoughts.
I'll start with what we have:
Mackie VLZ 1604
4-way compressor for vox
BBE Maximizer - 2 channel Main/Monitor
Alesis multiverb or some such - depth for vox
Some Behri effects box - for oddball shit - telephone voice, etc.
All that stuff is fine and I have no desire to change any of it.
Power side:
Tapco Juice (by Mackie) 2500 Power amp - 700 watts/side into 4 ohms
Peavey SP7G speakers - handle 600 watts continuous, 2400 peak
Older Peavey XR600B Powered mixer - This is our monitor amp, 210/300 watts into ---
Older Peavey MDJ 1150 Speakers - Damn big for floor monitors.
Concerns and questions:
I've always worried about relying on one amp - if she croaks we're a no-show. I suppose we could use the Peavey for vox and go w/o monitors in a pinch but I think it might be a tad chaotic.
The big speakers can be bi-amped so I was thinking another Juice and a crossover. I wouldn't need as much power for the high side so I could step down to the 1400 and still have plenty of headroom and enough to sub for big brother if it goes down. Bi-amping should give a better sound and more control as well, no?
Monitors - Another amp and passive floor wedges? We are trying to keep the monitors for vox only. Both guitar amps and the soon-to-be new bass amp have direct outs and we want to try the guitar cabs on the ends of the stage facing center as opposed to the typical back line. The Peavey can certainly handle the job but as mentioned the speakers occupy a lot of floor space. Also the Peavey won't mount in a rack. (Speaking of racks...)
One note before I talk about racks: The Juice amps are mono/stereo/bridged mono. They are essentially two amps in one. We run mono, one input and two sends to speakers w/ separate volume controls. I take it this is standard stuff? Has anyone used this configuration as two amps with one side taking main input/output duties and the other side doing monitors? I can daisy-chain the speakers in normal mode but can't if bi-amped.
Racks:
I want all this shit in one rack, hooked up, with the snake and speaker wires coiled and ready. I am so fuckin' sick of setting all this shit up for every gig you do not know!! (We should have done this first, I know...) I've looked at the SBK Gig Rig but besides being bloody expensive I'm not sure I could fit the snake and speaker cables in there once loaded. We're leaning toward building one - it's gonna weigh a ton!! Suggestions?
All right - done. There are no budget constraints other than reality. A couple thousand tops - I should think we can stay well within that.
I appreciate your thoughts and recommendations. I'll check back often.
lou