Quote:
Originally Posted by leftaslide  1. budget is not set, we'll just pool our gig money til we have enough.
2. our mixer is a 16 channel unpowered behringer
3. 9-10 mics, that's vocals, instruments, etc.
4. indoors and outdoors will be about equal i'd say
5. "outlaw" country, southern rock, etc...
6. we would love to add on, whatever we can to make it better
7. we need ar portable as possible. we play a lot of parties. |
Ok cool... this is good information to start working with. I've typically found that a budget of $1500-$2000 is enough to get you a good "starter" PA that will allow some growth as you learn more about your sound reinforcement needs.
First off, your mixer is a pretty good place to start. I'll work from the assumption that you have enough mic preamps (eg, the XL1600 has 12 preamps) to cover the maximum number of mics you'll be running. There are certainly other options, but this one should last you until it breaks or you're ready for a better sounding board, need more channels, want onboard effects, etc. Also, most places really don't require reinforcing more than vocals and maybe the kick drum, so you've got room to grow with that board.
With the mixer covered, that leaves you pretty much looking at powered speakers or passive speakers with power amps. Neither one is necessarily better than the other per se, but there are certain instances where one may be a better choice.
Though they tend to start off a bit more expensive, it is hard to beat the flexibility and portability of powered speakers. They hook up to your mixer with a microphone cable (cheap!), can be used in even or odd numbered configurations and you don't have to worry about impedance or matching power amps. You can start small with a pair of 2ways and easily add on subs, monitors and more high packs as necessary.
Some major drawbacks is that you are stuck with that particular speaker / amp combination, and if you blow one or the other you lose both the speaker AND the amp (which is also a strength in that the show can run on a crippled system after an amp blows). These things can also be boat anchors because both components are in the same cabinet.
The other approach is to get a separate power amp and passive speakers. This tends to be a bit more complex, as you'll need to match power ratings between the two components and will likely need more amps as you add speakers (unless you buy large to begin with), and you'll need a crossover if you add a passive sub. In the long run though, this approach tends to be more flexible in that you can swap out amps and speakers to taste, but you definitely have more moving parts.
For most indoor parties / small / medium venues you're probably not going to need much more than a pair of high packs (eg. 15in 2ways) and maybe 1000 to 1500 watts (head room is king on a PA). Guitars and bass should be able to handle their own, and at most you'd be looking at vocals, keyboards and maybe the kick drum. Most medium sized places will typically have their own house PA system and probably a sound guy, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
Outdoors is a different animal altogether... sound waves simply disappear, so you'll want a good deal more wattage if you're trying to entertain more than 25-50 people (back yard party / bbq size). I'd suggest looking at doubling your power / speakers for this just to be on the safe side.
Its definitely up to you to decide, but I'm kinda getting the feeling that you may be happier working with powered speakers... a pair of 15 inch 2 ways with somewhere around 500 watts would probably do the trick nicely.
