Buying a PA: What to look for?

[phat daddy]

I'm finally running my own band and doing all the lead vocals and really taking the buisness into my own hands, and I now see that the only bandleaders in my area that have any continuity buisness-wise own and carry their own PA's. I already have a van, no problem there. I'm running on approx. $3K budget, I want two tops, two bottoms, a mixer/power amp or PA head setup, and some type of effects unit. Monitors would be nice as well, 2 or 3 of them, but I don't know if that'll fit the budget. I'm looking to buy used/good condition stuff as I'll get the "bang for the buck".
Any bassists out there running their own PA's? What are the better brands? What should I watch out for positive/negative? Any advice is appreciated and well merited as I'm totally new to the PA world. Thanks.

[T-Bird]

Hi, phat daddy.

I do own my Pa and try to operate it also .

If You are young and fit, look for an older pro-separates, that's IMO/IME the most cost effective solution if the weight is not a problem.

The questions really are:
What type of music You'll play and how loud? And How big a crowd do You want to hear/feel the music. Also the amount of instruments that will rely on the PA support is quite important. We mike everything. My rule of thumb has been 1kW of amplification for every 50 people.

My PA rig includes 2*606s, 2*tops with 18"+12"+2*1" horns, 2*Carver PM1,5s and a Soundcraft SA200B 20 mixing console. On the FX rack, there is usually 2*4-ch Behringer compressors, an Alesis midiverb and 4 channels of 31 band EQs.
We play rock covers.

The mics are the usual Shures and AKGs. The drummer has his own cheapish drum mic set, that sounds really good for the low price he paid for it.

Also the band owns a couple of cheapish active monitors that can be fed directly from the AUX groups.

That setup screams OLD SCHOOL and is a pita to haul around, but has that nice round, not that articulate sound. Is enough even in some small outdoors gigs.

The new active cabs and small versatile mixing desks offer a much lighter setup, but cost much more.

Just my 0.02€
Sam

[Mon Rominee]

Go used, obviously.
two Mackie 450's stands or equivalent (JBL / EV / Behringer all ake powered cabs), and an 1801 (all self-powered, and the 1801 has a built-in crossover)
modest board, like a 12 channel Behringer or Mackie or whoever, and spend the rest on decent mics.

That setup will get plenty loud and has enoug headroom, and will not take up your whole van. And the speakers are plentiful and any service joint can fix them.

[BetterBottomEnd]

Consider building some Bill Fitz cabs?

[smakbass]

I have two set ups for that budget the powered speakers are probably a great way to go, I would choose the JBL Eons over the Mackies as I think they sound a little better if budget is a real concern my band is running 2 Yorkville NX55Ps as mains with Yorkville NX25ps as moniters, they also have a nice lil subwoofer (NX200s), we use a little Peavey board (PV14?) which only has one channel for moniters (so one mix only) but it is serving us well. This system is also a breeze to set up and haul about.

Alot of what you need really depends on what types of gigs you are doing. This system above has served us well for Pubs right up to Corprate gigs. We have never come close to pushing the volume (probably never used it beyond 50% of its capacity)

My other system is all JBL speakers with crown power amps which is great too but its more for larger venues etc.....

[phat daddy]

Thanks to all who have responded so far. It sounds to me like the powered speaker cabs are the way to go, although I might not mind carrying around an amp rack if it saves me a lot of cash and sounds just as good. I've always known JBL makes good PA gear, but I didn't realize there were quite a few more options. The Yorkvilles sound cool, as do a lot of the other suggestions. Where is a good place to look at used options? I've tried Kraig's List and I don't see a lot of appealing stuff on there. Thanks again.