New PA . . . what would you do?

jondog · #1 10-31-2004, 05:59 AM

We usually run a relatively small PA -- 2 JBL 1x10 powered mains and a 15" Mackie powered sub. It's ok for most venues we play but the lows are a little lacking. The sub died last night (very odd, you can still hear it working, just very quietly) and my singer is fed up w/ running power cables so he wants buy a traditional non-powered PA. I have 2 big older 1x15 sub bins w/ JBLs and a Mackie 1400i to power them that we will use to cover the lows.

What mains and amp should he buy? Nothing too big. He's looking at a Carvin amp w/ 4 channels at 1000W each. It's heavy. Anybody use one of those? Should he look into other amps?

**IvanMike** · #2 10-31-2004, 06:14 AM

honestly, if you get a good pair of 1x12 or 1x15 mains you won't need subs 90% of the time. I would try out your existing mackie with some cabinets, maybe use the 1x10's as monitors

jondog · #3 10-31-2004, 06:35 AM

Yes, the 1x10s will become monitors. He says that 15s don't sound as good on vocals, so he'd probably prefer 12s. Can you recommend any good ones? I've heard EAW is high quality, but have never heard them in person.

Munjibunga · #4 10-31-2004, 09:57 AM

Yeah, if you can affor EAW, get 'em. Otherwise, I'd get two Mackie SR 1530's and another SWA 1501, and get the other one fixed. That's what we use, and we can do up to 500 people outdoors. Be sure to put the subs right next to each other in the center for max effect.

BTW, a problem that comes up with the Mackie subs is that the power transistors are mounted to the PC board, and the heat sinks are mounted directly to the transistor with no support from the board. If you drop the cab, it can pull the connection to the board loose.

jondog · #5 10-31-2004, 10:21 AM

OK, I'll look further into EAW.

The Mackies are *not* an option for us. We used to have 2 1530s and they both died after multiple repairs. They did sound good when they were alive. Now that the sub is dead too, Mackie speakers will no longer grace our stage.

Passinwind · #6 11-01-2004, 12:58 PM

If you're going EAW, start at the LA212, IMHO. That'll run you about $1200 ea., and you might not need subs for a lot of gigs. For something under a grand, I'd start with Yorkville Elite (http://www.audioeast.com/yorkvilleelite.htm), which are a nice value; also check out E-V SX300 (http://www.audioeast.com/sx.htm), another decent 12" 2-way cab. Turbo Sound has a new series of club speakers now too, but I haven't heard any of them yet.

Personally, I'd sell off your 15s, and get something like the Yorkville Unity, a 3-way with a 15. 15s are only chancy for vocals when they're in a 2-way, in my experience. Your singer probably doesn't like the response mung at the crossover point typical of many 15" 2-ways that use a 1" high driver.

Amps? Make sure your cabs are the right impedance to let the amp develop full power, unless you have cash to burn. I'm on the light weight bandwagon, and would look at QSC, Crest, and Crown, all of which feature great warranties these days. You could buy lightly used ones still in warranty, since they all have transferrable warranties, IIRC.

jive1 · #7 11-01-2004, 01:19 PM

The EAWs are nice and durable. The problem with them is the cost and the weight. Those things are heavy.

What is the budget you are looking at? Does weight an issue?

For me weight is always an issue. I rather work out at the gym that at a gig, and I hate lugging gear.

A couple of nice lightweight amps are the Peavey DPC and the Stewart World series. My band currently has an older Stewart PA1200 for our monitors and a PA 1400 for the mains. It gives us plenty of power for the gigs we play, and the two amps weight less than most power amps (34lbs). The DPC is ligher and only takes up a single rack space.

As far as Mains are concerned, our band did away with the JBL Eons we were using. It was too big of a pain to find 2 additional power sources, as well as two additional cables that clutter up the stage. Right now we use the 15" JBL M-Pros. They are pretty good for the price, but they lack the definition of a 3 way system. They have decent bass response, however.

jondog · #8 11-01-2004, 02:07 PM

I've heard that EAW was sold to Loud Industries. Is this true? Will it affect warranty service?

Passinwind · #9 11-01-2004, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jondog

I've heard that EAW was sold to Loud Industries. Is this true? Will it affect warranty service?

It is true, Mackie (now Loud) has owned them for a couple of years now. I haven't heard anything about warranty hassles, and I am seriously considering buying a few myself. EAW is still producing cabs on the US east coast AFAIK. Go here and ask if you want some real world feedback though: http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/f/5/0

jondog · #10 11-01-2004, 02:23 PM

It was not easy dealing w/ Loud on our 1530 problems and ultimate failure, so I don't think they'll be getting our business via EAW.

It's tough to state our budget because my singer is buying, but he's not a cheap kind of guy and he cares about good sound. We're looking at some 3 way JBLs.

Also, I recently read a thread about Stewart repair problems/delays, and they are expensive, so those are probably out.

**IvanMike** · #11 11-01-2004, 02:26 PM

there are a pair of Bag End TA-12 pa speakers on e-bay now, maybe a day left or so. I know a lot of bands here who swear by them (plus it looks like you could get em cheep)