• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Help a little band out with advice on a PA

C

Corbis

Feb 19, 2003
251
0
38
Wamego KS
Visit site
#1
Hello, my band, which has little money, is getting tired of running our vocals through an old keyboard amp for practice and borrowing/renting PAs for preformances.

So we were looking at buying one that under $1000 and I was wondering if you could put some input on the stuff we are looking at.

Here's some things we want to make sure we have.

-At least six channels
-Monitor for me and drummer
-Enough power to be heard of other instruments (duh)

Here's what we are looking at now.

NADY PFw12 Floor Wedge Monitor (12" woofer) $99

Yamaha S10e (speakers - 250-500w handling, 12 inch speaker) $199 x 2

Yamaha EMX66M (Power Mixer - 2 mono amps can drive 300w, six channels) $499

----
Any help you have on this equipment it self or any advice you could give on what we need would REALLY help.

My band being a 5 peice high school band (2 guitars, drummer, singer, me) our audience, lets face it, isn't very big. And we, being in high school, have no money any help you give so we don't waste 800 bucks on something that will break or won't work for us would REALLY help.

Feel free to PM me.

Questions I have

Will 2 12" speakers be enough?
Will 300w be enough?
Is Yamaha and Nady a good company? (I've heard nice things about Yamaha from Musicians around here)
 
#2
yamaha is great. the nady floor monitors will do fine for a smaller band. But other nady stuff usually leave a LOT to be desired. Just remember, you get what you pay for. You might want to look on getting some of the S115IV's if possible. They are a considerable bit more, but they will handle a lot more in frequency range than 10's or 12's will ever handle. Don't waste your money on a lot of Nady stuff. Save your money, don't go out to eat so often. I have that problem a lot. Anyways, good luck with the band. BTW, I have some speakers you might be interested in if you are looking for cost effectiveness. E-mail me about them at [email protected]
 
#3
Another thing to consider is to buy the gear used. I got an Ashly 3005 (I think) power amp, a pair of Peavey 15" wedges, and an Alesis MEQ-230 for $500 from a club that was going under. Spend $150 for a Behringer mixer and you've got a practice PA that you won't have to throw away later and that can serve as part of a better PA later.

Try to find a band or club that wants to get rid of some gear.

I would not buy an integrated mixer and power amp. If you do, prepare to throw it away if you ever need more power or channels. Ok, you could sell it, but why bother? You can get a much more versitile system by going used. Let someone else take the major hit for depreciation of new gear.

If you are just talking about practice this should do fine and for performances, you can rent mains and use one side of the amp for monitors and one for mains.

Good luck with the band and keep playing.
:bassist:
 
#5
Definately don't buy new. But I will take the opposite viewpoint on the integrated mixer/amp. I don't like schlepping a whole lot of stuff around anymore, for me an integrated unit is great.

My first PA investment was a 4 input single out , 150 watt mixer/amp that I bought used 15 years ago with two 2 way 12 inch speakers for $300 (I think). Not a great deal, but I still have it and it still works for practices and the occassional small gig.

I now also have a Peavey XR1200D, 12 channels in w/phantom power, 2 main sends + 2 monitors sends, powered 300 watts per side into 4 ohms. Built in digital delay. I can use it as a main + monitor amp, driving a set of mains and a set of monitor speakers, or I can drive the two mains at 300 watts per side then use an external power amp to power two pairs of monitors. Got it with a road case for $700 (IIRC) used of course.

I did buy my mains new for big bucks but I wanted some clean 3 ways and I had some cash to blow...

Anyhow, my advice would be a used integrated mixer/amp in the 6 to 8 input (XLR's) with a main/monitor amp capability.
 
#6
a great, small and loud setup is a makie 808m ($750 new) and yamaha s112me moniter speakers ($350 new for a pair). The 808m has 2 600watt amps in it. this system is very upgradable and can be used with a rock band in a room up to about 200 people. for larger rooms add the yamaha 115IV ($550 new). This is the setup i have. great stuff!
 
#7
Originally posted by inazone
a great, small and loud setup is a makie 808m ($750 new) and yamaha s112me moniter speakers ($350 new for a pair). The 808m has 2 600watt amps in it. this system is very upgradable and can be used with a rock band in a room up to about 200 people. for larger rooms add the yamaha 115IV ($550 new). This is the setup i have. great stuff!
Click to expand...

This makes sense.
 
#9
Used, Used, Used. With the way bands come and go there is always a ton of PA equipment for sale at any given time. I've got (believe it or not) a 12 channel powered Carvin PA head that is one of the best around. I'm not too crazy about their speakers but this little PA head is the sh!t..
 
#11
Just so you're not trying to put the bass through this little PA rig, you should be OK with any of the suggestions tossed out here so far.

If you plan to put the bass through the board with no bass amp, you are unfortunately gonna need a LOT more juice and speaker cones than anything that has been mentioned.

In any case, though, make sure you're looking at the amp's power output INTO THE SPEAKERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING. Most single PA cabs are 8 ohm, but most power amps are advertised at their 4-ohm (or even 2-ohm!) output, which is always lower than the output into 8 ohms. The specs will list the output into 8-ohm spks, so be sure you know what you're buying. The Mackie 808 mentioned above is what my bandleader bought, but the 600-watt rating is into 2 ohms, not 8.
 
#12
yes and no. last night we played in a room for about 200 people. the guitar amp is a marshal jmc2000, 40watt, miked and pointed back towards the drummer. i play a modulus 5 string through a 112 bergantino cab, direct out to the pa. we used the 808m with two yamaha 115 and two 112 monitors for the band. we had three vocals, one guitar, one bass, the bass drum and one other mike for overall drums. the sound was great and loud. we had two metal sets and played linkin park, black sabath, papa roach, etc. it was loud enough we were told to turn down. you are right about the watts though. 600 watts per side at 2ohms and 450 per side at 4ohms. but the cool thing about the 808m is that you can run two 4ohm cabs per side and get the full 600 watts, per side, and line out to a another power amp and have a full 1000 (depending on the power amp) into a sub cab. very upgradable. all with the plug and play ease.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back