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400w a side, enough?

I-Love-Ratm

I-Love-Ratm

Inactive
Feb 24, 2003
1,079
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#1
Hey everyone,

I am in the process of upgrading my bands PA. I just picked up a Mackie CFX16 for a steal and will be needing powered speakers next. It is a 5 piece band that does bar and wedding gigs. The bigger weddings will be approx. 200 in a large enough room. Is 400/450w from a 15" speaker enough for these rooms or will we be needing more? I also want to add a sub but powered subs are pretty damn expensive!

We'll be running 5 vocals, keys,acoustic gtr, a little electric, a little bass, kick drum and possibly overheads too.

Cheers!
 
#2
A couple of high quality (QSC or JBL) powered 12's.

Don't put the kick or bass in the PA unless you have one or two subs. The 12's will do your vocals justice, and you'll love the size and weight.
 
#3
I will do for a start, it will handle your vocal needs and a small amount of instrumental boosting. I would stick with the 15's and add a sub or two when you can afford it, a 12" PA is too small to do a 200+ venue. Depending on the type of music you play.
My band has a 8000watt PA for the larger venues made of 6 x 15+horns and 4 x subs, or reduced to 2 x 15 and 2 x subs for average bar type venues, and just the 2 x 15 for the small venues.

Choose the gear wisely so in the future it can be used to mix and match with other gear without having to replace it to upgrade..
 
#4
400 watts is a little light with regards to a decent 3-way 15" mains enclosure...I'd aim for closer to 700-800 watts. The good news is that the upgrade won't set you back a fortune and will pay off in the long run.

Subs? It may be cheaper to go with used passives, crossover, and power amp.

Riis
 
#5
That's a good start but as others have said, I would be budgeting for at least one subwoofer as soon as possible, also. Then you can run kick and bass through the P.A. besides just the vox and high-end stuff, which will give your band a fuller, richer, more "professional" sound.
 
#10
I-Love-Ratm said:
Looking at a few different ones. Mackie SRM 405s, dB Opera 205(?), RCFs not sure which model. I know power isn't directly related to wattage but its a bit of an indication.
Click to expand...

Do you mean Mackie 450s? Those are a 12 inch speaker. I owned some of the original version and they were a good speaker. I really don't trust Mackie any more. They will be plenty loud for what you want to do as long as you leave the kick and bass out. You will need subs for those instruments.
 
#11
I-Love-Ratm said:
Hey everyone,

I am in the process of upgrading my bands PA. I just picked up a Mackie CFX16 for a steal and will be needing powered speakers next. It is a 5 piece band that does bar and wedding gigs. The bigger weddings will be approx. 200 in a large enough room. Is 400/450w from a 15" speaker enough for these rooms or will we be needing more? I also want to add a sub but powered subs are pretty damn expensive!

We'll be running 5 vocals, keys,acoustic gtr, a little electric, a little bass, kick drum and possibly overheads too.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Yes, it would work fine for the size room you mention. No, it will not if you run bass and kick through it. Get a sub or two.
 
#12
Hi.

I-Love-Ratm said:
I know power isn't directly related to wattage but its a bit of an indication.
Click to expand...

Only an indication of the voice coils power handling before it breaks. At a specific frequency no less.
Nothing more.

For vocals strictly, that published wattage can be used as a loose guideline, but with anything that has sub 100Hz content, forget the published wattage figures when choosing a cab.
And the 100Hz means everything but vocals.
Short of measuring the responses and the power handling Yourself, there's no real way of telling what they are.

Regards
Sam
 
#13
I use something similar for weddings but I only use it for vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards. I've since added one sub and I will add bass drum and an overhead. Bass comes from my cab.

In truth, i don't think that is enough power but it gets me by.

I would definitely budget for a budget sub and if I were you I'd really try and buy something a bit more powerful. When people atart dancing you'll regret not having it
 

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