You had Peaveys? We would have killed for Peaveys...
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Cheap PA
- Thread starter Hwegs7
- Start date
How about The Phonic Powerpod 620 Plus? Looks decent with fair reveiws on musicians friend. Could i get this thing close to a drumset volume if placed at head level. And if this one is good what speaker "stlyes should i look at in order to get the best sound/volume. Lile ohms and watts ect.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Always take reviews in Musicians Friend with a LARGE grain of salt. Again, is this just for practice or for gigging.
You are much better off buying used. You will get lots more bang for your buck, and there are lots of people who either stopped playing, or were in your position and moved up to a better rig.
You are much better off buying used. You will get lots more bang for your buck, and there are lots of people who either stopped playing, or were in your position and moved up to a better rig.
Don't believe half the reviews on musicians friend most of the people buying the cheap junk wouldn't know what a decent PA is if it bit them on the ass. That system wouldn't be very loud at all. It might work for a rehearsal but if your drummer is loud you will be screwed for hearing the vocals. Buy used or as I mentioned earlier by something worth owning and add onto as your needs grow. This way you will not have to start over from scratch.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Also, a number of their reviews (especially their catalogs) were nothing more than marketing written by their own staff.
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I am constantly amazed at people who don't do sufficient research to find out about the tools of their trade. At least the OP is asking questions before he spends money. We had a guy in my music store the other day. He had been shopping on craigslist. Bought an electric bass. Bought a bass cab. Plugged bass into cab. Wondered why there was no sound. Was amazed when he was told he needed an amplifier too.
My other pet peeve is people who expect premium performance while spending rock bottom prices. As was said earlier, good gear ain't cheap, cheap gear ain't good. That said, best bang for your buck is usually used gear, but you don't get the security of a warranty. Life is too short to play with crappy inadequate gear that will fail on you. Far too many casual and bar bands spend all their money on their instrument amps (and drums) and skimp on their PA, which results in inaudible vocals at their gigs. I'm sure many of you have experienced this . . .
My other pet peeve is people who expect premium performance while spending rock bottom prices. As was said earlier, good gear ain't cheap, cheap gear ain't good. That said, best bang for your buck is usually used gear, but you don't get the security of a warranty. Life is too short to play with crappy inadequate gear that will fail on you. Far too many casual and bar bands spend all their money on their instrument amps (and drums) and skimp on their PA, which results in inaudible vocals at their gigs. I'm sure many of you have experienced this . . .
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buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
At least. Lots of 6 or 8 channel powered mixers out there, which should be more than enough for playing bars with some decent speakers, assuming you are not putting everything through it.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I have no idea where you are. Look up Guitar Center used powered mixers. They generally will ship to any store I believe.
Keep an eye out on Craigslist. Not long ago saw a Mackie 808s and a Yamaha EMX512c for decent prices. It's more than your budget but save up. I always see JBL, Yamaha, EV and Peavey speakers. Just be patient and wait it out. You can also find plenty of passive mixers and power amps as well.
I had a Powerpod 620, the predecessor to the Plus. It was definitely adequate for band practice. Get at least 12s or 15s.
There are however better choices. Personally I would save up for some decent used powered speakers and a good mixer with effects.
I suppose you mean to say Number 1 is better here? If so (or even if not) why do you think so?
Is it the modular nature of the beast, being able to add more powered cabs later, or is there more to it than just that?
If you just need something to get the vocals heard at rehearsals then you don't need a stereo mix, so I would use the whole of your $200 on a single powered PA cab - for vocals, you won't need bigger than a 12" cab (and even a 10 may do it). Either get a new one from a cheap brand or a secondhand one. Most powered cabs have a couple of mic inputs so that you can plug a couple of mics straight in, and they have a rudimentary 'mixer' to blend between these signals....some also have some basic tone controls.
Use this single cab and you'll learn a lot about placement of both cab and mics to avoid feedback and get the best sound.
If you need more mic inputs, and you're still using the cab for just vocals, you can get little 3 or 4 channel mixers for very little cash...so that may be your next purchase after the cab.
When it's time to go gigging, buy a second cab of the same type as the first and use the mixer to feed them.
When gigs start to pay and it's time to upgrade, buy some better powered cabs, a better mixer, and use the first cabs as monitors.
When the gigs get bigger and you need to start putting instruments into the PA as well, get a subwoofer....
If you choose carefully, you'll still be able to use your original cab as one of the vocal monitors and squeeze the best value out of your limited budget.
Use this single cab and you'll learn a lot about placement of both cab and mics to avoid feedback and get the best sound.
If you need more mic inputs, and you're still using the cab for just vocals, you can get little 3 or 4 channel mixers for very little cash...so that may be your next purchase after the cab.
When it's time to go gigging, buy a second cab of the same type as the first and use the mixer to feed them.
When gigs start to pay and it's time to upgrade, buy some better powered cabs, a better mixer, and use the first cabs as monitors.
When the gigs get bigger and you need to start putting instruments into the PA as well, get a subwoofer....
If you choose carefully, you'll still be able to use your original cab as one of the vocal monitors and squeeze the best value out of your limited budget.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Powered speakers gives more options to expand, but for OP, a powered mixer is probably better. More decent used options out there, just like lots of heavy 4x10s out there.
OK.
I'm just piggybacking this thread a little, because I'm thinking of getting some new PA gear. I'd only need it for small situations, couple of guitars and vocals for the village hall/green type stuff. I don't want to pay a fortune, and so I'm reading up on all the cheaper suggestions. The quality of sound is more important to me than the quantity, if you follow me.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I got ya. I am not an expert by any means - just 30 years in the trenches. OP is looking for a cheap solution (asking $200 for his entire rig for a loud band).
There are plenty of good, modular rigs with powered mixers - that is the system I use.
There are plenty of good, modular rigs with powered mixers - that is the system I use.
There is some merit in this approach, but you've got to squeeze a powered mixer and at least one cab out of a very limited budget. The quality of the equipment that you'll get at this price point won't be great and you'll soon outgrow it, and what do with it then? You would have to sell it on, if you could, and replace it. Even if you sold the mixer alone, and put the cabs on monitor duty, you would need to buy another power amp for your passive cabs....
With the powered cab route you just add to it as and when you are able or have a need to. Nothing to sell or trade, no redundant equipment.
Maybe it's just my prejudice showing here, but I have a thing against mixer amps. They usually try to cram too much stuff into their form factor and you end up with graphic EQs and built in FX that can't hold a candle to carefully chosen separates, and on top of that they're the least flexible bits of equipment you can get in the PA category....you get what you get and it's a pain to expand a scaleable rig around them.
They are very convenient to set up though, I'll give you that, so if something like this is all you're ever going to need then it's a viable option.
No. You don't hear watts you hear sound pressure level (Spl) and it's measured in db. Compare the spec sheets of anything you want to buy and see what the maximum Spl they're capable of.
A caveat is that budget brands won't always publish this figure, and if they do they're probably exaggerating....
Watts are just the power ratings and an efficient cab may very well be louder with 100 watts than an inefficient cab with 500. It's a bit like asking, how fast will I go with 200 horsepower....the answer is, it depends, with 200 horsepower in a motorbike...very fast indeed. With 200 horsepower in a 40 ton truck, not so much...
I was just at guitar center and i think i will buy a single powered speaker for now. (so nothing becomes "unuseable" in the future) there are two 15" powered cabs with horns in my price range. One is a harbinger and one is an american audio would either of thses be decent?
