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Odd PA System Advice

Lazarus.Bird

Lazarus.Bird

Mr. Personality
Aug 16, 2010
10,577
1,367
Pittsburgh
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#1
So I really don't have much experience with PA systems but a customer at work wants us to do some custom job where there are 4 pole mounted speakers attached to the roof of a Suburban with a rack-mount amp inside. Amp needs to be able to take a mic input and an auxiliary input and will be used as a PA for a speaker w/ a mic and also as an audio sound system.

Any advice as to where I should start looking for something like this? Seems like I could just start with finding my powered mixer and then finding 4 pole-mount speakers to go with it. Just looking for suggestions if anyones got some ;)

Also, it seems most of the powered mixers I look at don't list ohms. How does one go about making sure the speakers will work with the amp?
 
#2
All powered mixers will list ohm/watts ratings. If you only need 2 channels (mic input, auxiliary input), it may be cheaper to just buy a power amp and a little beater behringer mixer. Powered mixers will typically have more options you are paying for (onboard effects, additional outs, separate eq's for monitors/mains, etc). Cheap powered speakers and a little cheap Behringer mixer is another option. Also, consider whether he wants reverb or other vocal effects. This will dictate whether you need to look at a mixer with onboard effects.

How much the speakers and amp(s) are rated for really depends on what he is trying to do.

You can buy stuff all day on Craigslist to accomplish this.
 
#3
Ok after a little research let me rephrase.

The mixer part is really not important. It doesn't need FX or really even the ability to change frequency levels is not important. I only said powered mixer because that seems to be the phrase used for units that have both a pre and power so you can plug a microphone into the unit and output it to the speakers.

I buy stuff off CL all the time, but this stuff needs to be brand new.
 
#6
The vehicle is for marketing so it has to be new and look nice, although the actual demands of the system are quite low.

We use something like this to play XM in our shop: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

If I could connect this to 4 speakers instead of 2 it would be perfect. Any reason I can't buy two of these, send the record out of Amp 1 to Aux Input of Amp 2 and have Amp 2 function as a second power amp?

Mixer + powered speakers sounds like a good idea, but getting power to each speaker might turn into a big headache.
 
#7
Those QSCs look killer but are way more power than I need plus a little over my budget. I didn't really accurately convey how much power I need. Those two small amps I posted in my last post are really as much power as we'll need. I supposed if I had to go with powered speakers I could get some less powerful ones. I did find this which I think would impress them :D Alesis iMultiMix 9R | Sweetwater.com
 
#8
Lazarus.Bird said:
The vehicle is for marketing so it has to be new and look nice, although the actual demands of the system are quite low.

We use something like this to play XM in our shop: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

If I could connect this to 4 speakers instead of 2 it would be perfect. Any reason I can't buy two of these, send the record out of Amp 1 to Aux Input of Amp 2 and have Amp 2 function as a second power amp?

Mixer + powered speakers sounds like a good idea, but getting power to each speaker might turn into a big headache.
Click to expand...

The only problem with that is it will have little power. If you don't need that much volume out of they system, that will be fine.

You won't need to do the whole record out to aux input thing since you'll need a mixer in front of it anyway. From that mixer you could send one signal to amp A and another to amp B.
 
#9
We have one of hte 2x75 PAs running 2 CV speakers which gets pretty loud so I think 120 for each pair will be plenty loud for this application. Why would I still need a mixer in front if I ran those two little PAs together? Any type of PA/mixer needs to get rack mounted inside and space is very limited. The two little PAs together only take up 2 RU which is pretty ideal.

I'd probably get two of these pairs: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/JBL-JRX115-15-2Way-Speaker-Cabinets-Pair?sku=600347

Seems pretty ideal for the power/money/application, I guess I just don't know why I'd need a mixer in front.
 
#10
Lazarus.Bird said:
Those QSCs look killer but are way more power than I need plus a little over my budget. I didn't really accurately convey how much power I need. Those two small amps I posted in my last post are really as much power as we'll need. I supposed if I had to go with powered speakers I could get some less powerful ones. I did find this which I think would impress them :D Alesis iMultiMix 9R | Sweetwater.com
Click to expand...

Understood. I am indeed crossing into the live sound reinforcement and DJ power zone. If image is more important to the client than crushing sound, you could certainly scale down.

Here's what I would do given your application. Call Sweetwater. They have kick ass tech/sales support and they could give you the best fit considering needs and budget. I do like the rackmount line mixer concept being that it's in the vehicle. I would reconsider the pair of Pyle power amps as I think you could get one other make/model that would alone be cheaper and still power all 4 (8 ohm) speakers by daisy chaining in pairs and creating two 4 ohm loads.

Good luck!
 
#12
Lazarus.Bird said:
We have one of hte 2x75 PAs running 2 CV speakers which gets pretty loud so I think 120 for each pair will be plenty loud for this application. Why would I still need a mixer in front if I ran those two little PAs together? Any type of PA/mixer needs to get rack mounted inside and space is very limited. The two little PAs together only take up 2 RU which is pretty ideal.

I'd probably get two of these pairs: Buy JBL JRX115 15"" 2-Way Speaker Cabinet - Pair | Unpowered Cabinets | Musician's Friend

Seems pretty ideal for the power/money/application, I guess I just don't know why I'd need a mixer in front.
Click to expand...

Didn't realize the Pyle unit had separate mic and switchable aux inputs. You do not need a mixer in front of it.
 

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