The Alto's are pretty nice. I saw a band with a full Alto system (Powered Mains, monitors and subs) and it sounded really good.
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PA Challenge. Spec in a usable system for under $600.00
- Thread starter Big Hoss
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They may sound OK but in Big Hosses case will sound like ass since he is using $10.00 microphones upstream. Hopefully he will never inflict his system on the paying public.
- Sep 5, 2014
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Mics are on the agenda. We are only working "barn parties", "Marina Parties" that sort of thing. I have no intention of upping the mic used for me, it captures my vocals better than it should, I.E. it reproduces all my mistakes all too well. But I don't have a very good range vocally, pretty baritone, and the Nady mics work wonderfully for that application. The singer (guitarists wife, who also plays a little guitar) has a pretty broad range that gets into soprano, and the Nady really struggles with her vocals. She's looking into several different mics. I know the Shure SM58 is well regarded, at least it used to be, no idea what else is out there that can do the trick, like I said, she's been doing that research.
IMO you need to spend around at least a $100.00 on a microphone to get something decent. I have a sm58 that I bought USED over 25 years ago that I still use on half my gigs each year. My other vocal mic is a beta 58 that I have owned for almost 10 years. Another good choice at that price point is the Sennheiser 835. Two guys in my band use them. If you don't think you are a good singer then having a better microphone is still a good idea. At least if you sound like crap it isn't the microphones fault.
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I agree on the mics. You can find used SM58's (or similar range mics) on Craigslist for $40-$50. The better the mic, the less you have to worry about feedback and other anomalies.
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FWIW, mic upgrades are in the long range plan. I haven't decided what mic to go with, I have used the Nady's on and off, for the last 12 years (mostly off admittedly) and what few recordings I have heard of the performances I was in with these mics, I sounded fine. Again, backing vocals ONLY.
The SM58 is the industry standard for GOOD reason though. I have used them, and they do sound good. And I can tell the difference between the SP5 and an SM58. Would a party goer that is NOT a musician ever notice the difference? I have serious doubts about that. The upgrade to SM58 would be simply to satisfy ME. And I am cool with that... I just need to be careful with the SM58s. I have been hearing about a LOT of fake SM58s. It appears not just instruments are getting faked these days...
How can you make sure that if say I decide to try for a Craigslist used SM58 that it is in proper working order, and it isn't some poor performing fake?
The SM58 is the industry standard for GOOD reason though. I have used them, and they do sound good. And I can tell the difference between the SP5 and an SM58. Would a party goer that is NOT a musician ever notice the difference? I have serious doubts about that. The upgrade to SM58 would be simply to satisfy ME. And I am cool with that... I just need to be careful with the SM58s. I have been hearing about a LOT of fake SM58s. It appears not just instruments are getting faked these days...
How can you make sure that if say I decide to try for a Craigslist used SM58 that it is in proper working order, and it isn't some poor performing fake?
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Well ladies and gents, it's not an ideal rig, but I think I am pretty much buttoned up PA wise, at least for a while...
I started with a Behringer XENYX 1202FX mixer. I had that before the idea of a PA came to me, for bringing audio into a recording interface for recording, so I am going to count that as an already incurred cost.
I still had my Nady SP-5s, bag, and XLR mic cables from years ago. So no fresh expense there. I have way more cables than mics, that will come in handy in a minute...
I had previously sold my mic stands, added new Samson Mic stands, 4 of them for $65.00
Next I added the Alto TS1150A pair, stands, and cables for $200.00 used.
Lastly, and contrary to the haters wishes, I landed a pair of Harbinger Vari V2112s to use as monitors for $260.00 on a Cyber Week deal. I am running XLR from the out on the Altos, to the ins on the Harbingers.
THe extension cords, velcro ties, moving blankets etc... are all just stuff I repurposed from around the house and spares boxes.
So that puts me right at $515.00 for a reasonably complete, giggable PA system in recent expenses. Add probably another $250.00 in stuff I had from years past that got reused for this... And mind you, the PA was perfectly usable before the addition of the Harbingers.
Could I have gotten better quality buying used? Well, partially, I did buy used. Part of my cost issue seems to be a physical issue for me. As I have mentioned here previously, I have back issues, and I am very sensitive to equipment weight issues. So old tech separates just weren't going to be in the cards for me. Especially since I would be the one hoisting these onto the poles. Both of my guitarists are short dudes. The tall one is 5' 3".
I must admit that the gear snobs are off about the Harbingers sound wise. While these are certainly no Bose beauties, we set them up in our practice space, and tested them out against a DJ friends old Peavey PA rig, and these are comparable. Not what anyone would call fantastic, but certainly workable, especially as monitors... The haters would have me thinking these would sound like a 1980s Kraco car stereo rig... Whatever... At the price point of these things, new, there is obviously some question of build quality, only time will tell. Hopefully with enough paying gigs under our collective belts, we can afford to upgrade sooner rather than later.
I started with a Behringer XENYX 1202FX mixer. I had that before the idea of a PA came to me, for bringing audio into a recording interface for recording, so I am going to count that as an already incurred cost.
I still had my Nady SP-5s, bag, and XLR mic cables from years ago. So no fresh expense there. I have way more cables than mics, that will come in handy in a minute...
I had previously sold my mic stands, added new Samson Mic stands, 4 of them for $65.00
Next I added the Alto TS1150A pair, stands, and cables for $200.00 used.
Lastly, and contrary to the haters wishes, I landed a pair of Harbinger Vari V2112s to use as monitors for $260.00 on a Cyber Week deal. I am running XLR from the out on the Altos, to the ins on the Harbingers.
THe extension cords, velcro ties, moving blankets etc... are all just stuff I repurposed from around the house and spares boxes.
So that puts me right at $515.00 for a reasonably complete, giggable PA system in recent expenses. Add probably another $250.00 in stuff I had from years past that got reused for this... And mind you, the PA was perfectly usable before the addition of the Harbingers.
Could I have gotten better quality buying used? Well, partially, I did buy used. Part of my cost issue seems to be a physical issue for me. As I have mentioned here previously, I have back issues, and I am very sensitive to equipment weight issues. So old tech separates just weren't going to be in the cards for me. Especially since I would be the one hoisting these onto the poles. Both of my guitarists are short dudes. The tall one is 5' 3".
I must admit that the gear snobs are off about the Harbingers sound wise. While these are certainly no Bose beauties, we set them up in our practice space, and tested them out against a DJ friends old Peavey PA rig, and these are comparable. Not what anyone would call fantastic, but certainly workable, especially as monitors... The haters would have me thinking these would sound like a 1980s Kraco car stereo rig... Whatever... At the price point of these things, new, there is obviously some question of build quality, only time will tell. Hopefully with enough paying gigs under our collective belts, we can afford to upgrade sooner rather than later.
Let us know how the Harbingers hold up and sound at a gig. BTW not sure why you think bose is the cats meow for live sound.
That's how I feel about the six Alto TS112A's I use as main and monitors. My brother's band uses two QSC KW153 at $1400 each and four KW 152 as monitors at $1200 each just to play in dive restuarant/bars for 75 people who couldn't tell the difference anyway. His band doesn't sound 12 times better than my band. Glad you got a system that works for you and you're happy with.
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Far and away, the best live sound I have ever heard in a small venue, and remember I am dealing with small venues, private parties, coffee shops, BBQ joints and the like, the Bose L1 system has delivered the absolute best sound bar none.
Having said that, I am keenly aware that I have not heard every single possible PA system configuration, nobody has, and I don't mean talkbass member nobody, I bet he hasn't heard every possible configuration either.
For our purposes of vocals, and acoustic guitar, the Altos have been beyond adequate.
My first, just yanked it out of the box impressions of the Harbingers, well, they were on sale for $129.99, and are simultaneously reflective of that price point, and shockingly well made for multiples of that price point.
What exactly do I mean by that?
The housings, are as can be expected, injection molded plastic, which in this case appears to be a fairly decently made assembly, rather simple construction, plastics seem of typical quality for a plastic PA speaker housing. Molding excess nicely trimmed off etc... Metal grille is stamped, recess dimples for the screw holes aren't super pretty, but they aren't poorly done, just an obvious cost shaving shortcut. Screw heads are exposed with no cover to dress them up. Probably a good engineering choice anyway, less stuff to rattle loose and get lost.
Like has been mentioned from others before on the musiciansfriend, guitar center, and Youtube reviews, the control knobs on the back panel seem to be a bit exposed, and care must be taken in transport. The top handle, and bottom extension of the housing are proud of this. but there is no protection from the sides.
The pots those knobs are attached to operate smoothly with no notchiness, or binding. The power cord is an adequate length, and is the, I wish my brain could remember the socket type, but it is the kind that goes into a desktop PC, you all know what I am talking about, coffee is still brewing sorry...
Fitment onto a standard speaker stand is exactly what I expected, nothing more, nothing less. It goes, it locks down, it stays put.
Have only had a chance to run mp3s through it from my phone in the living room. From that POV, it sounds fine, certainly good enough for monitoring.I will schlep these over to the rehearsal space for our next band rehearsal and try them out.
I don't expect the world of them, but I expect them to be serviceable, time will tell, and I won't be afraid to clobber them publicly if they turn out to be junk. For the cost, I figured they were worth a gamble... My local Craigslist frequently has these come up and going down again quickly in the $150.00 to $175.00 range. So I figure I am not out a ton of money if I decide to sell them right?
I should mention since it has been brought up previously, the guitarist / lead singer has purchased his own SM-58 vocal mic. Backing vocals (rhythm guitar, and me) will still be using my Nady SP5s, at least for now... Probably use the funds from our next paying gig to buy at least one more SM-58. Keeping an eye on sales for them for sure... The Rhythm Guitarist might just get one under his Christmas tree!
FWIW, there is a noticeable difference in sound between the SP5s and the SM58s for the lead, and rhythm guitarists who sing in a higher range than I am capable of, for them, the SP5 on the higher notes sound a bit dirty where the SM58s no problem. For me, no difference at all. I guess I can't push the limit on those cheapies... Part of why I am not in a huge hurry to upgrade my mic...
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Uh, did I just read that right? Six Alto TS112A powered speakers? I'd love to see / hear that!
Yeah, for the dive restaurant/bars we play we use two for FOH and the other four as monitors. Bigger places or outside we use four for FOH and two as monitors and then the horn section, and keys bring something they use. Drums and guitar always use their own monitors of some sort. We also use two Mackie 1000 watt 18 inch subs for outdoor/big bars and one sub for small places but e always use a sub.
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Yeah, I get the impression you are doing something a bit different than what I am... 3 pcs right now, 2 guitars, and bass. Vox, accoustic guitar, and drum synth into the PA, Guitar and bass amps have to carry the room. We play small venues only, The TS115As are FOH, we have been using them set back a bit so we can monitor ourselves, but that wasn't working all that well. The Harbingers were added as dedicated monitors. We should be able to hear them wherever we are without going deaf...
We are capable of running guitar / bass into the PA, but haven't tried that yet...
Sounds like you got it covered pretty well. We're a bigger band. 9 and a sound guy. It has been 2 trumpets, trombone, sax, guitar, keys, drums, bass, lead vocal and guitar and bass (me) do backup vocals. My trombone and one trumpet just quit so we're looking to replace them. Not sure if I'll add the same or just go with another sax and forgo the trombone.
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Yeah, not at the point we are trying to get to, been auditioning drummers when we can. Haven't found a good fit for us...
Long term intent is lead guitar / vox, rhythm guitar / vox, bass / vox, drums vox or not... There is some possibility for keys. We are doing kind of a blues / rock / country sort of thing. Hard to explain, some Skynryd, Some Def Leppard, some ZZ Top, some BB King, that sort of thing... There is also a bit of latin stuff we are working on, like Los Lonely Boys "How Far is Heaven", but we aren't quite ready for that one yet...
Long term intent is lead guitar / vox, rhythm guitar / vox, bass / vox, drums vox or not... There is some possibility for keys. We are doing kind of a blues / rock / country sort of thing. Hard to explain, some Skynryd, Some Def Leppard, some ZZ Top, some BB King, that sort of thing... There is also a bit of latin stuff we are working on, like Los Lonely Boys "How Far is Heaven", but we aren't quite ready for that one yet...
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Yep, coastal Texas, we play a lot of decks, barns, and fields filled with pickup trucks... It works, it's a LOT of fun... We don't have to be the best, we have to be fun. It's all about keeping the crowd happy and having fun...
