PA system under 1500$?

[EdO.]

There is still a huge percentage of players with the mindset that non name brand gear is all junk. Maybe used to be the case but these days there is a lot of really good stuff on the market that isn't stupid expensive. Now agreed , if you're playing "for a living ", touring regularly etc IMO you'd be well served to get/use top end stuff proven to hold up to abuse. Most of us weekend warriors can do just fine with somewhat "lesser" gear (or good used gear) that with just a little care taken of it will serve you just as well and sound every bit as good. Some don't accept that, some refuse to believe it, that's fine. If you can afford top line gear, or if your ego won't allow you to be seen using other than top line stuff, that's a personal problem. If it sounds good out front and holds up (which again with a little care it will) that's all that matters .

 

[MTN.bass72]

There is still a huge percentage of players with the mindset that non name brand gear is all junk. Maybe used to be the case but these days there is a lot of really good stuff on the market that isn't stupid expensive. Now agreed , if you're playing "for a living ", touring regularly etc IMO you'd be well served to get/use top end stuff proven to hold up to abuse. Most of us weekend warriors can do just fine with somewhat "lesser" gear (or good used gear) that with just a little care taken of it will serve you just as well and sound every bit as good. Some don't accept that, some refuse to believe it, that's fine. If you can afford top line gear, or if your ego won't allow you to be seen using other than top line stuff, that's a personal problem. If it sounds good out front and holds up (which again with a little care it will) that's all that matters .

Perfectly said, my point exactly

 

[DWBass]

True

There is still a huge percentage of players with the mindset that non name brand gear is all junk. Maybe used to be the case but these days there is a lot of really good stuff on the market that isn't stupid expensive. Now agreed , if you're playing "for a living ", touring regularly etc IMO you'd be well served to get/use top end stuff proven to hold up to abuse. Most of us weekend warriors can do just fine with somewhat "lesser" gear (or good used gear) that with just a little care taken of it will serve you just as well and sound every bit as good. Some don't accept that, some refuse to believe it, that's fine. If you can afford top line gear, or if your ego won't allow you to be seen using other than top line stuff, that's a personal problem. If it sounds good out front and holds up (which again with a little care it will) that's all that matters .

True. Seen bands using full Behringer and Alto PA systems. Sounded great. So much so I bought a full Alto PA (mains, monitors and sub). Works and sounds great. Just need a new mixer. Trying to go digital.

 

[EdO.]

True

True. Seen bands using full Behringer and Alto PA systems. Sounded great. So much so I bought a full Alto PA (mains, monitors and sub). Works and sounds great. Just need a new mixer. Trying to go digital.

If you have to go analog for awhile until you can go digital it's not the end of the world. I bought a lightly used Behringer PMP 5000 mixer with 2 onboard effects processors (only 2 monitor channels though) for $350. Should still be worth the $350 if/when I go to sell it, only keeping it as a backup so not getting a lot of hours. But it's powered, sounds perfectly fine out front, easy to use and not a big investment. We walk before we run...

 

[hrodbert696]

As some have said, watch your local CL. With new higher-end stuff getting so light, a lot of people will sell off their old heavy Peavey gear for cheap. If you don't mind lugging it you can do very well.

Buying new, I'll add my vote for the Soundcraft Ui series mixers. You can do the mixing from your phone. The Ui12 is $339. Of course, you can go cheaper with a small analog mixer, like a Yamaha MG10XU for $199. But I'm a fan of the feedback suppression on the Soundcraft.

Since you're on a tight budget, I would vote to go as cheap as you can on monitors and invest all you can spare for mains. FoH is what the crowd hears, monitors are just for you to hear what you're doing. Kustom is not great stuff, but a powered monitor with a 10" speaker should get the job done, and MF has them for $139 right now. You might want to get three so the drummer can hear what's going on back there.

If you spent $339 on a Soundcraft Ui12 and $417 on three Kustom monitors, and anticipating $100 in speaker tripods and another $100 in XLR cables, you've got about $500 left for mains. Ouch. Well, for just a hair over budget you could get a pair of Mackie Thump 12As, which should do the job nicely at $299 each. Behringer has a 12-inch powered speaker right at $249, which would fit the budget exactly. The direction I had been thinking was the Yamaha DBR10, which runs $399 each. If you went with the analog mixer rather than digital and just got two monitors, that could free up $279 for better FoH, in which case get the DBRs.

Do you have a giggable bass amp? Because if you're running bass through the PA for any purpose beyond monitoring, you should get a sub, and I don't see that happening on this budget.

Oh, and do you already have microphones or does the $1500 budget need to cover them too?

 

[DWBass]

On a budget? I highly suggest Alto. The TX line is extremely affordable new for mains/monitors. I found my powered sub on Craigslist for $150. You can find great deals on Craigslist if you wait it out.