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Small Powered Speaker for Bass and Vocals

FirewalZ

FirewalZ

Aug 14, 2014
3,766
7,360
S.E. Michigan
#1
Ive started getting calls to do more acoustic duo type stuff, acoustic guitar and bass, sharing vocal duties, etc. I currently only have larger amps for full bands, and need something smaller. I have a Tone Hammer Pre/DI and was thinking of simply going direct and using a small powered monitor, should be perfect for bass and vocals in this setting....anything good for $200 or less?
 
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#3
There are great solutions for this setup out there, but the problem you are going to face will be the price point. $200 isn't going to get you much. Maybe something on the used market, but that sort of depends on your location and proximity to music stores/paw shops/etc.

QSC K series is a sure fire way to go, but like Karl said above, they are much pricier than your proposed budget. QSC will last you forever and will sound fantastic with plenty of punch and headroom. They are super lightweight, too!

Best thing, if you live close enough, is to find your local Music Go Round or GC or pawn shop and just bring your bass/preamp pedal and try out some powered speakers. See what you like and what you don't. There's a million options out there.
 
#5
I had reposted this and had done some additional thinking...I have a few use cases where I need:
  • Powered Monitor for gigs that use in-ears, the PA/soundman wont have an amp for a standard monitor because everyone else uses IEM's. I dont want IEM's at this point....
  • Bass and vocal amp for smaller and "acoustic" type gigs. Id use a preamp pedal in a powered mon.
  • As a regular FOH for small med gig....stick it on a pole, etc.
So im looking to start with a single QSC 12.2 and see how that works...everyone says they are pretty much the best, although pricey.
 
#7
Karl Kaminski said:
the QSC will do all that... and unfortunately pricey, but after a year of use I bet you'll feel its money well spent.

PS> don't underestimate the 10" that'll handle the small and med gigs too (save some weight and money)
Click to expand...

100% this. The initial cost might sting a little more than you wanted, but the QSC K series will pay for themselves relatively quickly.
 
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#12
I ended up getting a GK MB112-ii as a small, lightweight bass amp. So far its perfect for rehearsals and ill try it out on a small gig soon, for its size it can get plenty loud so I don't anticipate any issues. However, i still want to pick up a good powered speaker at some point...may just need to sell something first:)
 
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#13
I have a couple of old Peavey 12/horn Black Widow cabs. I have done a bunch of gigs like this with my Shuttle 3.0 head and a little mixer.
I usually only bring 1 cab. My bass goes through the amp normally and and I plug the mixer into the Aux in.
The nice thing is the vocals sound much better through a PA cab than a bass cab.
I have done this with a few vocal mics and even keys all through the bass amp.
 

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