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What portable PA system to buy?

P

Patrick Eduardo

Sep 20, 2014
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0
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#1
Hi, I want to buy a portable PA System for personal use. I wanna use for sing on a microphone and use in house parties with at most 80 people.
I saw and liked the following speakers: Behringer B207MP3 or Mackie SRM350v3.
I want some help because I don't know so much about speakers and what should i see to know which one is better.
I've seen people saying that the more watts you have, more louder is the speaker. Thus, the Mackie srm350v3(1000 Watts) is very much more louder than the Behringer B207MP3 (150 Watts)?
Thanks
 
#2
Patrick Eduardo said:
Hi, I want to buy a portable PA System for personal use. I wanna use for sing on a microphone and use in house parties with at most 80 people.
I saw and liked the following speakers: Behringer B207MP3 or Mackie SRM350v3.
I want some help because I don't know so much about speakers and what should i see to know which one is better.
I've seen people saying that the more watts you have, more louder is the speaker. Thus, the Mackie srm350v3(1000 Watts) is very much more louder than the Behringer B207MP3 (150 Watts)?
Thanks
Click to expand...
More watts or more efficient speakers means louder and efficiency generally trumps watts for loud. The two speakers you list are totally different in concept and purpose but the Mackie would get louder (probably twice as loud) and sound better. Mackie lists the peak spl at 126dB and Behringer at 116dB, which works out to 10dB which is right at the point of doubling to the ear - but there are more factors than just the peak spl to consider as well, like frequency response at rated power ...

The Mackie isn't really a 1000w system it's 500w - there is a trend to advertise the PEAK power so be aware. Also look at some other makes/models (for a compact I like the Yamaha Stagepas series) then check the spec. sheets for power and efficiency ratings, and most importantly, check'em out for how they sound at volume before buying, or have a good return policy.
 
#3
Hi, yes, wattage is power and the more watts the louder - but that's not the only consideration. 1000 watts on the Mackie is the peak, but the RMS (sort of the average power) is 500 watts. The figures I'm finding on Behringer aren't clear, but I suspect the 150 watts are RMS rather than peak. Also, wattage-to-volume isn't a linear relationship. All else being equal, 200 watts will be 10% louder than 100, not twice as loud. 500 watts will probably get you 30% more volume than 150. Speaker size counts a lot too; the Behringer has a 6.5" diameter speaker, the Mackie 10". More surface area = moves more air. That will count for a lot more than the wattage, so yeah - the Mackie will be noticeably louder than the Behringer. In general, Mackie has a better reputation than Behringer, but I've heard they've slipped in quality in some of their recent products. It also costs twice as much. But between those two, I'd go with Mackie. You might also look at options from Carvin and Yamaha.
 
#4
NX55p-2
I used to have a pair of the original ones. Like a lot. Helped a church that had them and they worked well for the church.
On second thought they may be way more than what you are looking for, though - don't know. A step down would be the NX300P (15" speaker) or NX25P-2 (12 " speaker) which very well may meet your needs perfectly.

On a budget, and you can stream your bluetooth tablet/phone to it, you may want to consider the Powerwerks PW150FXBT which lists for $449 and MAP is $299 each. It also has digital effects. 150 watts.

I do speaking engagements as well as like to stream bluetooth at home to listen, as well as like to play bass. I just bought a Samson XP-106 speaker for this purpose, but see additional uses once I got it. It is 100 watts and is battery operated. Samson claims 22 hrs use. Hmmmn, I don't know. I do know that I used it to stream bluetooth all afternoon two afternoons plus played my bass through it for at least an hour and it still had battery left. So freaking cool - I love it. It may or may not be enough for what you are looking for - maybe too small for you. It gets quite loud but of course does not compare with a full blown speaker like the Mackie you listed or the Yorkville I mentioned.
Also Samson has a new line of inexpensive powered PA speakers, 8s,10s,12s,15s I haven;t heard them so can't say but you might want to take a look at them on their website. The Auro series.

Of course if you just really want to have one of the best sounding small PA speakers out there, and don't mind spending a few more bucks, give the Yorkville PS12P's a listen as well as the RCF HD-12A's.
 
#8
Sing in/house party for 80 is small starter package stuff.

Either powered mixer and pair of small mains, or pair of small powered mains with little mixer built in the back you can run something like 2 mics and an ipod.

Want to really get the party going, add a powered subwoofer.
 
#9
The kustom pa50 monitors get some love at the ukulele underground for being a good expandable system with daisy chaining via XLR cables and subwoofer out (plug a bass amp in here if you like). Mixing can be done on the speakers themselves however this can get out of hand pretty quickly since it would need to be done where each instrument is plugged in.

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i don't work for guitar center but here's tons of reviews as well:
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#10
bnolsen said:
The kustom pa50 monitors get some love at the ukulele underground for being a good expandable system with daisy chaining via XLR cables and subwoofer out (plug a bass amp in here if you like). Mixing can be done on the speakers themselves however this can get out of hand pretty quickly since it would need to be done where each instrument is plugged in.

Invalid Link Removed
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i don't work for guitar center but here's tons of reviews as well:
Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...
These are no longer listed either by Kustom's online site nor by the Kustom's dealer sales... Most probably an existing dealer stock would be all that was available.
 
#12
bebass said:
NX55p-2
I used to have a pair of the original ones. Like a lot. Helped a church that had them and they worked well for the church.
On second thought they may be way more than what you are looking for, though - don't know. A step down would be the NX300P (15" speaker) or NX25P-2 (12 " speaker) which very well may meet your needs perfectly.

On a budget, and you can stream your bluetooth tablet/phone to it, you may want to consider the Powerwerks PW150FXBT which lists for $449 and MAP is $299 each. It also has digital effects. 150 watts.

I do speaking engagements as well as like to stream bluetooth at home to listen, as well as like to play bass. I just bought a Samson XP-106 speaker for this purpose, but see additional uses once I got it. It is 100 watts and is battery operated. Samson claims 22 hrs use. Hmmmn, I don't know. I do know that I used it to stream bluetooth all afternoon two afternoons plus played my bass through it for at least an hour and it still had battery left. So freaking cool - I love it. It may or may not be enough for what you are looking for - maybe too small for you. It gets quite loud but of course does not compare with a full blown speaker like the Mackie you listed or the Yorkville I mentioned.
Also Samson has a new line of inexpensive powered PA speakers, 8s,10s,12s,15s I haven;t heard them so can't say but you might want to take a look at them on their website. The Auro series.

Of course if you just really want to have one of the best sounding small PA speakers out there, and don't mind spending a few more bucks, give the Yorkville PS12P's a listen as well as the RCF HD-12A's.
Click to expand...

I also mentioned the Samson Auro line. Probably the best bang-for-the-buck there would be the X12D which retails for $349 and is a steal IMO at $249 MAP each.
 
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#13
I do fill-in gigs with an acoustic act that uses a Fender Passport 300 Pro for vocals. It works fine for coffee shop/small bar gigs. I did a show this past summer with him on an outside patio, I ran my QSC K sub with it and it actually sounded far better than you'd expect.
 

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