My band has been using a $@!&#* 200w Soundtech Powered Mixer and passive speakers for practice, and I am tired of having to shout sing in order to be heard. I need help building a new PA...basically the normal questions...powered mixer or unpowered mixer, how many watts, size of speakers, etc. Ideally we'd want something that we could use for practice but could also be used for small to medium gigs in the future. We'll be running our own sound too.

We are a classic rock band, 5pc. Two guitars, keys, bass and drums. We are only mic'ing vocals currently(all five members), and running the keys straight into the mixer. In the future, we will probably mic one or both of the guitars as well.

Everyone has an opinion...I can't wait to hear yours!

Oh, as for money, lets assume that we want to spend somewhere under $1000 for the whole thing.

Not trying to be a smartelic Jerry but you might try turning everybody down, and put your drummer behind some plexiglass shields. 200 watts is not alot of power but it should be enough if all you're running is vocals through it. Put your speakers facing the band at practice if you're not doing that already. I would think you will spend more than a $1000.00 on a decent PA. even if you shop around and buy used.

There's many here more qualified than me to give you advice on the other questions.

Yeah...have you ever played with that guy that you ask to turn down every practice, and he still doesn't get the hint? That's the band I'm in!!! Actually, the issue is probably that the mics start to feedback with the channel volume and master volume at 12 o'clock. I don't think we are getting the full 200w because of the feedback issue.

Your mikes are feeding back because they're picking up all the ambient noise in the room. Another good reason to turn down.The size of the room and the position of your amps and speakers can cause this problem as well. You really shouldn't need to push your channel or master all the way to get a decent volume that you can hear. Your ears will appreciate you in your old age if you learn to control the volume now. Its not how loud you play its how well you mix the sound.

It's somewhat of a small room...maybe 20 by 15. Everyone is sort of in a corner. I am standing with the mixer behind me, my amp is behind and to the side of me, and the monitor is on the grous about 4ft in front of me. The bass drum is no more than 3rd from where I stand, and the loud guitarist is in the opposite corner from me.

I agree, with the conditions you describe, I don't think a new P.A. is going to improve your practice experience. Since you probably can't get a better place to rehearse, I'd suggest what tdanb2003 started on, controlling the sound in the room. My one band rehearsed in a garage that had feedback issues. I made baffles out of two pieces of 4' x 4' plywood, and hinged them together, covered them with foam and fabric and used them to isolate each amplifier. That controlled a lot of the ricocheting sound in the room and gave a cleaner P.A. sound. You could also hang baffles from the walls of the room and/or put acoustic tiles on the ceiling.

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$1,000 is a down payment on a P/A system suitable for a 5 piece rock band.

My two cents

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

+1

I'll toss a couple of pennies into that pot as well.

Five grand minimum should be sufficient to assemble a credible system.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

If you only have $1000.00 Maybe look on Musiciansfriend they have some live sound packages.

Drew gave some good advice. Another option is blankets. Lots of them. Drape them over the amps. Stuff them in your kick bass and over the heads of the toms and snare if your drummer is still learning his dynamics. Can't do much with the cymbals. Yes it may sound somewhat muffled but you will be able to hear each other and your mikes won't feed back unless they're pointed directly at something that would cause it like a PA speaker or amp speaker. Good luck and let us know how it goes. In a room that small that little PA is plenty for what you want to use it for.