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Post subject: PA Systems
Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 7:03 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Location: Southern IL
Hey folks, I have a couple questions regarding PA systems. I've been looking at some online, and I've read the PA system buying guide on Musician's Friend, but I'm still unsure of what to buy. Is is better to buy them in a package, like the Fender Passport, or buy everything separately according to my personal preference/requirements?

I just need a simple system for small to (eventually) medium venues, inside and outside. I'm in no hurry, but I would like to be able to practice using a PA before I actually start gigging. I was originally wanting to get an acoustic amp but I've decided a PA system would be more versatile, and better for long-term use. (Of course that doesn't mean I don't still have my eye on a used Genz-Benz Shen 150LT at my local guitar store :wink: )

Any help to clear this up a bit for me would be appreciated. Thanks forum! :D

-Jake :P

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Post subject: Re: PA Systems
Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 7:33 pm
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Traynor makes some very good and affordable portable PA systems under the Yorkville name from just 2 channels up to 12,with powered cabinets so you don't have to be lugging around separate power ampsThe Yorkville PAs are great for small to medium venues,however friends of mine used their 12 channel system for years in pretty large rooms.The Fender Passport series would be a very good and dependable way to go too.

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Post subject: Re: PA Systems
Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:21 pm
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I am not a fan of portable P/As at all. They're fine if you don't care that it sounds like poop. Having owned several versions of P/A systems big and small I've come to conclude that for those on a budget the Mackie Powered speakers are the way to go. They have a great smooth round sound and they have a naturalness to them. Any other brand of powered speaker I've tried is harsh compared to the Mackies. If you can't afford a good quality amp and some high quality speakers then you should get the Mackies. There are a lot of powered speakers out there. I've tried a few. Mackie, Yamaha, E-V and Behringer. Those are the ones I've tried and that's also the order of my recommendation for those brands. The other brands were all pretty close to each other for sound but you know the Behringers are gonna crap out 3 weeks after the warranty runs out. Mixing boards are harder to judge these days because the former good brands like Soundcraft and Allen&Heath are selling cheap crap now.

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Post subject: Re: PA Systems
Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:27 am
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+1, Mackie's sound good and are durable/reliable. I haven't tried a Fender PA so if you do please post a review. :D

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Post subject: Re: PA Systems
Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:21 am
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The BOSE L1 Compact is all the PA I use anymore. I play 6-10 gigs a month right now for crowds that range from 50 to 150 people in small to fairly good sized venues. This thing does it all.

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Great sound, two channels, built-in sub. I play with backing tracks, so I also use a small Alesis passive mixer to handle the stereo outs of my G-DEC 3 Thirty and my Ovation acoustic-electric guitar.

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The stereo ouput from the Alesis goes into one side of the BOSE and my vocals go straight from my Digitech harmonizer to the XLR input on the other side. These units are not rated in watts, but in size of audience. I have never used this thing at more than one-third volume.

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At $1,000 they are not cheap and if you go to the next size up, you will spend $2,500 and end up hauling an extra separate sub unit, which I decided was really not worth it. I have been using this BOSE for a year now and I am ready to sell the old PAs.

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Post subject: Re: PA Systems
Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 8:24 am
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Well the Fender Passport 150 I use all the time and it will not work with a band, I am now working at a college where I am the AV Manager I used to be on the road Professionally for 25 years ( sorry I guess if you were an acoustic act with the need of 3 inputs it could work and in a not so big room) the Fender Passport 500 is better 6 inputs more power will be OK in a small club, I my self would say look into the JBL eon series 515XT I have used these a lot not bad can fill a medium room pretty good, As far as a mixing desk goes I do like the Midas Venice series you can actually here the EQ changes even when adjusted slightly and they have top end air ( breath) not sure how to describe top end but when you hear it and say ahh that it you know. Mics matter also, cheep mics sound cheep, cables matter also more copper the better Speaker cable should be at least 13 AWG 12 is better. Just My opinion
mud


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Post subject: Re: PA Systems
Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:49 pm
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I think it is better to tailor the PA to your need than to go with a package. However having said that if you are doing a one man acoustic act a Passport would be fine for a small room. I've seen an acoustic one-girl guitar act playing a hotel lounge with a Passport and was startled it sounded so good. It does make a convenient package and is more effective than plugging a microphone into any acoustic amp. It was a very clean sound and worked well for her.

A good vocal mic for most people is the Shure SM-58. I personally prefer the SM-57 with the Shure windscreen because I don't have to eat it to make it sound good, but most people prefer to eat the SM-58. The budget mics, even the Shure ones, just are not the same no matter what the salesman says. There are others that are very good too such as the Sennheiser E-835. They are all about $100. Don't scrimp on the microphone!

There are so many ways to go in a custom PA system. Separate components such as speaker mains, subs, floor monitors, speaker stands, console, rack with power amps crossover etc plus decent mics and stands. It all adds up.

Powered mixers or powered speakers or separate power amp? I mean it is a lot of choices. If you have to move this stuff all by yourself size and weight is a consideration. The Bose rig is actually very good and worth a look too. And for it's size it is very robust, but again I'm not sure about using it outdoors at all.

Look at the Passport input capability and see if you think it will meet your current and future needs. Playing outdoors is a different animal than indoors. I think you would want something beefier outdoors than a Passport or Bose rig.

The downside to using a PA as your guitar amp is that you might miss the effects in the acoustic amp, but there are acoustic amp emulator pedals that do the same thing the effects in an acoustic amp do.


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Post subject: Re: PA Systems
Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 9:17 pm
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The last band I was in used a most Peavey setup for the PA system using a Peavey 800W power amp and a pair of their cabinets-I forget the model (SP-2???)-with a 15" speaker and a wide-range horn in each.We used a 12 channel Soundcrafter desk and our old 6 channel 200W Traynor PA to run the monitors.All in all that system was pretty low cost but had great sound considering the relatively small amount of money that we laid out for it.

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