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Very cheap PA advice please!


tedmanzie
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OK, this isn't for me but a friend (honest) is putting on a street party for the World Cup final and is screening the match on a big screen. He was going to hire some active speakers but has found these Skytec actives on ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181316462279
He would like to use the PA for future street party events - bands etc.

I am [i]very very[/i] doubtful about 2 x 800 watt active speakers for £150 new, but hey maybe they are ok?! Anyone here ever used these?

Personally I would hire some decent actives, but he's keen on buying.

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[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1403200841' post='2480792']
Could still be worth buying rather than hiring - buy at £150, sell at £100, job done.
[/quote]

+1

For a one off street party, use them and sell them. They wont sound brilliant but would think at a world cup street party people wont be too fussed about the sound quality. For ongoing use the next step up would be the Alto range. Same specs but better quality all be it still in the budget bracket

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Skytec are well enough known and the same speakers are sold under a whole lot of badges. If you buy the base level own brand speakers from almost anyone they will come from the same factory in china.

The standard practice is to quote power as RMS,program and max doubling the power in each case, these are 200W RMS. For this price you get a piezo tweeter and a driver with a tiny magnet and short voice coil. Piezo tweeters work but aren't ever great sounding. The small magnet means low efficiency, no deep bass and a bass hump which sounds really thumpy. The efficiency is raised by the short voice coil but this means excursion is limited so trning the bass or volume up overloads the speaker.

The speaker is rated as 118dB which is a lot louder than your hi fi but only enough for an acoustic act in a pub.

These things are remarkably good value for money and this is a very cheap price for them. They'll sound Ok so long as you don't turn them up too high and do a job, They are remarkably well built for the price. Just don't expect too much and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'd happily give you £100 for them after so i can nick the amplifiers to convert my monitors to actives, actually £150 for two 200W plate amps, hmmm. Get your friend to pm me if you do want to sell.

Edited by Phil Starr
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You've also got the storage issue between this street party and the next one if you buy decent kit to hang on to. Probably worth looking at hiring, maybe ask round some local bands if they are not gigging that day if they can do a cheap hire deal?

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I've used a set of these for a couple of street parties and they've been great.

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/yamaha-stagepas-300/7920?gclid=CI39oO2giL8CFagewwodZGEAjg

They are also a really portable solution for an acoustic gig and they are typical Yamaha quality, so if you were thinking of buying, you could do a lot worse. Not £150, but the current GAK deal is great value, but I'd also suggest, it depends what you are running through them : if it's a young DJ wanting to thump out earth moving drum and bass, then that's a non starter, but for background or even sensible levels for some party music, they will be fine I would think.

They also hold their value really well, with a second hand set going, with the bag (which is well worth getting), and stands for £275 recently. Also very compact and fit easily into the back of a hatchback.

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[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1403254634' post='2481130'] I would be highly dubious of ANY speaker that has a claimed SPL of 118db. [/quote]

You may be muddling the max SPL with sensitivity which is the output at one watt. If the figures are accurate then this speaker is 95dB @ 1W and 118 @ 200W although they may be quoting the figure for both speakers together.

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1403261026' post='2481221'] I've used a set of these for a couple of street parties and they've been great. http://www.gak.co.uk/en/yamaha-stagepas-300/7920?gclid=CI39oO2giL8CFagewwodZGEAjg They are also a really portable solution for an acoustic gig and they are typical Yamaha quality, so if you were thinking of buying, you could do a lot worse. Not £150, but the current GAK deal is great value, but I'd also suggest, it depends what you are running through them : if it's a young DJ wanting to thump out earth moving drum and bass, then that's a non starter, but for background or even sensible levels for some party music, they will be fine I would think. They also hold their value really well, with a second hand set going, with the bag (which is well worth getting), and stands for £275 recently. Also very compact and fit easily into the back of a hatchback. [/quote]

I have one of these setups, they do an excellent job and the midrange and treble will be much cleaner but they are limited in volume and bass. max output is 112dB only

Edited by Phil Starr
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