suggestions for frfr solution for home use

[MoonBassAlpha]

Something that would sound nice with modelled acoustic guitar (Variax), e.u.b. and bassy bass (old Hofner with flats)

Budget maybe £200-300?

This isn't for me, it's a friend who is at home most of the time as a carer.

My initial thought was a small p.a. speaker that had decent d.s.p., but that might be a bit over budget, and ott for home only use.

Any thoughts?

[pete.young]

Yamaha THR10

[Kirky]

I was thinking about the Yamaha DXR10 (or 12) for similar usage.  It has 3 inputs with separate volume controls so you could play bass along with your music player of choice.  Perhaps a bit out of budget (currently £495 at Bax) but I've seen them second hand for £300.

[JohnDaBass]

Good value for money for home or small venue use is the Mackie Thump 12A . Around £300 new.

[MoonBassAlpha]

Thanks for the suggestions folks, keep them coming!

The Thump looks good value, does it really keep the speaker under control with bass going straight in?

[Jack]

If it's really just for home use then I had a great play on the laney duo the other day. Surprising bass response at home and I'd imagine giggable on other instruments.

[Phil Starr]

Just as a general principle (though relevant to the Mackie Thump) you get what you pay for to a certain extent. More money buys a bigger magnet for the drive unit and in turn that means fewer compromises or more scope with the design. with a bigger magnet you can extend the magnetic field and have the bass controlled over longer excursion. If the magnet is limited you either have to shorten the magnetic field or spread it thinner and have less sound per watt. The Mackie does the second, it has 3db less output than the SRM450 it's 'big brother'. So a cheap PA driver is going to either be less efficient than a top range model or it will overload with a bass at relatively lower power. However for home use? Well unless you live in a stately home pretty much anything is going to be loud enough so volume probably isn't a big worry.

The other consideration with a cheap FRFR/PA speaker is that it is likely to have a cheap plastic cabinet and these tend to resonate a bit if you play loud bass through them. 

I'm not recommending any particular model because I haven't tried a range of them but FWIW I play in a loud acoustic duo and after struggling with the acoustics in the pubs we tend to play in we decided to scrap the back line and just use floor monitors. These are Behringer B1320D's nothing special and bought because they were adequate for vocal monitors. They are working fine as bass monitors so far and we only use one for rehearsal. At home they sound pretty good with bass, guitar and two vocals, though we have to roll off the bass fairly hard because they have a built in bass bias. If it really is just for home use though I'd probably look for something more compact like a 10" PA speaker.

[Bridgehouse]

I use a pair of studio monitors with my Helix and they sound superb in my room...

[Dood]

1 hour ago, Bridgehouse said:

I use a pair of studio monitors with my Helix and they sound superb in my room...

yup, same here. Ok, so I have big monitors, so I can't comment on smaller ones! Actually I run everything through my monitors at home. My computer's audio interface I suppose is the 'hub' and my helix, basses, guitars, microphones, whatever all go in to it and out to the speakers.

I rarely plug my gig rig in at home; come to think of it, now that I am on IEMs most of the time, I barely take my backline out to gigs either ha ha!

[Dood]

Just now, dood said:

yup, same here. Ok, so I have big monitors, so I can't comment on smaller ones! Actually I run everything through my monitors at home. My computer's audio interface I suppose is the 'hub' and my helix, basses, guitars, microphones, whatever all go in to it and out to the speakers.

I rarely plug my gig rig in at home; come to think of it, now that I am on IEMs most of the time, I barely take my backline out to gigs either ha ha!

Now, if I could only sort out a pair of studio monitors that I can take to gigs ... 🤣

[Tubster]

You might try the ALTO ts312 or others in the series. Decent price, sound and improved drivers and amp compared to the ts212 (which got plenty good reviews). We just bought the ts312 as monitor for our drummer and he is delighted but jury is still until we give it a good run through its paces. 

Also occasional good deals online  - Thomann have/had the highly regarded RCF 310A MK 2 FOR UNDER 300 EURO.

Next move upwards is to Yamaha dxr and qsc k10.2 but that is a serious £ jump.

good luck.

[Bridgehouse]

13 minutes ago, Tubster said:

You might try the ALTO ts312 or others in the series. Decent price, sound and improved drivers and amp compared to the ts212 (which got plenty good reviews). We just bought the ts312 as monitor for our drummer and he is delighted but jury is still until we give it a good run through its paces. 

Also occasional good deals online  - Thomann have/had the highly regarded RCF 310A MK 2 FOR UNDER 300 EURO.

Next move upwards is to Yamaha dxr and qsc k10.2 but that is a serious £ jump.

good luck.

I have a QSC 10.2 and don’t use it at home - it’s too much. I think therefore it depends on room size - my small mancave practice room suits studio monitors but a 10.2 is just a bit too much. Two of them would be ridiculous.