cytania Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) What I've learnt so far... PA a single term for a wide range of systems. Many cheap PA rigs have their eyes centered on nothing more challenging than a bit of corporate announcing and bingo calling. These might be OK for corner of pub gigs but don't try to put the bass or guitars through them. Vocals yes, keyboards maybe, possibly the kick drum... This kind of setup usually has no sub-woofer. There are also PA rigs with a powered mixer console that take the mikes and power big speakers. These may be a bit old skool now... A big PA system that rates in the thousand watts should see you through a hall gig. There are usually subs making up the base of each speaker stand and tiny foldback speakers on the poles. This kind of rig costs big money but will take bass and guitar inputs. You may then have the kind of mixing console that does effects processing on DI sound. Expensive and hard to transport, often hired out with van... Any wise words for a confused skinflint? Edited January 26, 2009 by cytania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Are you looking to buy a system??? If so whats your budget and what do you expect to achieve with it. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Don't bother with Mackie. We've had no end of problems with our sub woofers and wedges burning out. Luckily they've been covered by guarantee but we were being fobbed off by Wembley PA Centre until we started bearing our internet teeth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='391610' date='Jan 26 2009, 12:09 PM']Don't bother with Mackie. We've had no end of problems with our sub woofers and wedges burning out. Luckily they've been covered by guarantee but we were being fobbed off by Wembley PA Centre until we started bearing our internet teeth.[/quote] Were you using SRM 450's by chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombboy Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='391610' date='Jan 26 2009, 12:09 PM']Don't bother with Mackie.[/quote] In your opinion of course! My brother has a Mackie Fusion system... 14k with a 7k foldback system. NEVER given him an ounce of trouble. Require a small army to shift though. Active systems are great but if one amp blows, you're pretty f***ed. If you do get and active, make sure you can bypass the internal amps and bring a rack of amps... just in case (sort of defeats the object really!). Personally, I've got a HK Audio ELIAS system which currently has a fried PCB on one of the amps. Just haven't got round to ordering the new board yet. However, when fully functional, it's a great PA. Crystal clear and really easy to shift about. They come up know and again on the bay, usually for around £1k for the older model. Edited January 26, 2009 by tombboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 [quote name='tombboy' post='391678' date='Jan 26 2009, 01:05 PM']In your opinion of course! My brother has a Mackie Fusion system... 14k with a 7k foldback system. NEVER given him an ounce of trouble. Require a small army to shift though. Active systems are great but if one amp blows, you're pretty f***ed. If you do get and active, make sure you can bypass the internal amps and bring a rack of amps... just in case (sort of defeats the object really!). Personally, I've got a HK Audio ELIAS system which currently has a fried PCB on one of the amps. Just haven't got round to ordering the new board yet. However, when fully functional, it's a great PA. Crystal clear and really easy to shift about. They come up know and again on the bay, usually for around £1k for the older model.[/quote] +1 The only issue we've had with Mackie is when someone stuck a pole through the sub's cone.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cytania Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm just a part-timer looking to do pub gig type stuff however chap here at work may have a PA for sale at a good price. Probably one of the middling cheapo ones without sub but he needs to dig out the details/dig it out of storage. Went to a gig at a pub I'd like to play and found the band using a very large PA, now it may just be they went for what they could hire easily but it is a larger than average pub (more church hall sized). What I don't want to do is pickup an underpowered or vocally poor PA. Was hoping for some rules of thumb... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewart Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 If you take a look at RCF, Electrovoice and JBL you'll probably find something to suit you. If you're going for a 'boxes on sticks' PA for vocals then I can recommend RCF ART310-A (active - they do most of their models in active and passive though). They sound a lot sweeter than the Mackie SRM450s to me - as well as being smaller/lighter/louder. Add a subwoofer (or several) as and when required... SRM450s aren't that bad though, they just sound a bit harsh when pushed. I've heard nothing but bad things about the matching Mackie subs though (SWA-something??)... Ideally get to hear it before you buy it - at realistic levels (usually almost impossible). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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