Recommend me a PA system.

Majorscale

I play in a 5 piece covers band doing a mix of pubs and reasonable size events such as weddings etc. We have just had to let the singer go and are now in the position of needing to buy a PA, i.e. subs & top cabs since they used to belong to the singer. Can anyone make recommendations of a decent sounding PA system? Extra points for portability, clarity and output.

Max budget would be 2 to 2.5k but we'd preferably like to spend less!

Danny1969

Have you already got a desk or does the budget have to include a desk, if so do you want digital or analog ?

ICBM

Sorry to be negative, but bear with me… I can't recommend what to buy, but I can recommend what *not* to buy.

Avoid Wharfedale and Mackie. Nothing to do with sound quality/portability/price, this is based on what I see for repair more often than any other brands. I know they're popular and hence there are quite a lot out there, but I'm still not very impressed.

simonk

A pair of Yamaha DXR12's and a DXS12 sub will get you a long way. Add in a Behringer XR18 if you need a desk (you'll need an iPad to act as a surface). Portable, punchy as hell and well made gear - the Yamahas are covered by a 7 year warranty (well ours were anyway).

crunchman

I wouldn't go with a desk that is tablet only to control it.  Digital desks that you can control with a tablet are great, and if I was buying a desk, I'd get one every time, but sooner or later you will have a WiFi glitch or someone will forget to charge the tablet.  I would always want a conventional control surface of some kind.  It's more money but I'd go for the X32 over the XR18.

If your budget can stretch to it then the Allen & Heath QU16 would be really good.  That is iPad only for tablet control though.  I think the Behringer is iPad or Android.

simonk

crunchman said:

I wouldn't go with a desk that is tablet only to control it.  Digital desks that you can control with a tablet are great, and if I was buying a desk, I'd get one every time, but sooner or later you will have a WiFi glitch or someone will forget to charge the tablet.  I would always want a conventional control surface of some kind.  It's more money but I'd go for the X32 over the XR18.

You make a fair point, although you can always cat5 into the XR18 with a laptop if wifi is being a pain or the tablet goes AWOL.

Plus, the X32 is humumgous! The X32 Compact is obviously, er, more compact, but still a pretty sizeable thing to find a safe place for down the Dog and Duck.

viz

We use carlsbro gamma powered subs and tops. 600w and 400w. I think they're fab, though one of the subs has a faulty vol knob but that's on its way to being repaired. 

andyoz

I'd agree with above that Yamaha is hard to beat at that price point. Get the slightly larger DXS15 is you can accomodate it.

simonk

andyoz said:

I'd agree with above that Yamaha is hard to beat at that price point. Get the slightly larger DXS15 is you can accomodate it.

I'm sure the 15" sub is an absolute beast. Don't discount the 12 though... we're always turning the damn thing down - it can be a bit overbearing with the 12" tops.

ESBlonde

Get the 12" if you will typically use a sub and go without depth if the place is too small because they project the vocal range better. If you can't also carry subs regularly get the 15" which will slightly compensate better in depth at a loss of definition of the mid/vocal range (subtle but none the less).

ICBM

ESBlonde said:

Get the 12" if you will typically use a sub and go without depth if the place is too small because they project the vocal range better. If you can't also carry subs regularly get the 15" which will slightly compensate better in depth at a loss of definition of the mid/vocal range (subtle but none the less).

I would definitely go for 1x12"+horn + subs rather than 1x15"+horn and no subs. 15"+horn in a single cab is quite an odd mix and really does lose definition where you need it most - a compromise that is very much one.

JayGee

simonk said:

A pair of Yamaha DXR12's and a DXS12 sub will get you a long way. Add in a Behringer XR18 if you need a desk (you'll need an iPad to act as a surface). Portable, punchy as hell and well made gear - the Yamahas are covered by a 7 year warranty (well ours were anyway).

Our singer bought a pair of DXR12s (and a small Yamaha mixer) recently and they're really very, very nice indeed. Compact, easy to handle while still feeling robust, loud, and (while we're using them for vocals only at the moment) sound great. 

Hoof

On sale here:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/68526/full-band-pa-system-1200#latest

andyoz

JBL SRX800 series are great to. I had the 12" version.  The Yamaha's are better overall value and lighter. You'd have enough to buy two tops and a sub.

https://m.thomann.de/gb/jbl_srx812p.htm?gclid=CjwKEAjwsqjKBRDtwOSjs6GTgmASJACRbI3fQiMhRx_12D-c7XLfcQtPEWElXo4rfOYZfV_FjZxEHRoCi5rw_wcB

andyoz

The other brand with a great range of active boxes is RCF. Their ART 7 series sounds great and not your normal moulded horror box.  Check out the ART 732a tops and ART 705AS sub.  http://www.rcf.it/professional-speaker-systems/sub-series/sub-705-as-ii

It's a nice bass reflex sub...better then alot of the tuneless thump boxes IMO.

The really clever system is the RCF Evox 12.  A bit out of budget but it's one of the best portable bangs for the buck going

Majorscale

Thanks for all the suggestions. One of the band members, whose brother is in the industry, is pointing us towards a Shermann / Blue Acoustic DM1 system. We might be able to arrange a trial too which will be handy. Will report back!