Portable PA Recommendations

smudge_lad

Hi guys,

Looking for some recommendations for a portable PA system, for using at smaller venues/weddings etc. 99% of the time it will be 1 mic and 1 guitar.

I won't be using it an awful lot, so don't really want to fork out for one of the Bose systems, but definitely want the same design so that it's easy to transport and takes up very little space

Cheers in advance

Keir

markslade07

Is a Behringer b205d too small? I'm on the lookout for one as a monitor, but seems like people do use it as FOH for this type of scenario

ICBM

The Yamaha Stagepas series seem pretty good, and the 1K is the same format as the Bose - but I don't think it's any cheaper.

smudge_lad

markslade07 said:

Is a Behringer b205d too small? I'm on the lookout for one as a monitor, but seems like people do use it as FOH for this type of scenario

I’d rather have the format of the Bose with the sub and then tall, thin speaker stack for better projection.I’ve already got PA speakers with stands but they are big and heavy and can’t be bothered lifting them to a small wedding

smudge_lad

ICBM said:

The Yamaha Stagepas series seem pretty good, and the 1K is the same format as the Bose - but I don't think it's any cheaper.

Yeah, they are just about as pricey.

Ive seen a couple of Sub-Zero ones, but haven’t heard of this manufacturer before?

ICBM

smudge_lad said:

Ive seen a couple of Sub-Zero ones, but haven’t heard of this manufacturer before?

They're not a manufacturer, they're the in-house brand of Gear4music - like Harley Benton is for Thomann.

The same applies - it's fairly down-to-budget gear, but not as poor as you might think from the relative pricing because they're supplied direct from the factory, and I suspect they have a avoided a lot of R&D cost by simply copying another maker's product... but given that they're less than half the price, I still wouldn't expect the quality to be the same.

smudge_lad

ICBM said:

smudge_lad said:

Ive seen a couple of Sub-Zero ones, but haven’t heard of this manufacturer before?

They're not a manufacturer, they're the in-house brand of Gear4music - like Harley Benton is for Thomann.

The same applies - it's fairly down-to-budget gear, but not as poor as you might think from the relative pricing because they're supplied direct from the factory, and I suspect they have a avoided a lot of R&D cost by simply copying another maker's product... but given that they're less than half the price, I still wouldn't expect the quality to be the same.

Ah i see! There was another brand on gear4music that wasn’t much more expensive too, canny mind what it was called. 

Don’t really have £800 to be spending on something that will get used a couple of times a year, so might just take the punt on one of the lower priced ones

Chris_J

RCF Evox 5, they're discounted at Andertons at the mo too.

400 RMS per tower, clear, great sound dispersion, you could add another for a stereo setup at a later date.

We use our pair for pub gigs, putting 2x vocal mics and 2x acoustic amp DI's into them (acoustic 6, 12 string and occasional mandolin) and a bit of kick drum from my compact kit. We've not had the need to turned them up past halfway yet and have had plenty folk up and dancing

Chris_J

I should add, we use an external mixer as there is only 1 XLR input I seem to recall

sweave

Secondhand AER compact could be worth a look. Heard them a number of times in jazz bars and was pretty impressed.

Wazmeister

DXR 10

Danny1969

Fishman SA330X is OK for the money. Similar to the BOSE type stand array, built in effects are pretty good too. 

If it's just guitar and vocal I doubt your find a sub useful, being as neither got much below 120Hz or so 

smudge_lad

Danny1969 said:

Fishman SA330X is OK for the money. Similar to the BOSE type stand array, built in effects are pretty good too. 

If it's just guitar and vocal I doubt your find a sub useful, being as neither got much below 120Hz or so 

Aye, not really fussy for the sub, but it comes with the portable systems. I guess I might use it for other “stuff” if the need ever arose.

All if the other systems look great, but they’re either more than I want to be spending, or are about as big/heavy as the speakers/system I already have tbh. I’m just after portability and easiness for set up/take down