P. A system recommendations

Danny1969

dilithium85 said:

I have some monitors and have some speakers lined up on ebay and reverb (mackie and peavey) but now getting pulled in two directions between passive and active.
Especially since getting told different brands of speakers and amp could damage the speakers although I see them mixed a lot

No, there's no reason you can't mix brands .... just make sure the power amp you buy is rated around 40% higher or more in watts than the speakers so there's no chance of the amp clipping and damaging the speakers. Although you can blow a  600 watt set of speakers with a 1200 watt amp you can also blow a 600 watt set of speakers with an underpowered amp that clips and square waves. The amp needs to provide ample clean power.  Avoid cheap amps like Prosound, Behringer etc and look for really good robust workhorses like the PV2600 I mentioned earlier 

dilithium85

Danny1969 said:

dilithium85 said:

I have some monitors and have some speakers lined up on ebay and reverb (mackie and peavey) but now getting pulled in two directions between passive and active.
Especially since getting told different brands of speakers and amp could damage the speakers although I see them mixed a lot

No, there's no reason you can't mix brands .... just make sure the power amp you buy is rated around 40% higher or more in watts than the speakers so there's no chance of the amp clipping and damaging the speakers. Although you can blow a  600 watt set of speakers with a 1200 watt amp you can also blow a 600 watt set of speakers with an underpowered amp that clips and square waves. The amp needs to provide ample clean power.  Avoid cheap amps like Prosound, Behringer etc and look for really good robust workhorses like the PV2600 I mentioned earlier 

So a phonic 1062 powered mixer (2x 375) will be enough power for two 300 watt speakers but best not to go higher

Danny1969

dilithium85 said:

Danny1969 said:

dilithium85 said:

I have some monitors and have some speakers lined up on ebay and reverb (mackie and peavey) but now getting pulled in two directions between passive and active.
Especially since getting told different brands of speakers and amp could damage the speakers although I see them mixed a lot

No, there's no reason you can't mix brands .... just make sure the power amp you buy is rated around 40% higher or more in watts than the speakers so there's no chance of the amp clipping and damaging the speakers. Although you can blow a  600 watt set of speakers with a 1200 watt amp you can also blow a 600 watt set of speakers with an underpowered amp that clips and square waves. The amp needs to provide ample clean power.  Avoid cheap amps like Prosound, Behringer etc and look for really good robust workhorses like the PV2600 I mentioned earlier 

So a phonic 1062 powered mixer (2x 375) will be enough power for two 300 watt speakers but best not to go higher

I wouldn't go for that, it's really underpowered budget stuff ..... basically for the £500 you mentioned I would get a £200 power amp, a set of Peavey speakers and a basic little desk. That Phonic won't cut it 

Rich210

Square waves a bad....you need much more power for pa systems. Just buy a donkey of an amp that weighs 20kg minimum. 

John_P

Danny1969 said:

dilithium85 said:

So a phonic 1062 powered mixer (2x 375) will be enough power for two 300 watt speakers but best not to go higher

I wouldn't go for that, it's really underpowered budget stuff ..... basically for the £500 you mentioned I would get a £200 power amp, a set of Peavey speakers and a basic little desk. That Phonic won't cut it 

+1.      I use actives for my rigs but at that budget they tend to be garbage - cheap stuff like alto or thumps won’t last long.     

A pv2600 or similar power amp and a pair of old hisys speakers with a little desk and stands will do the job and take a fair amount of hammer.   Look on  local Facebook group and you’ll find a setup like that fairly quickly.  

John_A

Push the budget a bit and get something good, there’s are a bargain, and not too far away

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RCF-HD-10-A/124062452835?hash=item1ce2b2cc63%3Ag%3Ah1EAAOSwsNNeLuCu&LH_ItemCondition=3000

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electrovoice-EKX-12P-pair-of-with-EV-padded-covers/312989772905?hash=item48dfa4ec69:g:vvEAAOSwDeReQoDF

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mackie-HD1221-1200watt-Pair/264606308200?hash=item3d9bc3d768:g:XssAAOSwiWReJtjw


you would be better off with a sub too, but could add later

If you are determined to go cheap I have a HK audio pro8 active (a bit tatty) which can power a second speaker a Nova 8 passive in perfect condition, it’s not a perfect visual match for the HK, but not bad, a little Behringer desk and all cables you can have for 250 posted.  You would need a sub for kick, but it sounds great for vocals

dilithium85

Cheers for that I will keep an eye out on those sellers on ebay and something similar 

Rich210

I'd go passive. Buy the biggest amp you can and a couple of tops that are a minimum 12", 15" would give you more low end with out a sub. Don't worry about the amp size, you can dial back the input sensitivity but you'll still get tonnes of headroom and protect your speakers and get get better overall sound because it'll have a higher voltage swing. After then you'll be able to expand your system with that amp as a basis. A pv2700 is a good shout but I still think the mpx 1200 would be a better option because you can run them at 2ohm in stereo and 4 ohms bridged. The EV SB122 cabs may look a bit shit but theyre actually really good and easy to shift about. Theres just that bit more versatility and if it's just for a kick drum you might get away with just one EVSB122 sub. Second hand they're probably 100 quid. 

Rich210

This could be a good shout for the bottom end. I've not heard them before but could be enough depending on how loud you play. It would be ideal to put your bass drum through for small gigs to complement the acoustic volume of the drum itself. You just need a simple preamp and go straight into the back of it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EV-Sb121a-Active-Bass-Cabinet-600-watt/264626728661?hash=item3d9cfb6ed5:g:AoUAAOSw5nJeNInB

http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/STARINMANUALS/Bosch%20-%20EV/Sb121a.pdf

p90fool

John_A said:

Active speakers have matched power amps, and DSP speaker management systems so if you get decent ones you are a lot less likely to damage speakers than running passives/power amp without crossovers or speaker management system.  At the level you are looking at I'd go active every time.

He's not in the market for decent ones, he has a budget which will limit him to fairly crappy actives, as am I, which is why I'm giving up on them having already filled my local recycling centre with ugly plastic speaker boxes stinking of burnt PCBs.

John_A

p90fool said:

John_A said:

Active speakers have matched power amps, and DSP speaker management systems so if you get decent ones you are a lot less likely to damage speakers than running passives/power amp without crossovers or speaker management system.  At the level you are looking at I'd go active every time.

He's not in the market for decent ones, he has a budget which will limit him to fairly crappy actives, as am I, which is why I'm giving up on them having already filled my local recycling centre with ugly plastic speaker boxes stinking of burnt PCBs.

Which is why I keep saying to push the budget and/or be patient.  £500 will get you a decent-ish vocal PA, my HK + a sub would do depending on how loud the band is, but trying to mic a kick over 2 100W marshalls will end in smoke!

dilithium85

Found a pair of yamaha msr400 for less than £300 good amount of Watts, active and 12inch speaker meets the criteria 

John_A

They should be OK but go VERY easy on the kick or get a sub