Portable PA Speaker (or other suggestions?), mostly piano but also vocals & guitar

thecolourbox

Hi all

As per the title, i'm trying to get my head around all the millions of model names of small powered speakers that might be appropriate for amplifying a stage piano playing largely classical type music for my new project (playing piano for events etc). However it would also be good if it could handle vocals alongside the piano, or for acoustic/electric guitars via a preamp with vocals as well. If it requires a mixer that's ok.

I was going to go for something like the Alto TS310 but they seem to have jumped up in price so I'm open to other suggestions. The one they suggested in the shop was about £600 which I can't stretch to as I need to buy a digital piano as well and would like to not exceed £1k on my setup costs.

Looking blindly on ebay seems quite difficult (amplifiers? Speakers? a lot of results with very little clue what I'm looking at) so I'd like to set up some saved searches for specific decent models within x miles of me to make it a bit easier. What do you guys suggest?

Mono is fine, don't need stereo.

Thanks

Musicwolf

The Alto TS310 looks to be about £260 ish each (although it looks as though everything is on order), from memory that doesn't look to be a massive price increase.  Are you sure that you weren't quoted for a pair?

robinbowes

There's a pair of powered Yamaha speakers for sale in the classifieds on here.

thecolourbox

Musicwolf said:

The Alto TS310 looks to be about £260 ish each (although it looks as though everything is on order), from memory that doesn't look to be a massive price increase.  Are you sure that you weren't quoted for a pair?

Sorry I've just re read what I wrote and it isn't very clear - the £600 figure relates to the amp they suggested in the shop, not an Alto speaker. The ts310 I'm sure was nearer £200 before but I could be wrong, however there seem to be a gazillion others around the same price and size so I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a better option if that makes sense.

I'm not very confident I'll make a massive success on this but I'm trying my hardest to make it the best I can with the resource available.

robinbowes said:

There's a pair of powered Yamaha speakers for sale in the classifieds on here.

Thanks. Do you mean these? https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/215625/fs-yamaha-ms400-active-pa-speakers-pair-225#latest

I need something that looks the part for weddings unfortunately, they look like they've had a hard life already! I'm sure they are decent and it wouldn't matter if I was just doing pub band stuff but for weddings and events like that I'm finding you have to look like you belong there

Unless I've missed any others in the classifieds?

Thanks all

thecolourbox

Sadly missed out on a ridiculous bargain Headrush FrFr earlier today which was a shame but I'm hoping amongst the searches and bookmarks I have set up something else pops up that I can make sound decent. That said I don't even have the piano yet but working on that.

If anybody knows of any shops selling some confidence in a box then I'd be up for that also!

RickLucas

Yamaha Stagepas? This one has sold, but you get the idea. Or the full PA system with 2 speakers.
Yamaha STAGEPAS 150m Monitor/PA System | eBay

thecolourbox

Cheers I'll add a saved search for that model, I don't want the 2 speaker thing but one could be ok. Will it be loud enough though? It's got lower wattage, SPL and narrower frequency response than others I've been looking at?

EricTheWeary

I was thinking Behringer but they have a bunch of models and I can't see anywhere you could look at them anywhere near B'ham. PMT I think are the only larger place that keep stock of this kind of thing but Yamaha, HH, Laney, Alto, etc.   They have digital pianees as well.   

thecolourbox

Cheers, yes PMT have stuff but I don't generally enjoy interacting with their staff (if indeed I can find any) as they always seem to miss the point when I ask for advice. Fairdeal were actually brilliant with me regards the piano last week, they've clearly changed in their new location as they were awful in the last shop. They didn't have much by way of PA options though, other than the aforementioned £600 ones

There are so many models, that all basically promise the same thing at vastly different prices that I hoped for some real world experience from normal human beans might present a few models that were known to be decent to set up searches for. 

robinbowes

HK Audio is pretty good gear. Something like this, perhaps? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185088238718

R.

thecolourbox

robinbowes said:

HK Audio is pretty good gear. Something like this, perhaps? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185088238718

R.

Cheers I'll keep an eye out for the brand but that's about double the budget unfortunately.

Piano is about £600 (not available second hand), so amp is max £300 as I also need to buy a piano stand, stool, case/bags for piano and amp, and earphones. If less then even better as I won't have to work for ages before paying them off!

robinbowes

Why not hire for a few events? You get to try out various gear, and can earn money to buy it outright.

R.

thecolourbox

I don't know, I'd have thought a few hires would basically cost me the same as what I'm looking at really, and at least if I buy something and it doesn't work out for me I could get half of it back selling second hand

greejn

Mackie SRM350. Portable, great sound and reliable.

thecolourbox

greejn said:

Mackie SRM350. Portable, great sound and reliable.

Thanks, I've set up a search

shufflebeat

The Headrush frfr108 is probably the best cheap option. You would need a mixer to use it for vocals as well but you're happy with that.

I've had some bad experiences with cheap powered speakers but that was a few years ago and I'd like to think the tech has moved on. A little extra money buys you longevity or amazing volume/size ratio rather than audio sparkle.

Very wedding appropriate.

thecolourbox

Is the 108 enough for piano do you think? I'd discounted that one on the basis that piano would need a bigger speaker, I'd (possibly wrongly) assumed the 108 would work for guitar which is more mid range focused than piano?

horse

I've used a qsc k10 (original version) for keys in band rehearsals and as a monitor for a good few years now.

I've also played in a band that uses Alto for their big PA with subs and 10s or 12s for monitors. I know it's a very different context, but I never really missed my k10 in those gigs - the altos have been fine.

I have been itching to buy a couple of the ts310s so I can run Leslie organ in stereo in jam sessions, but can't really justify it.

So none of this answers your question, but I have what is in theory a posher powered speaker in the k10, but I suspect the alto gets 90% the same quality for less than half the price, and I'm still tempted to pick up a pair. I'm not sure you'll find better for the price.

thecolourbox

Thanks @horse that is reassuring that the options I'm looking at are not too bad. Would you say the 10" speaker is necessary for the piano then or would the 8" be good?

horse

thecolourbox said:

Thanks @horse that is reassuring that the options I'm looking at are not too bad. Would you say the 10" speaker is necessary for the piano then or would the 8" be good?

I don't know, but if you're going for just 1 then I'd probably play it safer with the 10. Probably not much in the cost, weight or size, and those ts310s are quite compact I think.

For what I do you don't tend to want too much low end on piano or organ or you get into "stop playing with your left hand" territory!

thecolourbox

Gotcha, yes that makes sense. The "no left hand" thing is one of the reason I couldn't be in a band   Thank you for the info