How do you shop for your new PA?

[drrocko]

Any recommendations on "how" to listen to PA gear in the store. For example, do you bring your instrument and play through, listen to a CD, plug in your IPOD etc.? Can you really tell if a set of speakers/mixer is best for your application by playing a CD through them? I guess it's a way to hear bass response, high's mids etc but does that translate well to a different use such as acoustic guitars and vocals? Are there any standards by which the pros or even good amateurs measure the gear in terms of listening?

[Square]

I can usually get a decent opinion of a box with a few familiar CD's and a Shure Beta 58. I know my CD's and I know what a Beta 58 sounds like through all of my current boxes, so I mainly listen for the differences between what I am used to and what I hear when I shop.

 

The serious pro's would probably just take their laptops and SMAART software and proceed the pimp slap the smack talk right out of the salesmen's mouth's.

 

In general, I have found it difficult to really get a good demo of several products when you are shopping for something. I know the big boys just call in demo's with the different manufacturers, but my piggy bank dosen't have that kind of clout.

[tlbonehead]

Originally posted by drrocko Any recommendations on "how" to listen to PA gear in the store. For example, do you bring your instrument and play through, listen to a CD, plug in your IPOD etc.? Can you really tell if a set of speakers/mixer is best for your application by playing a CD through them? I guess it's a way to hear bass response, high's mids etc but does that translate well to a different use such as acoustic guitars and vocals? Are there any standards by which the pros or even good amateurs measure the gear in terms of listening?

If you were concerned with how acoustic guitar sounded through the speakers, listening to some acoustic guitar based music might be a good option. For me, using material that is pretty honestly recorded and that you are very familiar with is a good method for listening.

[Craig Vecchione]

Use material you're familiar with, and play it through gear you know sounds good to you. Then whenever you demo gear try to have this 'baseline' available to A/B against the candidate.

Obviously if you're just starting out this is very difficult, and finding retailers with the right combinations can be even harder. But IMO nothing beats direct comparison.

 

There are few things as subjective as sound, and what works one day may seem like garbage the next, simply because it's a different day. If you stick with widely accepted good products you'll reduce the likelihood of disastrous choices. But it'll still happen no matter what you try to do when demo'ing.

[dboomer]

You need to listen to the system with material that demonstrates the equipment. You are not auditioning the music you listen to ... you are auditioning the equipment. Take some CD's (and don't use MP3s) with some solo voices and sparce instrumentals (lot's of delicate percussion and maybe solo piano, etc). A big bunch of blazing crunched guitars pretty much sounds the same everywhere. You don't have to necessarly like the material ... just judge with it. You want material with technical excellence. Detail is really what you are looking for ... frequency responce will change with the room and the position of the speakers in the room and how they are stacked (the one on the floor will have more bass than the one stacked on top of it) with the other speakers so what you hear in the store is not the final word. Remember all the other speakers that aren't turned on are sucking bass out of the room.

 

Also don't just listen standing right in front of the speaker on axis ... unless your audience is only one person. How do they sound off axis?