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Sound recommendations for 30 seat venue


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New to this forum, so I hope I've picked the appropriate channel for this question. I run a 30 seat cafe where we hold a variety of events - mainly live music, typically of which 90% are either solo or duo acts. It's an intimate space which doesn't require much in the way of sound reinforcement. Presently we're using a little Fender Passport 150 fed by a Mackie 12 channel mixer. It's workable but it would be nice to upgrade to 3-way speakers for a little better sonic range (ideally something we can permanently mount on the wall or ceiling). Would also like to upgrade the amp/mixer with something that has some decent reverb. Small and simple is best - we don't have a lot of space or technical proficiency to work with so a powered amp seems like a good idea. And of course budget is also small - any general recommendations on new or used equipment would be useful and very much appreciated!

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Since you didn't state your budget, it is going to be a bit hard to give you specifics.

I would suggest you go with some powered speakers and an un-powered mixer with built-in mic pres and effects. Since the room is relatively small, you won't need too much power, and speakers in the 600w to 1000w range are everywhere and relatively inexpensive. You may as well keep the Mackie if it has reverb, or trade it and the Passport in and get a more feature laden mixer [i like Yamaha, but Mackie, Allen and Heath, Peavey and Soundcraft all make relatively inexpensive boards that should work for you]...and I would shy away from the low and mid grade Behringers and Harbingers.

Speaker-wise, for the price to performance ratio, I like Altos, but there are tons of powered speakers on the market now, and even EV has run some less expensive units like the zlx-12P [and it is 1000w]. Here again I would shy away from Harbinger, Kustom and Behringer...although as floor monitors the 200w 12" Harbingers are decent.

If you shop carefully, you could put a new system together for around a grand, assuming your cables and stands are still usable [but if you are going to 'fly' the cabs, then stands are off the list, right?]. If you are okay with used gear, look at Reverb.com and you could do a system for way less than a grand.

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Thanks much for the recommendations guys. Looks like powered speakers are the way to go. Perhaps I'll rent some first. I like our old Mackie fine but the newer models have built-in digital reverb which is far more convenient and space-saving than running something outboard.

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Both my wife, who runs a karaoke show, and myself (I play anything from solo to four-piece) often play in similar sized venues. We both currently use one or two Turbosound IP2000 speakers. We find the sound is great, and it spreads nicely, even in odd shaped venues. One of those with your current mixer would work quite well and should eliminate the need for additional monitoring. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IP2000--turbosound-inspire-ip2000

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