Jump to content

How many watts of PA power are needed to push an outdoor gig to 750-1000 fans?


c2dzmm

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I am curious as to how many watts of PA power it would take to sufficiently play an outdoor gig. Say 6 monitors for the band and 2 3-15in. speakers to push the sound to the audience? The gig location would be out in the open with maybe a curtain or banner behind the band. Let

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I would say somewhere in the region of 60,000 watts if you wanna do it properly.

 

The more the better, especially outdoors.

As a rule of thumb you need about 3 times the power outdoors.

 

So a club that could hold about the above amount would be looking at about 20,000 w, which is about right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
I am curious as to how many watts of PA power it would take to sufficiently play an outdoor gig. Say 6 monitors for the band and 2 3-15in. speakers to push the sound to the audience? The gig location would be out in the open with maybe a curtain or banner behind the band. Let

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It's not just the power. It's the cabinets, you need 3x the cabinets to project sound outdoors. Projecting sound in a closed space like a club or hall is much easier because you've got reflective walls and ceiling. None of that outdoors...

 

 

+1

If you could somehow get a massive marquee or something then you could cut the power down quite a bit

 

Outdoor PA is a bit of a nightmare to get right.

 

In most cases, bigger and louder is better when it comes to outdoors.:thu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Eighty Six the whole PA concept altogether. Why don't you simply send an audio/video feed out to everyones cell phones in the audience.

 

 

 

You also win some internet....

I'm going to have to start being less generous.

 

 

but there is a flaw however. If this concept took off, can you imagine hearing a 5150 through a phone speaker??? ZOMG!1!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

rent the pa. we did that for a show once and it costs a few couple grand but we had equivilent to second stage ozzfest. it was outdoors for about 600 people and it was just loud enough. 25' hanging speakers 8 HUGE 6' subs 4 huge 6' monitors on each side of the stage and for the drummer and 8 or so front monitors. it was way worth the money. OH! and it came with the stage and sound guys and the techs to put it up. it took them all day to put it up and we got to help. it was pretty bad ass if you ask me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
+1

If you could somehow get a massive marquee or something then you could cut the power down quite a bit


Outdoor PA is a bit of a nightmare to get right.


In most cases, bigger and louder is better when it comes to outdoors.
:thu:

I love outdoor shows. It is a clean pallet that you are painting your sound on. It does take some juice. For small outdoor shows, I use 6-8 of these www.sonicspeaker.com/18e.htm and of these (CE-34)http://www.hkel.com/speaker.html with about 9000 watts of power for FOH in a 2 to 1 ratio subs/top cabs. It is enough for a good lively sound but not quite concert level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

depends on your stage-

 

if the stage is at least 3 ft high. Isolate the speakers from the stage. use a carpet or something underneath. Then add risers for the MAIN speakers.

 

what we did was to box the sound in. we were at a baseball field at a HS and needed to contain the sound. We built these drop frames from 2x4's and paint drop cloths and boxed in the stage (sides and back). It was much cheaper than renting a huge PA and we played for 2500+ with only 2000 watts avail in the PA. 2-1000W amps. one for subs and one for mains. biamped mono. I would rather have rented a tent or something but it was last minute. for our purpose, the sound was able to carry well about 200-300 ft from center. farther back it died off which was fine since that was picnic area and people could hear each other talk.

 

if you box the stage in, get a means of supporting the rig. a little wind can become a hazard. we secured our rig with bungie cords. wind was light but anything heavier could have been bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...