powered speaker advice

[oldude]

I have been in this music biz for about 40years so I feel I can accurately judge what sounds good and what doesn't . Would I like a 12000 system? yes. Can i afford it ? No . As far as caring about sound , no one does as much as I do. Most of my career a has been in halls with their own Equip , sound man etc. My venues now are very different. I can honestly say most of my audiences don't give a second thought to the sound . We are background music at best for drinking and loud conversations Oh , did I mention the texting which seems so popular these days everywhere? I will unsuscribe to this thread and continue to do my cheap ass thing. It beats not playing at all. Thanks for all the info.

[agedhorse]

I wasn't talking about $12000, I was talking about a couple thousand. Big difference.

If you and your audience doesn't care, than cheap is plenty fine.

[oldude]

Thanks for your permission to be substandard

[ChiroVette]

Edit: Oldude, do you REALLY need to be so passive aggressive?

 

I will unsuscribe to this thread and continue to do my cheap ass thing. It beats not playing at all. Thanks for all the info.

 

That would be a mistake, in my honest opinion. Look, let me tell you what I have learned in the few weeks I have been here: These guys can be a little gruff and intolerant sometimes, but if you put on a thicker skin and look through the seemingly callous exterior, they are sharing a wealth of information here. For the record, I agree with your assessment that if you cannot afford better equipment, what's the plan B? Stop playing? Of course not! You play with what you have. I am in the process of saving for much better gear, but right now, my sound man has a horrifyingly bad JBL JRX based system with Berhinger subwoofers!

 

My sound system, which is way better than his, consists of JBL MR speakers (monitors and 3-way tops) and while they sound much better than the JRX's they are absurdly bulky and unwieldy! This means that I am stuck with the choice between the lessor of two evils until I can buy the gear I want. Now what if I can NEVER buy the gear? Let's pretend that I felt as you did or just didn't have the means to save for better equipment? Well, so {censored}ing what??

 

Should you stop playing? Should I? That would be as categorically stupid as not driving to work and gigs because you can't afford the Corvette you want and are stuck with a 1995 Dodge Dart! The crappy car gets you where you're going and the crappy gear gets you gigs and keeps you playing.

 

I don't see the down side. Just do what you have to do to enjoy your music! But still try to learn from these guys because they are quite knowledgeable.

[lifeloverwg]

So Oldude, if you search for Al Poulin's past posts, you will get lots of reviews of the many less expensive powered speakers out there as he has owned many of them and listened to others.

 

Maybe he would even sell you a pair as he just recently picked up a pair of pretty high level speakers for a very good price and he must be starting to run out of storage space.....

 

While we may come across as a bunch of snooty snobs, it's just that we wouldn't hang out around this place if we didn't care about sound and the quality of it. There's not many of us that have ever regretted buying the best quality we could. You do need to be realistic about what makes economic sense for you, but this probably isn't the best place for advice on truly low budget gear as most of the regular posters here don't use it.

 

Unless your instruments are bottom of the barrel quality, why would you want your sound through speakers that are? I'll repeat my advice to buy one good speaker rather than two that are not so good.

 

Good luck, Winston.

[jwlussow]

 

I guess it's all perspective. I consider low end to be Peavey, Carvin, etc. I use powered Carvin speakers (LM and PM series), and I think they sound pretty darn good for the price .

 

 

That is kind of the point. Now that I've been doing this for over 30 years and have somewhere around 1500 shows with my current band under my belt, I no longer wish to use the "for the price" suffix. That means that you are compromising the sound for an average satisfaction. Those systems can sound fine but for me (just my opinion) I prefer to just sound pretty darn good, period. I don't have the top of the line system by any means but it sounds awesome and the piece has nothing to do with my impression of the system. Like I said, this is just where I am at. I have owned lots of Peavey, Carvin, Kustom and Nady stuff over the years. The Nady stuff sounded good for the price because they were so damn cheap. The sounded like {censored} but I could justify it because of cost. I've grown up since then. Now I have more money than patience so I prefer an awesome sounding system no matter what it cost.

[musicmanmu]

 

In all honesty, my band has a ton of fans and you know what? When I play through better PA systems it seems like the band members are the only ones that actually give a {censored} about the tonal and aural differences.

 

 

This x 1000000.

 

The average listening audience will notice when the sound is very {censored}ty (I saw a popular solo guy a few weeks ago using some no-name brand speakers and I thought it sounded awful, but no one else seemed to care). I don't think they can tell the difference between a $350 speaker and a $850 speaker. Or, maybe they just don't care.

 

So OP, just get what you think is appropriate for you and go play, and have fun, for Pete's sake!

[abzurd]

 

..... My venues now are very different. I can honestly say most of my audiences don't give a second thought to the sound . We are background music at best for drinking and loud conversations Oh , did I mention the texting which seems so popular these days everywhere? I will unsuscribe to this thread and continue to do my cheap ass thing. It beats not playing at all. Thanks for all the info.

 

 

Well there you go then. Your thing is playing for people that don't care about the sound, and by your own admission, they don't much care about who or what is making the sound. If that's where you are then that's where you are. I don't pay much attention to the sound system pumping out muzak in an elevator. Is that your argument? You are seemingly happy playing "background music" through the cheapest PA system money can buy. Good for you, but really, you aren't exactly a making a credible argument for not buying better gear. If anything you're strengthening the advice already given.

[jwlussow]

 

Boy, This whole thread is out of my league totally. I have used an old Kustom set up for years and have been pretty happy with it. My income last year was 3600. So thanks for all the advice but Peavey etc is my price range until I hit the big time:cool: As far as Behringer , I have a couple of their mics that have been great so I guess to each his own.

 

 

I totally understand where you are coming from. One extremely important lesson I learned was that once we invested in better gear we started getting more jobs and they pay better. Our Kustom and Peavey rig used to make us around $175 a night for a 4 hour show and we couldn't get out of that rut. Fast forward a few years and now we can take between $1500 and $2000 for a 90 minute show. Yes we got better and more comfortable as performers but the real change in our situation was the switch from the Kustom/Peavey system to a higher quality Peavey system, then to an even higher quality Peavey system and eventually to an awesome quality JBL system. It seemed the better our gear, the more we were able to make.

[jwlussow]

 

In all honesty, my band has a ton of fans and you know what? When I play through better PA systems it seems like the band members are the only ones that actually give a {censored} about the tonal and aural differences.

 

 

I call bull{censored} or just lack of real experience. It is totally wrong to think your sound doesn't matter. It didn't matter to us when we were in high school and college playing parties but in the real world it is the difference between playing and not playing. You will outgrow your current situation. Once friends start getting married and having kids you will need to build a new audience and trust me, they really do care about sound quality. Most of us old timers have been through that and I doubt if you will find a single, honest working musician/soundman here that will honestly admit that the audience doesn't care about sound quality. I do, on the other hand, know a lot of bands that don't care about their audience.

[abzurd]

To add to what jwlussow said, I too have found people don't care about the sound until there's something to care about. I can walk into almost any bar on a Friday or Saturday night and hear absolutely awful PA systems. Most are cheap crap run with little or know knowledge. Some of the bands are very talented, but it doesn't matter, it sounds horrible. Bring in a good PA system combined with the skills to use it and a talented band is no longer hung by their own noose. And I guarantee people WILL come up and comment specifically about the sound. They will also get comments about how the band has gotten better since they saw it last "X" years ago. Most people can't differentiate between a good band and a good sound. If it sounds bad due to either the players or their PA, bad is bad.

 

That said it's an overall attitude and approach. Shelling out a few more bones for the next best speaker line doesn't guarantee compliments and bookings. You need to question the way you do everything and adjust as needed to provide the best FOH/audience sound possible. Yes, that sometimes means you don't get the pristine sound you are used to when practicing alone. Just some off the top of my head ones....

 

- Guitar amps pointed into the crowd in a small venue

- Heavy handed drummers or other instruments that are so loud on stage the PA can't compete and even if it could you wouldn't want it to as the room SPL would be unbearable

- Too many open mics amplifying all the stage gunk

- Large Drum fills for a small venue that's already "drum heavy"

[jwlussow]

 

I have used an old Kustom set up for years and have been pretty happy with it. My income last year was 3600 .

 

 

Seriously. This sounds like cause and effect to me. A couple of

 

Think about all those two sentences say. Can we paraphrase a little? "I have a cheap "meh" sounding system and last year I only made $3600." I wonder if there is a connection???

[ChiroVette]

 

I call bull{censored} or just lack of real experience. It is totally wrong to think your sound doesn't matter. It didn't matter to us when we were in high school and college playing parties but in the real world it is the difference between playing and not playing. You will outgrow your current situation. Once friends start getting married and having kids you will need to build a new audience and trust me, they really do care about sound quality. Most of us old timers have been through that and I doubt if you will find a single, honest working musician/soundman here that will honestly admit that the audience doesn't care about sound quality. I do, on the other hand, know a lot of bands that don't care about their audience.

 

 

You can call bull{censored} all you want, but that doesn't invalidate my point. Most people aren't that into great gear and most people in bars and dancing around couldn't tell a great PA from a {censored}ty one.

 

My band gets paid good money whether we play through garbage or through a really good system, say at a high end festival or a venue with a great PA. For the record, I have a ton of playing out experience and I will stand by my conviction that the for the most part my band members and I are the only one who care about how "crystal clear" the vocals are or the quality of the PA. I have seen this in action way too many times to dispute the unfaltering logic. People in bars are drinking, getting drunk, doing drugs, and trying to get laid. Bar owners also COULD NOT give a {censored} what you sound like. All they care about is can you bring the people in.

 

There is a band in my area called R********g that fancies themselves a Dead cover band. (I asterisked out their name for courtesy sake) They have one of the WORST PA systems I have seen in a professional gigging band. They are mostly a very mediocre sounding band and I think in terms of sound quality they are God awful. But they have been around way longer than we have and pack people in everywhere they play. So right now they actually make more money than we do. We are a way better band at what we do and use way better equipment even without the new gear I am saving for but I guarantee you that even when I have the gear I want AND even though we are a better band than we already are, they will probably make more money than us (at least for right now) with all their {censored} equipment because, newsflash: NOBODY CARES but the musicians and professional sound people.

 

While I am a huge fan of saving for and buying good gear, you are categorically naive if think that "fans" of a cover band give a rat's ass about it to ANYWHERE NEAR the degree that you or I do.

 

As an aside, I live in NY City and you know what? MOST of the successful bands in my are play through what most people here would consider absolute garbage. Sorry, but its a fact. Go to most bars and you will see some crappy ass, bargain basement, cube shaped Peavey powered head being mixed from the stage by one of the musicians who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground regarding mixing. There will be no monitors and the FOS is usually utter crap that looks like it was bought at a garage sale. Yet, people are dancing, drinking, and socializing, and that's that.

[lifeloverwg]

I agree there's a large segment of the population that doesn't notice if the speakers are better, but they do notice that the performance sounds better. They still may not know if it's the speakers, or talent, or instruments, or mics, but any crowd that cares enough to go hear live music notices who sounds better and who doesn't. If the OP's crowd truly couldn't care less if he's there making noise, what's the point of him spending any time and money to perform? If that's really true, he needs better gigs and that requires at least some minimal level of better gear...... Maybe not to the level we prefer, but certainly better than Kustom for god's sake!

 

Maybe the reason the crowd doesn't care is because it sounds like the performer doesn't care...... For that matter, why do I care? Somebody has to be the bottom of the barrel to help the public appreciate those that put time money and effort into a better product.

[abzurd]

The real answer is to be young, attractive, and well connected. The rest of us buy better speakers, work on our performance and hope for the best

[ChiroVette]

The real answer is to be young, attractive, and well connected. The rest of us buy better speakers, work on our performance and hope for the best

 

Like a lot of the opinions in this thread, that is a gross oversimplification. The reality is that there are MANY factors that can and do effect a band's success.

 

Only ONE of them is the sound system. But to use another example, I have seen a band of stellar musicians and singers with CRAP PA equipment do very well. Again, as in the example above in my previous post, sometimes just being around long enough and having name recognition is enough to have a huge fan base.

 

Look in a perfect world, yes, it is great to have it all. But anyone who really believes that a very good band would be completely stymied and handicapped by what most people in this forum would consider crap PA gear is just not living in the real world. Sure, a great PA on top of a great band will help, but my only point is that in the bar circuit, it is not as much as most people would think. In the end, I am NOT upgrading my PA for my fans, who I am sure won't give two {censored}s. I am upgrading it for ME and for my band.

[Axisplayer]

There is some truth that the audience doesn't know a lot. They often know what they like when they hear it, but don't know or care what gear was used to make it so. There is also truth that better gear allows you to do things that lesser gear does not.

 

They do know when the kick drum is hit whether they can feel it or not, because I bring enough subs.

They do know if the vocals stay on top of the music and they can understand the vocals, because I bring enough rig and it stays coherent at high SPL.

They do know when the drums ring too long and start a rumble, but the drums don't because I use gates and compressors.

They do know that the band sounds full even if not cranking loud, because I have a system that is tonally balanced, not shrill or muddy, and every instrument can be heard clearly.

They do know that the band is playing, because my gear will take the rigors of traveling and still work-at every show.

They do know that the acoustic guitar sounds like an acoustic guitar, not like a banjo or electric guitar, because I have good mics, DIs, and DSP.

They do know they don't hear feedback all night because the system does not have unruly frequency spikes that cause squeals when turned up.

They do know the vocals stay in tune, because I bring good, strong monitors that allow singers to reach their potential.

They do know the vocal mic for the keyboard player stayed in place and he wasn't adjusting it all night, because I bring K&M stands.

They do know that the sound is consistent from low to high SPL because I brought gear capable of doing that.

They do know they didn't hear loud hums through the system, because I have balanced connections at every point in the system.

 

In short, it is what was stated before. People don't notice a thing when it goes as planned, they say the band was "awesome." They do notice when anything goes wrong, and they say the sound man sucked. The goal is to bring gear you never have to apologize for. At certain levels of performance, any gear will get you by. At other other levels of performance, you start to understand why good gear matters. Buy the gear that is appropriate for the work you do. I can almost make anything work for a 90db blues band in the local corner bar. I need good gear when I do a rock act for 500 people in a larger club. That Kustom just won't cut it then. Whenever you move across those levels of performance it is time to make an honest assessment of the gear at hand and the job to do.

[abzurd]

 

Like a lot of the opinions in this thread, that is a gross oversimplification. The reality is that there are MANY factors that can and do effect a band's success. Only ONE of them is the sound system. But to use another example, I have seen a band of stellar musicians and singers with CRAP PA equipment do very well. Again, as in the example above in my previous post, sometimes just being around long enough and having name recognition is enough to have a huge fan base. Look in a perfect world, yes, it is great to have it all. But anyone who really believes that a very good band would be completely stymied and handicapped by what most people in this forum would consider crap PA gear is just not living in the real world. Sure, a great PA on top of a great band will help, but my only point is that in the bar circuit, it is not as much as most people would think. In the end, I am NOT upgrading my PA for my fans, who I am sure won't give two {censored}s. I am upgrading it for ME and for my band.

 

 

My comment was tongue in cheek (kind of). I understand and, for the most part, agree with what you're saying. We have a few popular bands that play regularly around here. One that I'm thinking of aren't really all that good frankly (I hear mistakes like crazy) and the company they've had the few times I've seen them is a hack job with home built cabinets and it sounds, well like a hack running home built cabinets. That said, they draw a crowd. Would the overall experience be better if they sounded better? Sure it would. Would they draw even more people if they sounded substantially better? I'd like to think so. Do they care? No, obviously not. Does the venue hiring them care? No, obviously not. They do well enough to be booked often for the price they command. So, while I still say people do notice and I do believe in many situations it absolutely matters, in many situations I concede it does not. In this situation it has morphed from a band to an experience in that people know people will be there and that's why they go.

[jwlussow]

 

As an aside, I live in NY City and you know what? MOST of the successful bands in my are play through what most people here would consider absolute garbage. Sorry, but its a fact. Go to most bars and you will see some crappy ass, bargain basement, cube shaped Peavey powered head being mixed from the stage by one of the musicians who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground regarding mixing. There will be no monitors and the FOS is usually utter crap that looks like it was bought at a garage sale. Yet, people are dancing, drinking, and socializing, and that's that.

 

 

I am just offering a different perspective. I do spend a lot of time on the east coast and in NYC what I've noticed is a pretty decent live music bar scene. The clubs that pay real money also seem to be packed and the gear for most of those bands was very good. I've also been to smaller neighborhood clubs where the bands have a nice crowd and generally lower quality gear. Those bands were playing for the door or a couple of hundred bucks. The real difference that I could see between the bands pulling in $1000 a night and $50 a night wasn't their talent. Some of the bands I see playing for scraps in the small bars were actually much more talented then the bands pulling down serious bucks. To me it came down to their sound. If the band doesn't care why should the crowd or the bar owner. I'd really love to ship my system to Olddude and run it for him. I believe he would end up in a better place than he is now.

[ChiroVette]

Axisplayer, while it may seem to contradict my posts above, I agree with everything you just said and I could give you examples in my band of why what you are saying is true. The point is that in my experience, the level of gear that I am saving for now (thanks to the advice of you and others in this forum) as well as gear probably way above my price range is just not usually seen in most of the types of venues we play in anyway.

 

Honestly, my MR based PA system with an old Souncraft Folio Rac Pac mixer is light years ahead of 99% of the systems all my competition plays on, and I still want to get rid of that old, bulky stuff in favor of better gear. But that I am doing for ME and for MY ENJOYMENT of the music and the subsequent recordings as well as my pride in a superior product...regardless of who dies and does not notice the difference!

 

Yes, all the points you brought out about the kick drum and bass in the subs and everything else is all viable. And you know what else? I think if you are playing nicer or larger venues that it starts to become more important what PA gear you use. Honestly? More than half the places we play in are like glorified closets where very often the stage sound IS THE HOUSE sound, or damned close to it lol.

 

Yes, I think that you are intrinsically correct that people may not know what they are talking about or listening to, but "something in their heads" will know that something sounds better or worse with the variances in equipment. But I also believe that the level of priority that most audiences give this increase or decrease in quality is, quite honestly, nowhere near as high as what we here in this forum do.

[abzurd]

 

Yes, I think that you are intrinsically correct that people may not know what they are talking about or listening to, but "something in their heads" will know that something sounds better or worse with the variances in equipment. But I also believe that the level of priority that most audiences give this increase or decrease in quality is, quite honestly, nowhere near as high as what we here in this forum do.

 

 

It depends on the audience. Our non-bar audiences AND CLIENTS care. And that's how we got to playing 60% non-bar gigs. You never know who is in the audience! The first thing we get when approached by a prospective "high dollar" client (3X-5X more than a bar show) is how good it sounds. These people are listening with a critical ear. So fine, assume 80%+ of the folks in the bar don't give a rats ass about us or our sound, 20% of them do, but more importantly, the 1-2 people covertly checking us out are absolutely paying attention to the sound, our behavior, and our performance. There's more out there than the bar scene and as you venture out of bars quality matters more. Your popularity as well known bar band may not even matter at all if it's a private, non-revenue generating event where name recognition isn't important.

[Axisplayer]

Chirovette, I can agree with most of that. Actually the gear you list is not what I would envision when talking about crap gear. It isn't great stuff, but it is usable. Crap gear is walking in to a SOS system with Kustom 10" tops being run from a no name powered head, with homemade plywood wedges with Pyledrivers in them. 30 year old mic stands that won't stay in position, and 4-5 mismatched Radio Shack level mics.

 

I have briefcased a few shows for a local Americana band that brought out Shure 55 mics (that I really don't like) through a MixWiz into the oldest QSC amps left on earth, into a pair of CV mains turned on their sides for monitors, and two plastic PR12 tops with one OAP sub. It worked fine and more than enough for what they needed to do even in a bar for a few hundred people. Thats is not what I called crap gear. It is entry level stuff from reputable companies. Not the same in my mind....

[ChiroVette]

Edit: I got Ninja's by Axisplayer

 

Ah, okay, Abzurd, I didn't realize you were being somewhat facetious. Also, yes, I totally agree with you about the whole "non bar" gig thing, too. In fact, my band is playing a festival this Fall, and they asked me to use my PA. I threw my hands up and was like, "NO NO NO!! Not good enough. This is not an outdoor PA and it is not good enough to play for hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. So I strongly suggested they find a sound company with the right gear.

 

I am just offering a different perspective. I do spend a lot of time on the east coast and in NYC what I've noticed is a pretty decent live music bar scene. The clubs that pay real money also seem to be packed and the gear for most of those bands was very good. I've also been to smaller neighborhood clubs where the bands have a nice crowd and generally lower quality gear. Those bands were playing for the door or a couple of hundred bucks. The real difference that I could see between the bands pulling in $1000 a night and $50 a night wasn't their talent. Some of the bands I see playing for scraps in the small bars were actually much more talented then the bands pulling down serious bucks. To me it came down to their sound. If the band doesn't care why should the crowd or the bar owner. I'd really love to ship my system to Olddude and run it for him. I believe he would end up in a better place than he is now.

 

Again, I am not disputing how awesome it is to have good gear. Honestly, if I was, I would not have stayed in this forum, nor would I be saving for it now. I also don't think that we are too far from agreement in this issue. However, I still think that perhaps there is one thing you may be oversimplifying just a little. This:

 

The real difference that I could see between the bands pulling in $1000 a night and $50 a night wasn't their talent. Some of the bands I see playing for scraps in the small bars were actually much more talented then the bands pulling down serious bucks. To me it came down to their sound. If the band doesn't care why should the crowd or the bar owner.

 

There is some truth in this, to be frank, but I think that it belies the fact that MANY really good bands that make really good money (like one of the aforementioned bands in one of my posts above) care more about their "scene" than their sound. The band I am thinking of is a local success and they pack them in like nobody's business. But they SUCK and their sound system is even worse! lol The band leader does sound from the stage with some old ass, raggedy, crappy powered mixer and bargain basement mains. I don't even think they have monitors.

 

Again, you are preaching to the choir if you are trying to "sell me" on the idea of buying better gear, because I am already sold. But I have also seen bands that were amazing musically and CRAPPY aurally because they were limited by their gear. In the end, though, nobody really cared. Still, as Axisplayer stated, perhaps if they played through a better system, people would magically think "Hey, they are playing great tonight!" when in reality they sound the same, it's just their PA that was better for the one night.

 

Here is another thought: As many here know, I have an old ass JBL MR system, right? No subs or anything, and when we do have subs they are the soundman's CRAPPY Behringers. (Yuck!) But here is my real point: Say I say, okay screw it! I am not going to save for a PRX, QSC, or MRX system! Instead, I am going to buy an old pair of MR subs and keep my MR835s and my MR805 wedges. I think that at this level, most people in the audience would think the MR's sounded awesome, because you know what? To most people they would!

 

I mean it's easy to use absolute, utter, completely useless crap as your example. Sure, you can say that a pair of {censored}ty $100.00 Peavey tops would sound like crap to most people compared to a PRX system all around, and that they "might not know why but they would hear it," right? But narrow the gap a little.

 

Put my MR based system with a couple of matching subs up against a PRX or even an SRX system tuned to perfection and what would happen? Everyone in this forum would know the difference, but MR is still JBL (admittedly entry level) gear, and I doubt that most audiences would really hear it as pronounced as they would, say with utter crap verses very good gear.

[abzurd]

OK, so here are some stats. I'm very proud of the band I'm in and happy to be a part of it, but as I've mentioned before, we're really nothing to look at (ages from 43-59), perform notoriously overplayed songs, and really don't have an exceptional stage show... no gimmicks, lighting is OK, but nothing out of this world and we don't all run around the stage. So, aside from playing well, what's left to impress is sounding good. We have maybe 50 positive comment/referrals on our site. Many talk about us being "good", but I just went through and pulled out some that specifically referenced the sound. These are unsolicited comments so the client did not have to send them to us. They also came to the conclusion the sound was good on their own and took it upon themselves to go out of their way to tell us about it after the fact. Although I'm proud of these comments, I offer them not to brag, just as empirical evidence that the sound does matter!

 

I'll tell you what, the website doesn't do you guys justice. You sounded amazing.

 

Great job at the wedding in Dayton last weekend. I was the assistant photographer there and I have nothing but good things to say about your performance to everyone I see. A lot of bands I hear are either too loud, distorted, or one instrument seems to dominate. You guys were balanced and together the entire time.

 

The band was great, sounded fantastic, involved the crowd and really made the night fantastic. A great addition to our wedding!

 

In my 15+ years of weddings you are one of the best bands I have heard. That includes all of my travels too. I have shot weddings in London, Geneva Switzerland, Monte Carlo and throughout the US.

 

The band did a superb job. Many at the wedding reception asked about the band and said how good the group sounded.

 

You sounded like the CD

[musicmanmu]

Maybe the reason the crowd doesn't care is because it sounds like the performer doesn't care...... For that matter, why do I care? Somebody has to be the bottom of the barrel to help the public appreciate those that put time money and effort into a better product.

 

So, you're saying musicians with better gear are better musicians? Please elaborate...