Members u6crash Posted January 22, 2004 Members Share Posted January 22, 2004 Okay, I've been reading articles and such, but I'd still like to get some feedback on suggestions for PA equipment. Currently I'm a one man show, guitar and acoustic guitar. This is for music. However, I'm also one of these eccentric art guys that does performances pieces. Sometimes I have another guy with a guitar playing. Sometimes I have two VCRs with audio going. So I'd like more than 4 channels. 8 would be nice, but might be out of my price range. I'm not sure if I should look at some packaged set for sale new, or if I should buy things piece by piece used. Also I'm not sure if it makes for sense to have a separate mixer and power amplifier, or to have a powered mixer. I'm somewhat of the opinion that if combined/integrated things break, they are difficult and more costly to repair (or replace). I have three mics which are somewhat "cheap", but I'm willing to live with them for now. They are two Behringer XM8500A dynamic mics and a somewhat generic Teac mic. So what gear do you recommend? Are there specific names I should look at more than others? I'll also use this equipment to DJ the occaissional wedding reception or New Years Eve party. I don't need the absolute best sound fidelity, but I'd like to get the most bang for my buck. I'm planning to spend $400, but can probably swing $600 if I really nead too. Any insight would be most appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 23, 2004 Members Share Posted January 23, 2004 Originally posted by u6crash Okay, I've been reading articles and such, but I'd still like to get some feedback on suggestions for PA equipment. Currently I'm a one man show, guitar and acoustic guitar. This is for music. However, I'm also one of these eccentric art guys that does performances pieces. Sometimes I have another guy with a guitar playing. Sometimes I have two VCRs with audio going. So I'd like more than 4 channels. 8 would be nice, but might be out of my price range. I'm not sure if I should look at some packaged set for sale new, or if I should buy things piece by piece used. Also I'm not sure if it makes for sense to have a separate mixer and power amplifier, or to have a powered mixer. I'm somewhat of the opinion that if combined/integrated things break, they are difficult and more costly to repair (or replace). I have three mics which are somewhat "cheap", but I'm willing to live with them for now. They are two Behringer XM8500A dynamic mics and a somewhat generic Teac mic. So what gear do you recommend? Are there specific names I should look at more than others? I'll also use this equipment to DJ the occaissional wedding reception or New Years Eve party. I don't need the absolute best sound fidelity, but I'd like to get the most bang for my buck. I'm planning to spend $400, but can probably swing $600 if I really nead too. Any insight would be most appreciated. Thanks. Nice to know that for $400-600 you don't need the absolute best system. It gonna have to be used,whatever it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members u6crash Posted January 23, 2004 Author Members Share Posted January 23, 2004 Originally posted by tlbonehead Nice to know that for $400-600 you don't need the absolute best system. It gonna have to be used,whatever it is. I've seen six channel powered mixers with speakers at Carvin for less than $600... Carvin is no good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 23, 2004 Members Share Posted January 23, 2004 Originally posted by u6crash I've seen six channel powered mixers with speakers at Carvin for less than $600... Carvin is no good? Not at that price point. If you could find a powered mixer for about $300,there are $150 speakers that would be tolerable. You can get a pair of Nady MC12's for $299. They aren't that bad,actually pretty decent for Nady stuff.The problem is that if you decide to sell that cheap stuff one week after you buy it,your $600 stuff is probably worth $350-400. If you buy used,you don't take that initial hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members u6crash Posted January 23, 2004 Author Members Share Posted January 23, 2004 I have no problem buying used, I just don't know where I should be looking, or for what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members groove.77 Posted January 23, 2004 Members Share Posted January 23, 2004 You might be a good candidate for a used Behringer powered mixer-they're cheap and have 9 XLR inputs. I've used mine extensively for the last 8 months or so - never a problem. Speakers - I haven't looked lately, but does MF.com et all still sell the S112IVs for cheap? A used pair of those would work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 23, 2004 CMS Author Share Posted January 23, 2004 A used Peavey XR-600 and whatever speakers you can find with the rest of the money comes to mind. You're better off looking around and then letting us know what you find before you buy..that's a lot easier than us trying to speculate what might be available in the used market. In the used market, Peavey is your friend. Bulletproof, and inexpensive. And you can probably resell for close to what you paid. Edit: You should be able to get a pair of new Peavey Pro-Lite 12's for under $300 a pair. Light, good sound, good price. Find a powered mixer for another $300 and you're good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members u6crash Posted January 23, 2004 Author Members Share Posted January 23, 2004 Just curious, what is it that you guys don't like about the Carvin stuff? I play open mic at a bookstore sometimes that uses a four channel Carvin powered mixer and speakers, and I always felt that it did the job okay, but I don't really know much about this stuff. Feel free to educate me. About the only place I know to look for used stuff is ebay. There isn't much in the way of those stores around here. I'm one of these guys surrounded by cornfields and such. If there are any good websites for this stuff, I'd like to know about those as well. A quick search at Yahoo didn't turn up much. Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I'll try to look up some of the suggested speakers and see what I can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 23, 2004 CMS Author Share Posted January 23, 2004 You can't try Carvin before you buy. That's a biggie for me. I've read plenty of poor reviews about reliability problems with the amps, and the speakers are iffy MI grade at best. However, they make some nice basses and guitars. If you've got no other reseources, then you do what you can. Ebay probably is the biggest source for used. It helps to have a product in mind when searching outside ebay. Do a google for the product name and see what comes up. It's not always easy, but it never was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skier4467 Posted January 27, 2004 Members Share Posted January 27, 2004 Don't buy the Carvin powered mixer! My bandmate got one of those 6 channel ones with speakers package. It has caused lots of problems. It can't power cabs and monitors! It dies every other practice and we have to hit it like Fanzey to make it start working again! Serious. Get a Peavey instead or at least Yamaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members u6crash Posted January 27, 2004 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2004 Is Peavey preferred over Yamaha? I recently found out I may be able to spend more than I originally thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rbts Posted January 27, 2004 Members Share Posted January 27, 2004 Maybe you should go to the audiopile,net web site, and look at one of the powered mixers that he has there. They might be exactly what you need...and I think the price is pretty good. I have dealt with them, and can refer you to them with 100% confidence in those people. With a powered mixer, then all you would need would be a speaker cabinet, and you could at least "work". The thing is that if you are going to continue with your interest in performing, you want to get some good gear... because your gear will have a lot to do with how things sound. I good system will make you sound better, and a poor system can actually make you sound a lot worse. You want to have a nice enough sound that people can enjoy what you are doing if they want to. And every component is important. Eventually you will learn that any poor choices you make will have to be dealtwith, and usually this buying a good quality item to replace a poor quality item, and then you are stuck with the poor quality item, and you take the loss... so buy the best stuff that you can bring yourself to purchase, and better to get one good thing than three cheap things... unless you are not planning to continue your interest in performing. Honestly, the two most important parts of your system will be the microphones, and the speakers....in the end. They don't have to be hugespeakers, but they have to be well designed cabinets with good quality speakers in them. Also, you will save yourself a lot of grief if you take it upon yourself to get a set of matching mics of a truely decent quality. Again, if I were you, I would maybe look at the audiopile web site... they seem to carry stuff that works good, but maybe doesn't have a bunch of glitz. You don't need absolute top of the line stuff... just truely decent quality equipment. Probably your speakers will be the most expensive part of your system, and you should spend some timefiguring out what you want to get. Here your selection will make a huge difference in your final sound. Take your time and choose wisely. You will never regret spending a little more and getting quality, but I can almost gurantee that you will regret it if you don't. Goodluck. sr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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