acorkos said:
t0aj15 said:
atlst7 said:
Ok, I think I need a PA system with a built in power amp. Is there a good brand of these available for around $400-$500?
For under $500:
https://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=XP880
the problem with that carvin is that there isn't a lot of power (volume). this guy's band's vocalist is competing against his mkIV. 250 watts per side on the mains at 4 ohms is about 175 watts at 8 ohms....8 ohms is probably what his single 15's are rated at. 175 watts into 8 ohms is maybe what you'd get from the monitor amp, too.
i'd go for this for a powered mixer: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Soundcraft-GigRac-1000st-8Channel-Powered-Mixer?sku=630930
500 watts per side @ 4 ohms is about 350 watts @ 8 ohms.
STAY AWAY FROM THE GIG RAC. This unit is crap. I bought one a year or so ago, and it sounded great in the store, but in a gig situation it is completely inadequate. It's got tons of features that appear to be cool, but do not be fooled.
True, it's about 350 at 8 ohms (I think the manual actually says more like 320), but don't forget that what you're actually going to get is 250 per speaker if you're dasy chaining two 8 ohm cabs together - which is what you have to do if you're also using the unit to drive monitors. To get full power out of this unit you have to use it as a stereo mains only head, and run one 4 ohm speaker (or two 8 ohms in parrallel) per side.
That's only part of the problem - the other thing is that the inputs come with a 20dB pad. It's there for a reason. Using the standard SM58, the input is overloaded into distortion VERY easily. You have to engage the pad to get clean output. This effectively (to my ears, anyway) results in a HUGE loss of output power to your drivers. So much so, that I had to run the mixer at 90% or more of its power to get even close to decent volume and clarity for your vocals. When you're running the unit that hard it will overheat and shut down.
Also, the graphic eq is not good, and the internal effects are totally anemic.
YMMV, but I would defniitely NOT recommend this unit to anyone. It just doesn't sound good at all.
Once I realized it didn't have the power, I bought a true 500 watt per side (into 8 ohms) power amp and fed that with the stereo direct outs from the Gig Rac. That solved the power problem with room to spare, but the eq was still very strange. I ended up, as I posted earlier, with the Mackie mixer, and this set up sounds insanely good now.