Speaker question for PA.
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Posted on Mar 07, 2010 07:00 pm
chetbango
Member Since: Mar 07, 2010
Greetings, lots of good info here, but I couldn't find an answer to my situation.
I am in a band that plays fairly loud rock and we need to upgrade our PA. Currently for rehearsal we use a Yamaha Passport with 12 inch speakers and it is not really loud enough for the singer to be heard clearly. It certainly is not loud enough for live shows. We also have a Behringer mixer and Peavey power amp in the 500watt range that we plan on replacing soon that we used to use as a PA when we had some borrowed 15 inch peavey speakers. We plan on upgrading to a Mackie board and decent power amp in the near future, just figured we should start with speakers as right now we have nothing useful.
I want to get some decent speakers in the 500-1000/pair range used or new. Something that would be good for small clubs and also good for rehearsal. We are looking for the kind of volume/situation where the PA is just used for vocals, nothing where we need to mic the instrument amps or the drums.
I was hoping to get some recommendations for some decent quality speakers for our current needs. I pretty much want to go with passive speakers due to issues with power outlets at the places we usually play.
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Mar 07, 2010 10:20 pm Hey chetbango. Welcome to the HRC!
I'm a big advocate for the Turbosound TXD series. They are constructed in the same fashion as the more expensive class of speakers. But at half of the price.
www.proaudiosuppliers.com/turbosound-txd-121.html
Plus, you can get the TXD sub that goes with the series. And, you don't need a crossover! The TXD sub, has an internal crossover for the top box built in. Thereby only utilizing one side of an amp.
Should you decide to increase the size of your PA, you don't have to purchase more amps to run it.
www.proaudiosuppliers.com/turbosound-txd-118.html
Mar 11, 2010 11:58 pm Thanks for the info, those do seem like a nice deal. Do you think 12inch speakers are big enough? I know we often play really loud, (too loud if you ask me) and might I be better off going for lesser quality 15's? Or something of equal quality in the 15 inch range and buy used?
Mar 12, 2010 12:04 am Well, 15's really don't get any louder. They just extend the low end range.
But, yes! Ebay is your best friend when looking for a new system.
Mar 12, 2010 03:42 pm How about 2 x JBL MPro MP415's for 700 bucks?
Mar 13, 2010 07:30 pm Not a bad deal with them.
It's going to be your PA. So things like transportation, and storage. need to be taken into account.
If the others are to large for these needs. Then you should go with the MP415's.
But if you need that extended bass, and the you have the ability to transport and store the other suggestions that I have made. You might want to reconsider them.
rayssMember
Since: Mar 04, 2009
May 08, 2010 10:13 am so size doesnt matter as far as loudness, if i'm not concerned about low end i just want the vocal from the pa speakers to come through over a drumset and a couple guitar amps 12"s will get to the same decibal level as 15"s.
May 09, 2010 08:48 pm Well, not all drivers are created equal.
For the most part, a 12, and a 15 are going to be the same dB level. The thing to really pay attention to is the range of the driver.
The range is simply the amount of frequencies that the driver handles.
Vocal range is between 250hz, and 5khz.
If you look at most 12" drivers, they fit this range rather well. 15" drivers handle even lower ranges. Not that they can't do the vocal range. It's just that your going to be doing a lot more EQ cuts with the 15" as opposed to the 12".
If you are going to need higher SPL to get over a drum kit and two guitarist, Then your going to have to increase the amount of boxes. So, if you have two boxes in total, and it's not loud enough, then your going to need another two boxes.
rayssMember
Since: Mar 04, 2009
May 11, 2010 08:26 pm thanks this is really helpful, one more point i need clarification.
i noticed for the most part 15'' speakers have higher watt ratings, i've always thought the more watts you can put into a speaker the louder you can get it, is it pretty easy to find a 12'' speaker with higher watt rating at a comparable price, most 12'' pa mains i seen are around 100 to 250 and 15" mains are around 400 to 500, or even a 1000.
May 12, 2010 09:09 pm Yeah, sad to say that this is a common misconception. That watts equal SPL.
But, this is not the case. Wattage has to do with how much power it takes to move the driver. And any driver that does lower frequencies will need to handle higher wattage. Because lower frequencies take more power to produce. You have to move the driver farther in and out.
rayssMember
Since: Mar 04, 2009
May 15, 2010 11:15 am thanks this is great knowledge, just so i am not inferring, what is spl?
thanks again.
May 16, 2010 12:05 pm Oh, sorry. SPL stands for sound pressure level. Or, how loud a box is. Another way that it is stated is dB.
One rating that you will see on all specs for speakers is a 1 watt 1 meter rating for total dB. such as a 120 dB box. The manufacture will pump one watt of power into the box and have a mic 1 meter away. And then take a SPL measurement at different frequencies. They then look for the highest rating...... And then post it as how loud the box is.
So, each box will have a different rating on how loud it will be. Translating into that watts do not equal SPL.
Watts is how much power is used to run a a box. SPL or dB is how loud a box will be.
May 20, 2010 07:24 pm I got both the QSC's and Behringer's. For cheapo the Behringer's are decent and don't seem to blow up so we use them a lot for our low end gigs. They are not as articulate as the QSC's but you can get them for less than half of the QSC's... and then get two...!
www.livesoundaudio.com
