PA suggestions for a small room

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:08 am

Hey! I am looking to purchase a PA system for house parties, bands, ect., but I am not quite sure where to start. The room I will be using the system in is roughly 10ft by 25ft with an 8ft ceiling, but I would like to have a bit of flexibility so the system would be sufficient in a slightly larger room if necessary. I was considering a set up consisting of two speakers, a subwoofer, a power amp, and a mixer. I would like to be able to get this system for around $600 or less. New is preferred over used, if at all possible.

What brand names should I look for/avoid?
How many watts do you think I will need?
How many channels would you suggest?
Will one subwoofer be sufficient for my purposes?
Considering my price range, would it be alright to purchase a mixer with a built in power amp?
Is there anything else I should consider?
Do you have any cheap ideas for sound-proofing without diminishing sound quality?
Could you offer any tips for reducing feedback?

Any suggestions are appreciated. I am not sure how much power I am going to need or what will give me the best sound for my price range. Also, suggestions concerning where I can get the best offer/deal for my money would be awesome.

Thanks for your time!
Christopher

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:47 am

Christopher-
You need to be clearer about what you are trying to do. Your room is the size of a living room. You could fit a rock band and a few friends in there, but that's about it. Your budget is about right for an inexpensive home stereo, but it's not going to get you much in the way of a PA. (Though the room is so small that one powered speaker would fill it, and that would be enough for a vocal monitor for a band practice.)

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:09 am

You're not going to get very much in the way of new gear for that sort of money, but it's a reasonable budget for Ebay shopping.

Going for a powered mixer (Yamaha, Peavey etc) will be somewhat limiting and not so easy to expand/upgrade later, but may be a sensible way of spending the money.

The Yamaha StagePas range is worth looking at, but there's no way of adding a sub woofer.

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:40 pm

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:12 pm

the stagepas system is pretty good.

maybe look into the b52 matrix systems as well. good sound for a small amount of money.

any of these will be FINE for your parties. i'd just be worried about making sure they cut through your guitars and drums when practicing.

go to a place like guitar center that has a return policy just in case... but i'd wager that the matrix or stagepas systems would be suitable. good luck and let us know

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:42 am

First, I recommend checking the used market and see what's being bought n sold. If you buy a cheap system and hate it, or just want to upgrade, it'd suck if there was no place to unload it.

My next suggestion is to get a name you see a lot of.

Last but not least, spend enough to get something useful, with enough power to stay with you for a while. Uness your band is ungodly loud, and you don't need to mic the kick or bass, and could get away without having a sub, at least for now.

Check out Carvin... two 12 inch pole mounted speakers for vocals and a powered mixer will go a long way. I bought this same setup for a blues band I was in years ago, and they still use it (going on 21 years now! Yikes!). And after I moved where I am now, I bought the Mackie 808S powered mixer and 2 Fender 15" FOH speakers. They have held up well for the last 8 years and about 12 bands. Plus, I have added a 2x15 sub (that I built) and a couple of extra FOH 15s and extra monitors (rented) when needed. But the basic setup works for rehearsals and small to medium sized clubs. For anything bigger you should hire a sound company anyway.

A small PA may be an expense the rest of the band should help with too. But that's "a whole 'nother can o' worms!"

Good luck!

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