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I am about to buy a pair of active speakers for our rehearsal studio (18 square metres), mainly for voice and acoustic instruments to come out. (We also have drums, electric bass, sometimes guitar or keyboards but we still don't know if it would be better for all the instruments to come out of the PA speakers). I made a little research and found:
Mackie SRM 350 539euro
DB technologies Opera live 402 459euro
Samson DB 500A 415EURO

Which of the prementioned sound "warmer" and less harsh?

And for nother price category:
TheBox PA203-12A 198euro
TheBox PA110A 155euro

Also which of them could be used for small live situations (in a club or something)?

Comments

moonbaby Wed, 04/12/2006 - 07:59

Agape:
You probably should have posted this question in the "Live Sound" section of this website. You're more likely to get answers from people who have more experience with what you are looking for. I question how "warm"your sound will be in a small rehearsal room with a drum kit and "sometimes' electric instruments. How many vocal mics will you be using? Are you using pick-ups or mics on the acoustic instruments? I would tend to recommend a floor monitor ("wedge") system for a couple of reasons:
1) You can use it "live" at the gig, which will mean that you will be using a system that your are familiar with. Floor monitors, properly placed, yield better sound with less feedback than a standard speaker aimed at the band.
2) There are models by Mackie and Yamaha that are designed to be used either way- on the floor or on a pole. Both brands are globally marketed, have a good reputation for service and reliability. Samson and Behringer gear are both less reliable than the afore-mentioned brands. The others you listed I'm not familiar with, as I am in the States.
You will probably not find any of these systems particularly "warm" sounding as they are horn-based, and even with todays' best speaker technologies, horn-based systems are more for dispersion and projection and less about "hi-fi". Learning to adjust your systems' EQ will help you achieve the results you are after. You should put your priorities with a system that will hold up under live use and be easy to use.