PA Packages - Are they any good?

[Tawm]

So, I've been thinking of possible ways to play a Pod X3 Pro in various live settings, such as band rehearsals and small gigs. I've noticed that a lot of people just plug directly into the PA and go, but not everywhere I play will have a PA. So, my question is.. are these PA package deals any good for what I'm wanting to do? I've been checking into the Carvin's, and some various deals at Musician's Friend. If this will work, what would you all recommend?

[j.arledge]

i am looking into doing the exact same thing, and there are a ton of options. I tried out a pod 2.0 with a yamaha emx312 powered mixer into a JBL mrx 525 and it was very nice.

i also tired out a peavey sp5 and it was great as well. I think i am going to sell my carvin legacy cab and get an sp5. I have a mesa mark 3 and i am going to see how well it powers the sp5 .

i also thought about getting a small standard mixer, running the pod into that and then into some JBL EONS(315) which are powered speakers.

Like i said it depending on what size gig you are playing, how much you are looking to spend and whether or not you want to add on and eventually own your own full PA setup.

If you have questions about the jbl stuff or peavey stuff shot me a pm or e-mail. I work at my local music shop so i can help you out quite a bit if you'd like.

[Tawm]

I'm actually not even playing gigs right now, but when I do it would probably be pretty small for now. I was mainly going to use it for things like band practices and my church band.

I don't plan to spend over $500 for this, so is any of the affordable stuff worth it? I'm sure I could raise my budget, but the cheaper the better.

[jim777]

Your best bet is to buy a PA from a band breaking up, not new

[j.arledge]

you may consider 2 peavey pr 12s and a powered mixer or even something like this would be awsome

http://pro-audio.(musicians--friend....age?sku=630196

you'll have to fix the url

[lerxst6]

All the options here sound pretty good to me. I'm in the same boat, but really just need something for low-medium volume, and I want pretty small size too. No gigging in my near future. One thing I really wanted was true stereo, I've always been a big fan of that sound, especially clean with chorus and hint of delay.

I considered small studio monitors/powered speakers, but it seemed I'd spend $300 minimum for good ones, and it's pretty near impossible for me to test out several brands for the one I would want. So that seemed like a big variable. There were some cheaper, but without hearing them, I was scared to go that route.

I decided to get a Crate PowerBlock (picked 1 up for $90, on fleabay they seem to run from $100-$150 or so) because it is 75W stereo (150W mono), and now I need to pick up either a 2x10 or maybe 2 1x10 cabinets. I'm considering even going to 2x8 or 2 1x8 cabinets, but those seem to be pretty rare. The Crate will be here in a week, and I'll just test drive with a 1x12 that I'm borrowing from a friend for a while til I get my cabinets sorted out. I'll do my cabinets on a budget too, hoping to spend in the $250 range for everything - may wind up building myself.

[Tawm]

I'm interested to hear how the Crate works out for you, I'm a big fan of that sound too. Thanks for all of the suggestions so far, guys.

If anyone has some experience with these speakers, feel free to tell me whether they suck or not. These are the ones that have appealed to me so far.

Kustom Tuck n' Roll Dual 12"
Peavey PV115 15"
Behringer Eurolive Pro 12"

I'm also interested in the Peavey PR12s. Could you tell me a little bit about those?

[jim777]

Get into craigslist, or check a bunch of lists with crazedlist. If you can get everything in one shot, you'll be much better off money wise. good PA cabinets last nearly forever if they are good to begin with, so a 10 year old Yamaha set (like I've got) would be more cost effective than a new Behringer set. Carvin makes a great inexpensive mixer, as does Mackie. Carvin also makes a clean and powerful head power amp, though some guys swear by tube power amps (I don't). You might try looking at the classifieds on some keyboard forums as well, like vintagesynth or someplace similar, as keyboard players tend to use PAs rather than amps.

Here's a quick pic of one of my Yamaha PA monitor cabs, so you can get an idea of how big they are

[Tawm]

Thanks, Jim. I think I've finally picked out everything I'm going to try and get.

2 Peavey PR12 speakers for my mains. Hopefully I can get them used.
2 Kustom KPC12 for my monitors.
1 Peavey XR series Power Mixer for my amp/mixer. Hopefully I'll find a good deal on one of these too.

Does this sound like a plan, and am I missing anything?

[Tank]

Twan this looks like you got everything on your hands. If you need more effects etc. you can expand later on, for starters you are OK and good choice of gear btw.

[Tawm]

Good to hear, I definitely plan to expand later on. Thanks for all of the help.

[j.arledge]

i played around with some the jbl stuff yesterday and today. I tried a jbl jrx 125 with a yamaha emx312sc and it sounded amazing. The jrx 125 has built in crossovers so the horn is doing just highs, the middle 15 inch is just mids and the bottom 15 is just lows. They are reasonably priced and still sound awsome.

I got to thinking even more about what i needed and what would be the best cost solution and i thought about the jbl EON line. They are light weight portable and have a power amp built right in. I could just plug an x3 or whatever unit i wanted into it and use the effects units eq, or run the efx unit into a mixer or even run a rack eq after the x3 to get the sound i needed.

So i think i am going with a jbl EON 315. They are 499, and later on i can pick up the sub to go with it. If need be i could add on a mixer and run two guitars or whatever.

I think your pa package is a great setup, and gives you a lot of flexability but i just thought i'd share what i came up with.