Harbinger Sound

[shayward]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with Harbinger brand sound systems. I was looking into an inexpensive, but good quality portable sound system to take "on the road" with a vocal ensemble and was looking into their HA300 system which includes a high pack as well as a sub. Any thoughts on it's ability to handle a 10 person vocal a cappella ensemble similar to the groups from "The Sing Off"

Harbinger Compact Portable PA System | GuitarCenter

 

[shayward]

So is this brand that far off the beaten path that no-one has any opinons?

 

[museav]

So is this brand that far off the beaten path that no-one has any opinons?

I believe that Harbinger is basically Guitar Center's house brand. And there appears to be very little relevant data available for that product, for example nothing addressing the speaker pattern or output.

Two questions. First, do you feel that two microphone inputs, and I assume dynamic mics or line level sources only since phantom power is not mentioned, are sufficient for your use? Second, what would the venues be like? How large an audience? Any outdoor performances?

 

[ejsandstrom]

They are a really low end speaker. Below even Behringer. I think you would be really unhappy with the quality of these speakers. I would much rather get 2 Mackie SRM450's. You didnt mention budget. There is also a system called the B52 Matrix. That is low cost but there are a few DJs out there that love them. If you want quality for a small self powered speaker look at the RCF ART series.

 

[avkid]

Not great, but not horrible either.
A buddy of mine bought their dual 15" box a few years ago, surprisingly decent.

 

[josh88]

I have to agree with avkid. We needed some cheap speakers for a black box classroom and picked up a system/amp with I believe 4 inputs and not expecting much, we were pleasantly surprised. The cables that came with them are cheap and the connections aren't real solid but they do what we needed them to do and sound decent.


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[FMEng]

In my experience with college a capella groups, you'll need at minimum four mics, two to mic the group and two for solos and vocal percussion. The 4" drivers in the mains cannot produce any bass, so the "sub" is simply a woofer that doesn't go deeper than any typical 2-way speaker with a 12" driver. Calling it a sub is simply marketing hype. Besides, a true sub is just not needed for a cappella. I would rather have a pair of 2-way speakers with adequate bass drivers, without having to tote around two more boxes. In that price range, take a look at the Yamaha MSR250 or Mackie TH-15A, and add a small mixer and speaker stands.

 

[shayward]

Thanks for your opinions! I just couldn't really gauge anything with the lack of information out there about this brand. In pictures this system looks really good.....but I didn't want to get stuck with a "looks good, but sounds like crap" situation.

To answer a couple questions from above, we run a total of 10 wireless mics for the group, so the speakers I am looking at would be fed from the mixer and not direct inputs. Typical venues for us would be anything from High School gymnasiums, medium sized churches, auditoriums, and festival stages. Crowd sizes from around 200-300, to full school assemblies around 1,200. I'm looking for a powered solution so I don't have to worry about traveling with an amp rack in addition to the speakers. Ideally we would look at $700 - $1,000 for the system.

 

[museav]

To answer a couple questions from above, we run a total of 10 wireless mics for the group, so the speakers I am looking at would be fed from the mixer and not direct inputs. Typical venues for us would be anything from High School gymnasiums, medium sized churches, auditoriums, and festival stages. Crowd sizes from around 200-300, to full school assemblies around 1,200. I'm looking for a powered solution so I don't have to worry about traveling with an amp rack in addition to the speakers. Ideally we would look at $700 - $1,000 for the system.

A $700 to $1,000 budget may be a little low to realistically support audiences of up to 1,200. Any chance that some types of events would have a house or rental system that you could use? I also think the "on the road" factor may conflict a bit with the desired budget as you probably want something that can take some abuse and be relied on to still work and that may have an associated cost.

 

[Aman121]

How set are you on powered speakers? A couple of decent large Peavey JBL or yamaha speakers, and a power amp with sufficient wattage of your choice (qsc, crown, and crest are all good brands) will generally get you more bang for your buck than going powered. Just because your using a power amp doesent mean you need a large rack, a 2 or 3 space equipment case will fit most modern power amps just fine.
I understand your want for powered speakers, but at that price range it just doesent seem feasible.Your ideal traits are cheap, small, and high performance. Pick 2.