Loudspeakers Help with buying portable gear

[lewru]

My High school is in need of some new portable speakers. We currently use4 Peavy passive speakers, but need some thing much better. These speakers need to:

• Be portable enough to move
• total cost(4speakers+amp+stands+cables) has to be less than eight grand
• Can be active or passive
• Can have separate subs
• No peavy speakers
• No fender speakers
• Must be durable
• Preferably JBLs or Qsc
• If their is an amp it must be programmable and lockable

Any and all suggestions welcome, we can wire and set up almost anything
thanks
LewRu

 

[Footer]

Room size? Intended use? Does this include processing? 4 Speakers can mean little speakers on sticks or large boxes sitting on subs. So, what is it? For 2k a speaker, you could get some very nice active boxes. Used UPAs can be had for below 2k a box. Otherwise, I would look at what EAW box fits your needs, get amps to go w/, and a driverack or an XTA processor for them.

 

[djyojoe]

What is the primary use? Do you want subs also? You say 4 speakers. Is that 2 speakers used for Highs and Mids and 2 Subwoofers or just 4 portable speakers?

Here is my list of suggestions... You did say 8 grand.
1st choice
2 - QSC KW122 & 2 - QSC KW181. with poles in between the KW122 & KW181. Also 2 Ultimate Tripod TS80 Stands to use the KW122's without the subs. Plus some XLR cables. Ballpark figure of $6,000

I've also been happy with the quality of the QSC K12's for less money. I like the option on QSC product with the RCA input. The speaker can be used as a stand alone PA speaker. 1 Mic & Ipod for background music.

2nd choice
2 - JBL PRX612M & 2 - JBL PRX618SXLF. Also with poles for in between & 2 Ultimate Tripods Stands, XLR cables. Ballpark figure of $5,000
You could even add 2 more PRX612M to this and be under $8k

Don't forget to add on protective covers for the speakers.

This will give you a good set of speakers and be portable enough for high school students to move around and set up with ease. Don't need to worry about separate amp rack to get drug around. XLR cables are cheap to repair or replace when damage arises.

 

[DavidIngraham]

(I'm in the same program and am also a part of this decision)
We are hoping to purchase a new portable P.A. for our school's choir program. We currently have 4 12 year old Peavey Impulse 200's and a 1200 watt peavey amp. We use this system for many events throughout the school year including:

• Our Annual Coffeehouse Production. It's a variety show with the audience seated on the stage of our auditroium and we use this system for the stage P.A.
• Daily Class - We usually have 2 of the peavey's set up in the classroom for rehersing with soloists/instruments and our individually mic'ed 24 voice jazz ensemble
• Various performances throughout the year in the cafeterias of our feeder elementary and middle schools.
• Various performances in our school's quad. Usually a live band.

We are looking for something with a better frequency response and a better overall sound quality. The peavey's were rather low quality to start off with and have been abused a lot by being operated by untrained students for 10 years. We are looking for a system that will be easy to set up, durable, and long-lived.

Most of our performances use electric guitar, bass guitar, and keyboard as well as (obviously) vocals. We generally hall around our Yamaha MG32/15 to mix on.

A few questions that we had:
How much power would you recommend for our given venues?

Powered vs. Passive? We like the idea of the flexibility and reliability of Powered speakers, but are unsure about making the switch. What are your opinions?

How do you deal with power supply for powered speaker systems?

As an overall recap, we need a flexible system for our choir program's performances in various venues able to provide reinforcement of live music to an audience of several hundred people. Thanks for any feedback!

 

[DavidIngraham]

What is the primary use? Do you want subs also? You say 4 speakers. Is that 2 speakers used for Highs and Mids and 2 Subwoofers or just 4 portable speakers?

Here is my list of suggestions... You did say 8 grand.
1st choice
2 - QSC KW12 & 2 - QSC KW181. with poles in between the KW12 & KW181. Also 2 Ultimate Tripod TS80 Stands to use the KW12's without the subs. Plus some XLR cables. Ballpark figure of $6,000

2nd choice
2 - JBL PRX612M & 2 - JBL PRX618SXLE. Also with poles for in between & 2 Ultimate Tripods Stands, XLR cables. Ballpark figure of $5,000
You could even add 2 more PRX612M to this and be under $8k

Don't forget to add on protective covers for the speakers.

This will give you a good set of speakers and be portable enough for high school students to move around and set up with ease. Don't need to worry about separate amp rack to get drug around. XLR cables are cheap to repair or replace when damage arises.

Thanks, these are actually the exact two systems that we were considering.

 

[lewru]

why do you prefer the qscs

 

[chausman]

why do you prefer the qscs

I don't know about the op, but I like the QSCs because I think they sound good, and are a good bang for the buck. I cant speak for the K series (only heard it in stores) but I really like the amps I've used, and I know several people who have used several lines of QSC amps who quite like them. I do like the way the QSC K series speakers fit into the subs for transport. And, they have good customer service.

I second Djyojoe's first suggestion.

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[lewru]

For portable speakers and for what David described, Do Passive Or active Speakers work Better?
Thanks so much for all the advice

 

[Footer]

Before you go running down the QSC/active road... I would really look at the EAW JF series and see what box fills your needs. Odds are 2 subs and 2 boxes would fill your needs. What currently makes you think you need 4 boxes? For a portable system, unless you are going to make looms for power and really think about power distro, passive is usually better. You can also go bi-amped and with the correct processor really get more sound out. 8k for four boxes is a lot of cash.... with that amount of money your out of the QSC/JBL market and ready to step up to more top tear stuff. Hell, in the used market 8k can bring in 4 Meyer boxes. If the JF series is a bit over your budget, the LA series might hit the mark.

 

[chausman]

For portable speakers and for what David described, Do Passive Or active Speakers work Better?
Thanks so much for all the advice

That sort of depends on what is available at different locations it will be used. If you have power available near where you want to place the speakers, then powered may be better. If you don't, then passive will probably be easier. Powered will be heavier then passive, but will be self contained.

In my opinion, if you are trying to mic a 24 jazz ensemble, (how did you find that many people...don't answer that) I would go with passive, just so that you have the fewest cables onstage.

You can also go bi-amped and with the correct processor really get more sound out. 8k for four boxes is a lot of cash.... with that amount of money your out of the QSC/JBL market and ready to step up to more top tear stuff. Hell, in the used market 8k can bring in 4 Meyer boxes.

Remember, even if you spend all 8k on Meyer boxes, if you don't know what your doing or have low quality sources, they can sound worse then the current Peaveys.

Bi amped speakers could be quite impressive(IMHO), so another point towards passive.


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[DavidIngraham]

We would definitely prefer to not have to spend the full $8k on speakers. Hopefully we could have a bit left over to add to our outboard gear and mic inventory.

A few more thoughts: there is a large possibility that this setup will be run in the future by people with very little training in sound and we want it to be as simple (and hard to screw up/damage) as possible without losing flexibilty. That's the reason that we were attracted to powered speakers. But I guess it would be possible to achieve this same simplicity and flexibility if we set up the amps with dsp's tuned with presets for several different configurations. Is there any way to make the amps absolutely foolproof?

 

[chausman]

A few more thoughts: there is a large possibility that this setup will be run in the future by people with very little training in sound and we want it to be as simple (and hard to screw up/damage) as possible without losing flexibilty. That's the reason that we were attracted to powered speakers. But I guess it would be possible to achieve this same simplicity and flexibility if we set up the amps with dsp's tuned with presets for several different configurations. Is there any way to make the amps absolutely foolproof?

Simplicity is key.

The dbx DriveRack will do what you want. It allows for presets for certain locations and events, that can be recalled from the front panel. Presets for DSP and some EQing for the mains. Certain models also have a crossover, and a few other things. You could rack mount the amps and a DriveRack, that could then be fitted with a security cover to protect the amps from people who don't know what they are doing.

I would consider getting a blank panel for the rack with amps as well, that you could have signal in and power out to the speakers in a neat box, with nice big labels so you could easily see "Main Left In, Main Right In, To Left Sub, To Right Sub, etc." and anyone could tell what they were for.


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[waynehoskins]

Powered systems are nice, but as somebody noted, the power/signal looms can be bothersome. With a conventional system, I only have to run one cable to a speaker; with a self-powered system, I have to run two. These cables ultimately have to go two different places, so that's a lot of cable paths on stage.

I've done all three classes of small rig before: self-powered, conventional, and hybrid. Of the three, I like hybrid systems the least: you still have to carry an amp rack and you still have to run power, drive, and high-level to the stacks.

The QSC K-series are pretty nice. A buddy of mine had a pair of K10s. They can get a little bit ouch on the top end when pushed hard; we did an A-B test with the new EV ELX line and found the K10 had a relative dip in the midrange (2-3k ish) while the ELX 12 had a relative peak there, so it's punchier. We never did fully decide which was better; both characteristics worked for and against the speakers in different scenarios.

We ended up going with EAW's FR series, which I think might serve your needs nicely too. FR129s over FR250s. Conventional, so you need an amp rack, but you can use one NL4 cable per side/pair depending (subs use 2+2- and tops 1+1-, I believe), no special cables. It can be as simple as an output panel with two jacks labeled "Left" and "Right", and it's pretty stupid-proof.

 

[gafftaper]

This is the sort of question that I always feel we just can't really do full justice to answering on the internet. We can suggest all kinds of gear here but we don't have the full picture of where or how you are using this equipment without being in your space. There are hundreds of variables that can effect why things we recommend here won't work well in your world. I strongly urge you to find a good local dealer, with a good track record in the industry, have them come meet with you at your school. They will be able to really discern what you need and put together a package that will give you the best options for your situation. A good local dealer will help you build the system for free as part of giving you a price quote. You've got an excellent budget for the project so you don't have to worry about the money. Ask around town and find out who does this work well and have them come help you do the package right.

 

[bishopthomas]

It sounds like exactly the kind of gig that we bought QSC K series speakers for. We have 4 K10's and 4 K-subs. VERY compact, easy to set up, completely fool proof. Finding power really isn't as hard as you think. They don't necessarily have to be on dedicated circuits so as long as you're not sharing with a refrigerator or similar just plug them into the wall anywhere that's close. Sometimes I would rather run a short AC and a long XLR than deal with placing and powering amp racks and running long speaker cables. But as others have said, it all depends on the application.

 

[BillESC]

I'll take a different approach.

Four EV ZXA5-60B speakers will do all you ask, offer more power (headroom) and quality reproduction than most of the cabinets previously mentioned IMHO. With a MAP price of $ 1699.00 four will run you $ 6796.00. In reality, for that money, you can probably get stands, covers and cabling as well.

Electro-Voice ZXA5

 

[lewru]

Part of the problem we have is we never know exactly where we are going to setup. The system needs to work everywhere.
Any other suggestions for speakers, or people you recommend in az

thanks so much

 

[lewru]

This is the sort of question that I always feel we just can't really do full justice to answering on the internet. We can suggest all kinds of gear here but we don't have the full picture of where or how you are using this equipment without being in your space. There are hundreds of variables that can effect why things we recommend here won't work well in your world. I strongly urge you to find a good local dealer, with a good track record in the industry, have them come meet with you at your school. They will be able to really discern what you need and put together a package that will give you the best options for your situation. A good local dealer will help you build the system for free as part of giving you a price quote. You've got an excellent budget for the project so you don't have to worry about the money. Ask around town and find out who does this work well and have them come help you do the package right.

We don't always know where we will setup. What system works anywhere

 

[chausman]

We don't always know where we will setup. What system works anywhere

Nothing works everywhere, but where are you commonly at for performances? How big is the general audience? If the audience is just going to be parents of students in the choir, one system am work, but events that may involve the entire school (I'm assuming big school because of the size of the jazz choir) and more for some events, a larger (and probably more powerful) system would be needed.


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[lewru]

Mainly in middle school cafeteria+(300 kids) and in our open quad. (1200) really open.
Are four 12 inch qsc speakers loud enough(with subs)