Help with PA setup?:)

[xiad]

Hello all!
As it states in the title, I am looking for some help with setting up a PA. Really, what I am looking for is advice on what to get and starting it all off. What I have been told to look for is a power amp, a mixer(got an old one which will suffice for now) and a set of speakers.

Trying to read up about these things is quite ambiguous and generalised I suppose, so I have come here to pester all those who know! I cannot find any resources explaining what I would really need to pull this off. Does anyone have any advice on what to aim for to start off with? This setup would be used for anything stagewise(up til now, PA was provided, but expanding is useful!) and also for some home use...but whethere that would work or not, I have no idea

thanks a load!
X

 

[PianoMan]

Umm... is the PA just for you? Is it for your band? What do you play, what type of music? What instruments will be going through the PA? Is this for front-of-house or monitoring purposes?

If it's for mostly monitoring purposes while being front-of-house for smaller venues, your best bet I think would be getting powered speakers. JBL eon, Mackie SRM450, Evsxa360 (I think? The 12" one), Yorkville, etc. Or you could get passive speakers and a power amp, like you initially stated. I don't know if there are any advantages to doing it that way, my thinking would be there wouldn't be any, unless you opt for a setup like a qsc stereo power amp (600w per side) and two accugroove 112 bass cabs. I don't have personal experience with PAs, only what I've read. I tried some tapco speakers in a store, and if I owned a car I might have gone the powered speaker route, instead I opted for a keyboard amp for portability.

So... what's your application for it?

 

[xiad]

Thanks a lot for the reply!

The PA's main purpose would be for me, for the one synth. There may be more in the unforeseen future but until then, just the one. It may be used for a couple mics as well...so the rest of the band could use it too somehow. It would be for small to something like medium sized rooms. The biggest place we have performed in would have to be the hall in our school, so that must be about medium-sized!

The music itself would vary from blues n jazz all the way up to progressive metal! Pretty wide really... I am still not all that familiar with setting up sound systems, seeing as it is usually ready for use on the day. Also, I have no decent amplification for this synth, so I might as well take a good step forward now and not worry about changing gear for several years!

I've read a couple things myself, but Ill do some more research on what you have said! Time for me to head out now

Thanks again!
X

 

[PianoMan]

Well if it's for FOH sound, you'll want 12 or 15 inch speakers, if it's for monitoring, you could go with 10 inch speakers if you want more portability. Beyond that you'd have to go and try some speakers out because basically nothing I've said is from personally experience, just stuff people have told me.