P.A. System shopping list

[Big E]

If you had a 4 piece band,( lead, rhythm, bass and drums) and you were looking for a sound system with 2 speakers at least 2 monitors, amp and mixer and a budget of 2500 - 3500 USD, what gear would you buy?
More info:
Versatility of being able to control the mixer our selves. ie. no sound man.
From small parties ie house parties and yard parties, to larger spaces with 100 people.
The yard parties around here would be on acreages with lots of open space.
House parties of all sizes. For the small houses we just use our personal amps/PA's.
A larger house would be 5000 sq feet total and we would be playing in one of the                                 combined rooms of 800 sq.ft with tall ceilings
We haven't had a venue large enough to require mic.'ing the drums.
We play a mix of music mostly Pop and Rock.
Could our Fender acoustasonics be utilized in the set up?

[Michael T]

15 inch powered speakers with outstanding bass response numbers for acoustic reproduction:
http://www.tapcoworld.com/products/thump15a/index.html

6 channel mixer with effects:
http://www.mackie.com/products/dfx6/

Don't mess around with floor monitors get one of these in ear systems with 4 body packs. (pricey, but worth it!):
http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/PersonalMonitorSystems/us_pro_PSM200_content

Gotta have some stands:
http://www.onstagestands.com/catalog/land

In smaller rooms or confined space this is a easy way to gain headroom quickly and cleanly, 1 touch and a couple seconds of squelch and she's set.:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/DSP1124P.aspx

You should come in under your budget with a little shopping around & have a great system too for most venues that you would need to provide your own system with. My own opinion of course, but works very well for me.

[Big E]

Hi Michael, wow, thank-you for the links. It gave me some ideas and will help to make my decision easier and with more knowledge.
Are there any other forum members that would like to add in their ideas.

[dave42]

I would use the list above except for these changes.

12" Powered Floor monitors (2) for your monitors. Maybe cheaper, and you could use them/one in a small place with acoustic guitars.

No smaller than this for a mixer.
Peavey 10 Mixer
I play in an acoustic duo and use a PV10 mixer. efx built in. 6 xlrs. At a bigger gig we use 2 channels for vocals, 2 channels for guitars, 2 channels for percussion, one channel for recorded music for between setsSometimes we have a person or 2 join us and we have that mixer maxed out. We are looking at moving up to the next size up just to have plenty of channels. I would really recommend this one...
Peavey PV14

I firmly believe in buying a bigger than needed mixer. For the channels you may need, and if you're at a gig and a channel craps out, no biggie... move to a different channel.

[dave42]

Don't forget the cost of the cords you'll need to connect all of this! And a few extra for spares.

[webberink]

And don't forget DI boxes for your gits.  I just added a Peavey Active Direct Interface to my Peavey portable PA system.  I have been running all my acoustic guitars through a Fishman Model G Preamp and have been pretty happy with it and the acoustic sound it facilitates.  I needed another DI box so I picked up the Peavey ADI-C on the recommendation of a friend and my gosh what a difference.  It has a built in compressor threshold control and noise gate threshold control and is powered by 48V phantom power from the Amp/Soundboard.  With just a little compression and noise gate dialed in, my gosh I have never had such tremendous acoustic reproduction with both my Fishman and LR Baggs equipped guitars, not to mention a passive amp Fender Strat clone.  It is the best 60 bucks I have spent outside of a guitar body.
Dave

[Big E]

Great stuff Dave and Webber. I too believe in a little more than needed. Always easier to grow into than being limited.
I also like the versatility of monitors a bit smaller than the mains. Then I have more options with a smaller set-up.
Anyone else care to throw some pointers, tips, personal preferences or even "my next system" ideas, on this thread. I am a quick learner.

[johnlg]

You can buy the JBL JRX series 15+Horn speakers for $300 each.  I have a pair of them and I use a Yamaha Powered Mixer.  It's very nice.

You should look at some of the Carvin packages....

Mains......

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/group.php?cid=101

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/group.php?cid=102

Monitors add-ons....

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/group.php?cid=22

[wilblee]

Go Mackie.  When I play with the band we use two SRM450's, their 15 in sub (can't remember the model # off-hand) and the CRX 16 mixer.  This stuff has been to a ton of gigs, including a bunch of outdoor stuff, and it's absolutely bulletproof.  I've been gigging this system now for 8 years and haven't had to replace or repair any piece of Mackie gear that I own.  It's great stuff.

+1 on in-ear monitoring.  It's amazing how much space floor monitors require to be effective and how much they muddy up the FOH sound.

[Michael T]

Go Mackie.  When I play with the band we use two SRM450's, their 15 in sub (can't remember the model # off-hand) and the CRX 16 mixer.  This stuff has been to a ton of gigs, including a bunch of outdoor stuff, and it's absolutely bulletproof.  I've been gigging this system now for 8 years and haven't had to replace or repair any piece of Mackie gear that I own.  It's great stuff.

+1 on in-ear monitoring.  It's amazing how much space floor monitors require to be effective and how much they muddy up the FOH sound.

Yep, that's why I went with Tapco for the speakers, made with the Mackie line overseas and 1/2 the price, plus their bas response numbers are comparable with the Carvin and they can be used separately as small amps with the onboard EQ

[Big E]

Thanks for your input everyone. I appreciate it. I'm now looking at http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?type=31&cat=13&id=266
A friend has one and it sounds good. Still looking and mulling it all over.