PA system for vocals?

[tsswitch]

Can anyone give me some guidance on finding a vocal PA system?

I basically just need it for band rehearsal. I'm not really sure exactly what I'm looking for though.
I've got mics, so I guess I just need a speaker or two and a preamp/head/thingy?
Any recommendations on the cheap?

[SamKS]

If you go on www.musiciansfriend.com (http://www.musiciansfriend.com) they have pretty inexpensive packaged PA's that will work great for what you're trying to do.

[TheSkyline]

I actually got a keyboard amp for my band, and it works very well, plus it was cheaper than buying a real PA.

[patrickhowell]

check craigs list and pawn shops. you should be able to get something cheap pretty easy.

[patrickhowell]

I actually got a keyboard amp for my band, and it works very well, plus it was cheaper than buying a real PA.

yeah, we use a bass amp...

[TheSkyline]

yeah, we use a bass amp...

Ha, exactly, you don't really need a real PA if it's just for band practice, just something that will get your vocals loud enough to be heard.

[Musformation.co]

If there is any advice I can give is to go the mackie route. If you grab one of their $100 mixers, and their powered speakers you will be in great shape with low maintenance. It is expensive but its worth it to wait since so many other PA systems will never even let you be heard
Jesse Cannon - Musformation.com- Daily Musicians News/ Tips/ Gear/ Business/ Gossip

[Esrb99]

along with the above, I'd consider getting an art MPA GOLD preamp once you want to do shows- moat venues do stage sound with cheap, underpowered mixing and pa systems, leading to vocals that are buried or distorted live. getting the art gold pre, and swapping the stock tubes with some 15 dollar sovteks will be very helpful live- plus, you get two channels, and if you want to record a demo, it makes it infinitely easier.

[patrickhowell]

along with the above, I'd consider getting an art MPA GOLD preamp once you want to do shows- moat venues do stage sound with cheap, underpowered mixing and pa systems, leading to vocals that are buried or distorted live. getting the art gold pre, and swapping the stock tubes with some 15 dollar sovteks will be very helpful live- plus, you get two channels, and if you want to record a demo, it makes it infinitely easier.

If you get any sort of tube preamp, make sure it's running at 300v. The MPA Gold should be good, but most of the ART preamps don't really use the tubes. They starve the plates with only ~30 volts, so you're getting absolutely nothing useful out of the tubes. The cheapest real tube mic preamp is the Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 at $189.

Also, I would DEFINITELY get JJ tubes over Sovteks. Their preamp tubes usually run for $10 each, and they're probably the best preamp tubes in current productions.

[tsswitch]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys.

I really like the bass amp idea.
We actually do have an extra bass amp for use in our practice space... Is that totally safe, running vocals through a bass amp? It's not my amp and I'd hate to inadvertantly ruin their shit.

I will check out musician's friend, though I'm liking the cheapskate routes better hehe.




And if someone could please answer me this question I'll be eternally grateful:

I've got a Peavey PV6 mixer that I purchased on the cheap for recording purposes.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-PV6-Mixer?sku=631366

Could that act as a PA "head" so to speak, so that I would only need to get a speaker or two to run through it?

You know, as opposed to having a dedicated PA head like this giant rectangular thing:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Phonic-Powerpod-620-Plus-S710-PA-Package?sku=630486

I'm not really clear on the difference and if it's necessary to have something like in that musician's friend package.

[Esrb99]

If you get any sort of tube preamp, make sure it's running at 300v. The MPA Gold should be good, but most of the ART preamps don't really use the tubes. They starve the plates with only ~30 volts, so you're getting absolutely nothing useful out of the tubes. The cheapest real tube mic preamp is the Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 at $189.

Also, I would DEFINITELY get JJ tubes over Sovteks. Their preamp tubes usually run for $10 each, and they're probably the best preamp tubes in current productions.

yeah, the mpa gold is the ugly duckling -turned swan for art. no starved plate design, and it's got dedicated hi voltage, phase and pad switches. Was turned on to them after reading folks at GS saying they're great with NOS tubes, and not starved-plate. Got a telefunken nos in one, and a mullard reissue in the other. not bad at $199 used!

[Esrb99]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys.

I really like the bass amp idea.
We actually do have an extra bass amp for use in our practice space... Is that totally safe, running vocals through a bass amp? It's not my amp and I'd hate to inadvertantly ruin their shit.

I will check out musician's friend, though I'm liking the cheapskate routes better hehe.




And if someone could please answer me this question I'll be eternally grateful:

I've got a Peavey PV6 mixer that I purchased on the cheap for recording purposes.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-PV6-Mixer?sku=631366

Could that act as a PA "head" so to speak, so that I would only need to get a speaker or two to run through it?

You know, as opposed to having a dedicated PA head like this giant rectangular thing:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Phonic-Powerpod-620-Plus-S710-PA-Package?sku=630486

I'm not really clear on the difference and if it's necessary to have something like in that musician's friend package.

your mixer isn't a POWERED mixer, it won't provide the voltage to power those speakers. the pv6 is designed to hook up MAYBE two dedicated powered mixer sets so you can mix and pan 4 instruments for practice or small gigs, and for mixing four or so tracks live to tape for recording. the pres are probably very noisy though and near unusable.

[tsswitch]

I see, thank you.

[patrickhowell]

your mixer isn't a POWERED mixer, it won't provide the voltage to power those speakers. the pv6 is designed to hook up MAYBE two dedicated powered mixer sets so you can mix and pan 4 instruments for practice or small gigs, and for mixing four or so tracks live to tape for recording. the pres are probably very noisy though and near unusable.

It's not a powered mixer, but you can use it with powered speakers or a power amp into passive speakers. That would be fine for practice. Or you could even use that mixer to run up to four mics into a keyboard/bass amp for practice.

What bass amp do you have in your space? If it is loud enough hear the vocals with the volume around halfway or lower, then it should be totally safe to use for practice.

[Esrb99]

when I have bands over for tracking, during practices for arranging I run each member separate headphone mixes, so vox are only going to my krks and each persons headphones.