Musicians/bands - some advice wanted

[rapid van cleef]

Sorry, this probably isnt the right place to place this but its the best place i could think of.

I need to get a pa together for a band playing bars n clubs regularly.

Can anyone recomend a amp / speaker rig set up?

The gear i used to use in UK is not easily available here so need some advice for here in NZ

Ive been lookin at wharfdale pa cabs, either powered or passive. Anyone used them?

thanks

[SMOKEU]

How deep are your pockets?

[rapid van cleef]

How deep are your pockets?

pockets are deep enough

were not gonna buy top end gear as they are just starting out, however they have supported nessian mystic, three houses down and played many gigs, private functions etc.

theyre playing pretty much every weekend

so i want quality, robust gear, powerful, but doesnt need to have all the nuances of high spec gear.

maybe need a rig around 4-6 k(watts)

we dont wanna buy budget DB technologies gear or jansen etc. I Used to run a 3 way rig with RCF cabs / C Audio and crown power amps.

what are skytec and citronic gear like? ive never heard of them.

can anyone enlighten me?

[Devil]

There's a decent amount of crown/qsc on trademe usually (often new). Personally i'd aim in the Crown direction.

[MSTRS:Me]

I have a Peavey XR684F PA and a pair of Celestion speakers with cables.
Cheap.

[Devil]

Hrm, dont think that'd be enough grunt for what he's after.
I used to run 1.5kw just for my bass guitar rig

[MaxCannon]

I've only seen Skytec advertised on Trademe and get the impression it's cheap entry level stuff.

Never heard of Citronic.

I've be inclined to stick with something you've heard of.
Usually a few good deals on trademe.
You can also see what ex hire gear is being cleared from the likes of oceania audio.

[steve_t]

Had some skytec speakers that were so shit that they were returned.
Have a couple of Citronic amps which are surprisingly good.
Also have some crown amps which are also surprisingly good.
I also have a Wharfedale EVP-X15P active speaker which isn't as good as I'd hoped it'd be. It has a relatively loud hiss which isn't noticeable in a busy pub/club but not great for acoustic stuff. Also the sound was tinny up high and muddy in the mid-low. The built-in amp also seems to get really hot and then clips really early with a little bit of bass. So, I wouldn't recommend a Wharfedale active, though I may just have a dud.

Oh, what style of music?

[madmal64]

Skytec is definitely entry level. I wouldn't recommend it.
Mackie powered speakers something like srm450,s are good solid powered units that I find are awesome. New at around $2k each and then its probably a sub & a couple of fold-backs, mixer and ...... the list goes one. Hell it isn't hard to do $10k on this gear. I would go powered if the budget allows but if it doesn't
Ive been using old solid qsc amps & old Wharfdale pro & Dayton speakers for a quite while and cant fault them. Brought all second hand and alot via Trade Me. They still get used by me a bit as I know the set up and I trust the gear.

[rapid van cleef]

the band is a reggae band. a mixer amp head is not powerful enough.by a long way!!!

4-6000 watts is what i am looking for

the wharfdale cabs have been recomended to me.........im not so sure now due to a previous comment on here..hmm.decisions

i had a 4 k rig in the uk that cost me around 15000 nzd with mics , cables, etc.


no to sky thingies then

when u say u clipped the wharfdale cabs, was that the sub or the full range 2x15 with horn?. id be looking at least to a pair of the x15 inc horn plus a pair of 18 inch subs per side

thanks for the info so far guys

[steve_t]

Yeah, a Wharfedale EVP-X15P is only a single 15" with horn chucking out 600W max. It was just for an acoustic guitar and vocals so should have been adequate without a sub.

Also, with costs in mind, 6000W is a lot of power unless your bar/club is pretty massive, but I guess it gives you headroom if you do play any big venues.

One of my mates used to play with some B52 gear which seemed quite good for the price. Not sure of your price bracket.

Will you get a chance to listen to some gear before you buy it?

[rapid van cleef]

the wharfdale gear im looking at has 2 x 15 plus horns per side, plus a pair of 18" subs

id like to listen to thebgear yes, but. travelling distance is an issue also

did u use a paid of the x15's? or just a single cab?

im well aware of how much power 6000 watts is. my old rig was around 4.5. getting a band up above the volume of 3 or 4 hundred people in a bar can use a lot of power very quickly.

[steve_t]

Yeah, it was just a single but only for 40-70 people on a sunday arvo.

And yeah, 400 people is a pretty decent sized bar. 2x 215s and 2x 18" subs should see you right. I'm not sure about how the other Wharfedale Pro gear is sorry. I've only used the single EVPX15P on hot summer arvo's and it was OK, but not great. And without a second cab to compare with, it's possible mine had issues.

Anyway, let us know how you get on. Hope u can get some good deals. Good luck