PA for a 200 person venue?

[stickfigursicid]

Hey guys!

I may or may not be opening an all ages venue in the forseeable future. Naturally, this means Im going to have to invenst in a PA.

The room it will likely be in is square, about 14 foot ceilings, sheetrock walls and tile floor. It takes up roughly 2000sq feet. We're looking to invest 10-15k in a PA (at least initially). Ive run smaller systems many times, and systems about this size a few times, but my experiance with components is still pretty limited. Naturally, I want to get the best bang for the buck, so what would you guys recomend?

As far as mics go, we plan on getting 4 beta58s, 4 audix I5s, and something for kick and snare (whatever catchs our fancy, we have a few favorites). We're still open to suggestions as far as that goes, and we do plan on expanding our mic locker as time goes on, but right now durabilit is our cheif concern (The venue will be used mainly for teen-aged rock bands and such, and we all know how they handle equipment :rolleyes: ).

Anyway, Im looking for suggestions on a board, amps, mains, monitors (we have 4 JBL M-pros as part of my bands touring monitor rig that we may use...but we dont want to plan on it).

Thanks for any help!
-Marc

[GZsound]

It's pretty hard to beat the pro line of QSC amps, the PLX for example and I would think the top line of JBL or Peavey would be fine for speakers.

Personally I like Soundcraft mixers a lot, but depending on how many channels you need, Yamaha boards sound good too. And there is always Allen & Heath if you want really good quality and reliability.

But QSC and Crown make well known reliable amps and Peavey and JBL make great speaker boxes.

As far as mics, a few 57's and 58's will do you good. In fact, I would keep the kids from using the Beta mics and let them use the SM's. They can't be killed. A D112 or similar drum mic and you should be good to go.

[Audiodude]

Hi Marc,

Since this PA is to be installed in the club, the room really needs to be taken into consideration before you can pick out amps and speakers. What I recommend you do if possible is get some floorplans and photos of the room to your Sweetwater sales engineer. He'll be able to coordinate an effort to design a system that is matched to your room, your audience, and your budget. Much better than just getting a list of gear that people like from a forum (although there's no harm in that either).

As for my personal list, I don't really have any favorites when it comes to speakers. It depends entirely on the situation and the budget. I tend to recommend a lot of JBL and EAW speakers. I've also been very impressed with the recent generations of Peavey installation-grade gear (QW and Versarray series, in particular). Stellar performance for the price.

For amps, I gravitate towards QSC and Crown because of their proven reliability and the way those two companies stand behind their products.

With mixers, I'm all over the place. I love the Allen & Heath GL Series and I have a 48-channel GL-4000 that I mix on regularly. But I've also used (and enjoyed working on) Soundcraft, Crest, and the newer Mackie Onyx series. (Personally, I can't stand the EQs on the now-discontinued Mackie 8-bus and SR lines that were popular for many years.)

But take all of that with a grain of salt. The best system for you is one that was designed for you by a team of people with the experience and resources to make such a recommendation. It will take into consideration the specific size, shape, and acoustics of your room, the musical and power requirements of your application, and perhaps most importantly, your budget.

[stickfigursicid]

Hi Marc,

Since this PA is to be installed in the club, the room really needs to be taken into consideration before you can pick out amps and speakers. What I recommend you do if possible is get some floorplans and photos of the room to your Sweetwater sales engineer. He'll be able to coordinate an effort to design a system that is matched to your room, your audience, and your budget. Much better than just getting a list of gear that people like from a forum (although there's no harm in that either).

As for my personal list, I don't really have any favorites when it comes to speakers. It depends entirely on the situation and the budget. I tend to recommend a lot of JBL and EAW speakers. I've also been very impressed with the recent generations of Peavey installation-grade gear (QW and Versarray series, in particular). Stellar performance for the price.

For amps, I gravitate towards QSC and Crown because of their proven reliability and the way those two companies stand behind their products.

With mixers, I'm all over the place. I love the Allen & Heath GL Series and I have a 48-channel GL-4000 that I mix on regularly. But I've also used (and enjoyed working on) Soundcraft, Crest, and the newer Mackie Onyx series. (Personally, I can't stand the EQs on the now-discontinued Mackie 8-bus and SR lines that were popular for many years.)

But take all of that with a grain of salt. The best system for you is one that was designed for you by a team of people with the experience and resources to make such a recommendation. It will take into consideration the specific size, shape, and acoustics of your room, the musical and power requirements of your application, and perhaps most importantly, your budget.


Thanks for the advice. We have actually finalized the venue yet (we have 2 possibilites), so we dont have solid floor plans, but Ill give Sweetwater a call as soon as we do. ;)

[87PRS]

200 people or 2,000 sq ft isn't much to cover wattage wise. I'd just buy a couple Peavy 800 wt amps, a good crossover, 2 PV 18" subs and like 2 PV SP2's, plus your monitor system, or get a couple 15" floor wedgies, you'll have ample power and headroom with this system for your venue, get a A&H 16-24 channel min 4 buss mixer and the young rockers can kick out the jamms....btw good choices on mics, the Audix I5 are real clean, I have a couple.

[TimmyP1955]

See if you can hire a system on a weekly or monthly basis, so you can save your cash for other necessities. Why pony up $20k or more right off the bat if you don't have to? Read http://www.padrick.net/LiveSound/BuyPA.htm