I'll probably get a rocket from the purists

PeteM

So, I'll be hosting a weekly open-mic gig at a local pub and I needed to get a PA pronto with little or no money. I scanned gumtree here in Durbs... nothing. I went to the music stores and was told that I should budget around R10K for a decent set-up. In desperation I went to Cash Crusaders to see if there was anything there.

Well here was this Dixon powered mixer... a pretty looking thing... but I was not convinced that it could do the job.
Anyway, I decided to ask the salesman if I could listen to it. He hooked it up and to my surprise it sounded pretty decent with quite a bit of oomph. He had plugged it into 15" Dixon speakers which were far too big for my needs since I would have to transport them in my car and they wouldn't have fitted in with all the other stuff. They also looked like cheesy hi-fi speakers. We plugged the mixer into a pair of 12" Dixon speakers and they started distorting with the master faders at - 20db.

I was about to leave the shop when I noticed a pair of dusty old second hand speakers up on a top shelf. Out of curiosity, I asked him to hook them up. He giggled and said, "are you serious?" Well, he grudgingly climbed up a chair and lifted them off the shelf muttering that these were no name brand speakers and he was sure that I was wasting my time. They looked like had been put together by some-one... with a 12" driver and a horn. Plates with XLRs had been removed and were in a packet. There was also a 1/4" jack option, one of which didn't work, and the bare wire push-type jobs which did work. We hooked them up and he was a bit scared to push them... but I convinced him to pump them and the sound was amazing with absolutely no distortion and crisp clarity across the spectrum... defined bass, crisp mids and sparkly tops. Price... R699.95 for the pair. The powered mixer... R1850.00. Two very solid but portable speaker stands... R450.00. Total spend... R2999.95.

The mixer has 8 channels, each with a mic/line input with trim pot and slide fader. EQ has tops and bottoms only no mids. (But if I want mids then I roll off the tops and bass and lift up the gain.) There is an effects-send pot on each channel which feeds a built-in delay unit which has a frequency-of-delay pot and a feedback pot... basic but workable. There is a basic graphic EQ at output stage. There are two sets of stereo line outputs... XLRs and 1/4" and a stereo record out... RCA/phonos. It has an effects return fader and a L & R master faders. There are A & B speaker outputs. Output is 250 watts across 4 ohms. Simple to drive with no bells and whistles.

The acid test was our band practice tonight. I fed 3 vocal mics, a line feed from my guitar amp, a line feed from the keyboard amp and a mic from the kick-drum. The system kicked ass... loud and crystal clean with plenty of headroom... the rest of the band couldn't believe it. It won't fill the Albert Hall but together with our other PA it offers massive options for the type of gigs we play and it will more than suffice for my open mic and one-man-band gigs.

So, lets hear from the purists. Did I do right or wrong?

Jack-Flash-Jr

You've already answered your own question ?

PeteM wrote:

The acid test was our band practice tonightk-drum. The system kicked ass... loud and crystal clean with plenty of headroom... the rest of the band couldn't believe it.

BluJu

Nicely done. I love hearing a successful 'cheapy' story. ?

Warren

PeteM wrote:

So, lets hear from the purists. Did I do right or wrong?

So, you pickup up an entire PA system that you can use for both your band, one-man shows and open mic nights? It sounds great and you paid R3000 for it?

I think the purists might hire you as a consultant. ?

shaundtsl

I think its great, I am no purist and I think you can get alot right with a bit of time, patience and a few pawn shops.

Nice find and weldone!

PeteM

Yeah, thanks guys, I'm very happy. BTW, the Dixon power mixer and speaker stands are brand new with a 1 year factory defect warranty. Only the speakers are second hand. They need some work... connecting up the input sockets... so I will be opening up the cabinets soon. Will let you know what make the drivers are.

aubs1

Making no.1 happy first has always been my thing. Who cares about what others think? Nice one Pete ...

domhatch

ok, so next time i'm in your area, we're going shopping. k? ?

PeteM

zohn wrote: Who are the purists anyway?

Well, some people will only buy well-known brands, so was really trying to find out what they thought of the Dixon jobs. They are quite basic, are a bit noisy, but hell in a pub environment you'll never hear the small amount of systems hiss. In the band set-up it's the perfect monitoring system. And the price is ridiculous.

Keira-WitherKay

when it comes to guitars i'm a brand junkie. i want that "made in usa" tag on my fenders and will not settle for less BUT i'm 100% with pete when it comes to PA gear......

cos i believe PA for small gigs need not be super top end ( of course if one can afford it then of course but i always operate on a budget ) i've always believed and proved it over and over in my career that when one gets the BIG GIGS there is always sound hired in by the venue/event at top dollar so you never use anything but your guitar /fx and amp (and often amps are supplied) so if you only need a small rig to do the small and lesser paying gigs then thats what budget PA's are for.........

as you all know i just done a 9 month run at sun city's palace hotel which is 5 star... specially for this gig i invested in a pair of powered behringer speakers the eurospeaker 12' 550W ones... they small compact and cost less than a 1/3 of my 1st month pay cheque ....so it paid itself back in 10 days of gigs ... it lasted the 9 months and played an amazing amount of gigs..... more than 400 shows in 9 months , i never had a days trouble.. they sounded great ( believe me if the sound sucked at a 5 star hotel one would get called in for that very quickly ) and they still in perfect condition ............ and now i can either keep em or resell em ...... and i did mention not one days problem with em .and yes they behringers , so don't pull your nose up ......... oh and just to mention another singer /pianist used a warfdale setup of 12' and horn powered, and has used it at sun city for 2 years ....... also with no breakdowns ....

and the best thing with cheap gear (and nowdays ,cheap gear can sound seriously good) is if something blows it's not impossible to just replace the whole component and get back on the road within hours of the stores opening rather than repair cos lets face it if you gig for money you will have paid that gear off in just a few gigs........ and then still repair the damaged stuff and sell it off....... it's "throw away technology" at it's best

so yes, i would say buy great gear for your personal setup , guitars/fx/amps ect cos you will need them in the the studio or on big gigs.... but the pa for small pub type gigs need never be top end..........can you imagine a band laying out 60K for a top end mixer/amps/fx/crossovers ect and doing a pub gig that pays R2000 ...... that is bad bussiness , cos how many gigs will you have to pay to recoup your investment and if it takes years....then your gear will be outdated by then and hold no resale value......

so pete you got my vote........ right on with the setup you bought.......

Hammeron

My Dad has a Dixon hi-fi set up. Bought new from Cash Crusaders.
Sounds great and is standing the test of time. Cost next to nothing.
British built, I believe.
Way to go Pete!
Won't you give us the model, we want to look at one, ta! ?

PeteM

Hammeron wrote: Won't you give us the model, we want to look at one, ta! ?

I bought the PMX8. http://www.cashcrusaders.co.za/products/brands/view/9842
The Dixon range is here. http://www.cashcrusaders.co.za/products/brands/5

It seems that Dixon is Cash Crusaders' House Brand. I can't find any other info on the internet besides the CC site.

I hope this helps.

Fingerpicker

Nice one Pete!
What would a purist have done?

If I haven't spent a lot of money on something and it "breaks down", I don't feel too bad about pulling it apart and fixing it. If I have spent a lot and the friggin' thing packs up, I get highly pissed off and get on my high horse and gallop back to the shop, all guns blazing.

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement".

I wish you many good years of service from the PA.

flatfourfan

Hammeron wrote: My Dad has a Dixon hi-fi set up. Bought new from Cash Crusaders.
Sounds great and is standing the test of time. Cost next to nothing.
British built, I believe.
Way to go Pete!
Won't you give us the model, we want to look at one, ta! ?

diff

I think that you're talking about DIXONS.......one's a chain store and the other is a entry level brand from CC

I was thinking about the 250watt pa from CC and the fact that's it's a 1/4 of what the Yamaha PAS is.......makes one wonder. Great news Pete.........I wonder what the 6 channel one is like? No wattage stats on it though/

PeteM

flatfourfan wrote: I was thinking about the 250watt pa from CC and the fact that's it's a 1/4 of what the Yamaha PAS is.......makes one wonder. Great news Pete.........I wonder what the 6 channel one is like? No wattage stats on it though/

Also 250watt, just fewer inputs.

These Dixons are basic and don't have features like compression, phantom power and monitor level adjust with seperate output, but hey, it's doing the job for me at the moment.