Alan Ratcliffe wrote
I'm a firm believer that you don't skimp on your PA. The more expensive ones are worth it for the extra sound quality and reliability. On a budget I think I'd rather go for a cheaper powered mixer (or ideally passive mixer and separate power amp ) and spend as much as I could afford on the speakers - which are usually the weak point of any PA. Going for cheaper powered speakers means you end up with a lower quality in both power amp and speakers. Going discrete (all three separate) means you can upgrade each bit as you can.
Never realised that a PA could cost so much.
It's frightening actually, especially if you want decent stuff (Crown amps, JBL or EV speakers and
at least a Mackie or Allen and Heath desk). This is why you have to consider starting a band as a business and you have to invest in that business by putting money back into PA.
Some good advice there Alan. Unfortunately there is also a lot of substandard equipment on the market too. Its knowing what is good value for money and what will work in your particular situation.
A PA (especially for a single artist) has to be simple to set up and operate. the musician is there to play music, not be an engineer. the more complex the PA, the easier it is for something to go wrong....
the dilemma usually is the trade off between portability and flexibility.
A small self-powered mixer and speakers is ultra portable, but has limited flexibility should the band expand.
Separate mixer / Amp/s and loudspeakers are more flexible in terms of expansion, but are more complex to set up.
A good middle road is a small portable mixer and self-powered loudspeakers. A lot of the current self-powered loudspeakers are in a wedge format (ala EONS). This is handy as these loudspeakers can start as your main PA and later become stage monitors when the PA needs to expand.
One last parting shot.
Get as good a mixer as you can afford. This is the heart of your PA. A low quality mixer will let you down at some point either in terms of noise or headroom.
