NWB - Community Blog

Depends on what style/volume you play at, are you just playing pubs?, are you wanting to mike stuff up etc. You can get a decent mixer amp s/h for around 250/300...eg Yamaha...and you can get a decent pair of speakers for the rest..but like I said depends on style, what you're gonna use to carry it ie van/car..

Shame you didn't post this last night. There has just been an On-line auction by Philip Davies of Stockport of all the remaining gear from Reverb when they went bust.
Quite a lot of PA gear and some decent prices.
£5/700 isn't going to get you an aweful lot as you need to budget for Leads/Stands etc.
Anyway, do you want Active, (my personal preference), or Passive? What size Desk? Are you micing/Di-ing everything?

If it were me i'd go for a couple of Mackie SRM450's, a desk with enough channels to handle Vocals and then add more as you need it. The great thing about Active systems is they are scaleable. More power needed, add a couple more Active speakers or Bins if you are sticking everything through FOH.
Have you considered On Stage monitoring in the equation?.

Mackie 450s take some beating, think Alec will agree ? nice n portable too !

mackie 450s get my vote, I use em. Paid £600 for a pair plus stands plus a soundcraft 8 channel desk with effects offa e-bay (other online auction sites are available);o)

yep - mackies for us too!

haha - i am reliably informed (being a drummer n all) that 'active' speakers have inbuilt amps so no need for extra amp to drive the system.
Apparently our system is about 1.5k/w rig when using the bass bins - but the tops are so good u'l only need the bass bins if doin mega big events - our tops manage the whole band going thru them..bass, n drums evrything, and are ample for ur average pub gig. i dont think weve needed to put them to full volume yet!

Would always use bass bins if drums and bass goin through.

honestly..these speaker tops can take it at the volume required for pub gigs..only ever needed to use the bins at weddings/big rooms etc..

Agree with using bins when you've got rhythm section going through.

My advice would be to stay away from active speakers unless you're using them as monitors. Slave amps with passive speakers are the way forward, alot more powerful.

I personally dont like active systems unless you have bought brand new with warranty, as if they fail on gig- you are in trouble as the amp is strapped in the speaker, if my amp was to go up the swanny on gig, no big deal, plug in the spare to the speaker setup that is already there.

Call me old fashioned but i prefer it that way, not only that have a look around and see how many cheap non working active systems you can buy because part of the system has gone faulty - bit like buying a washer/drier - great for space, never quite as good on capacity and mostly scrap if one or the other packs up.

Karen - what system have you got?

we use a mix of pa (because we can !) and always use the bass bins because my drums go through them nicely.

Well said Mark,you have got it spot there, l suppose its down to dosh, seperates for me evey time, colin at warrington sound and light is a good bloke and a nwb (er) dont see my drums getting enough bottom end through top cabs,

never had any probs with active speakers (touch wood) but I use a pair of skytec active monitors so if one(or both)of the mackies went down I could just sling em on the stands to get me through the gig and go back to listening like mad to FOH as I did fer years (I remember when all this was just fields...lol ). I was given a great piece of advice (and I shall pass it on to all the young whipersnappers!).."BUY ONCE AND BUY RIGHT"..here endeth the first lesson.
Kev

@Duke Bocks "BUY ONCE AND BUY RIGHT"
Correct. We've been using an active system for about 4 years and never had any problems. If a speaker does go down, the rest carry on working. If a power amp goes down, you have to change it, (and carry a spare).
Horses for Courses I guess.
If it was a massive venue we still have a large Passive system driven by 3 Crown Power amps we can use, but seldom comes out of the cupboard these days.

@ Ecliptica

This morning I went to pick up all the stuff I bought from the auction yesterday and it may happen again.
Apparently a large number of people got carried away with the bidding and didn't notice the 15% Buyers Fee and then 17.5% Vat on top and are saying they won't pay.....
Phillip Davies are unsure of what to do, but they may do another one.
If so i'll give you a shout with any suitable PA gear that is left.

@sabre mark - having checked with paul our bass player the system we use is mackie SA1521 500w tops and Mackie SWA1801 800w bins..from all accounts the mackie 450's would fit on top of these to make a 3 speaker system??
like i said its all technical talk to me (i just know that theyre loud speakers even at only 0-2 volume on the desk) but he also said it would be very unusual for both speakers to break at once and so we'd just transfer to one speaker + monitors if needs be.
hope this helps Ecliptica x

dude, people are throwing alsorts at you there, at that price, get what you can and build on it when you have more money.
we built our own to start off, all sorts of speakers and crap put into a wooden box!!
we bought an old studio master desk for £35 and went for it, we did a year on them saving up along the way.
now we have some pretty good gear, to be honest, i always wanted turbo sound, now we have them.
good luck and happy hunting.

just seen this blog so ill give you a bit of advice, jbl eons 15s powered or mackies 450 are are a good start, if you went down this road get 3 not two, simply because you have a good monitor and a back up if things go tits up, ive been drumming for donkeys years and all i mike up is the bass drum and 1 overhead if required. most pub just dont need it and you dont wanna send the world through small speakers, keep it as back line as you can and you will get a better sound with a small rig. the more you progress the better the gear you get, if you wanna chat send me your number. always like to help the future pal.

hi mate, maybe abit out of your pice range at the mo but i posted this on here a couple of weeks ago,

www.northwestbands.co.uk/.../pa-system-possible-for-sale