Affordable (but good) PA speakers

Hi all,

Sorry for the vague thread but I know almost nothing about speakers. I'm in the market for some small PA speakers that I can use for occasional production/mastering but mainly for parties in a medium sized room with perhaps 50-100 people.

Bass is pretty important also.

I'd say my budget is around £400 for everything (preferebly active speakers so amp included) but could potentially stretch a bit further if it was drastically worth it. Will probably try and find them on ebay so I guess my actual budget is a little bit more when looking at new equipment.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Cheers,
Jack

 

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2014/10/alto-releases-new-line-affordable-loudspeakers/

 

PA speakers are not designed for production and mastering.
They're designed to go loud.
If bass is important to you than a sub is needed.
100 people absorb alot of sound.

With your budget I would look into the used market, you don't find any quality speakers new for that money.
You get what you pay for.
Better save a little longer and buy quality speakers.
If you don't want a sub, look at some PA speakers with a 15 inch woofer, as they produce more bass than the more common 12 inch woofers, but still no wallshaking bass.
Also look at active speakers that have enough power and don't clip easy.
Keep an eye on RCF 312 mk3 series (used), Db Technologies Cromo/Opera series (used) and on a tight budget EV zlx/elx (used)
Even if they are above your budget now, it's well worth saving for.

 

I can only echo what fella said. You can get decent active monitors for 400gbp (for production and mastering) - but there is no way you can get a good (!) PA for that money.
I'd also say go for used RCF; db etc..
Alternatively, http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box.html these are good value for money; albeit I would still recommend waiting & saving.

 

I can recommend these: http://www.thomann.de/fi/behringer_eurolive_b212d.htm
good basic speakers but if u need sound system for 50-100 people, u need sub or bigger pa.
I currently use JBL SF15 Passive speakers, been with me 3 years and are more than enough to drop the party

 

Hmm, it's not that I'd have to save up for a better system, it's just that I can't really justify spending so much. They're only gonna be used for house parties, and there is a chance they're gonna get wrecked, so don't wanna be investing loads. They don't have to sound crystal clear either.

Would something like these be any good? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-JBL-M...d_Vision_Speakers_Monitor&hash=item23424db8ad

Not really sure what I'm looking for since, for example, I could get these 15" ones for about the same price: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Behringer...Elec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item3f19c792f7

From what I can tell, the JBL's have more wattage, but the behringers have wider frequency response?

 

Buy from Thoman, behringer 10" speakers, those I take with me when I go to house parties etc. Good price/quality

http://www.thomann.de/fi/behringer_b210d.htm

 

That's why you want quality speakers with easy to get parts when broken.
Behringer has horrible service, so buy from a good dealership.
If it has to be Behringer, look for the Eurolive B215D, they have reasonable sound (at that price) but can die on you anytime.
Parts are hard to get.
If you push these speakers a bit, there's a audible hiss, but it won't get better at this pricepoint.
50-60 people you can manage with these speakers as long as you don't push them too hard.

 

Volume over quality.. That's exactly what's wrong with today's small clubs/parties..
And as fella said, the Behringers will probably bring you more trouble than pleasure. Maybe not in the first 6 months; but sooner or later.

 

2,5 years with mine Remember that this guy wanted something not too pricy, if he could he hasn't come here to ask, he would have bought high end 1000e each. So to remind that he try to find something with low price. Everyone knows that price and quality walks side by side. If u play house parties, room size usually is between 20-60 square meters. 10 or 12" active speakers can handle that kind of space. And like I stated, mine has been bumping 2,5 years with no problem. But I do like 20-30 private/house party gigs with 6h play. Bigger gigs I will do with my JBL but for room 20-60m3 10" and 12" actives do well

But in behringer price range between 10 to 15 is what 60e so if u can spend 250e-420e go for the 15"

 

True, but he also mentioned he does not know anything about speakers.
Just want to point him in the right direction

 

Cool, thanks for the advice guys. Listened to some Yamaha DSR112's today and they sounded beautiful, it is tempting to blow £1000 on some speakers but I just can't justify it

How does those compare to the TS115a's? From what I can find the TX15's are more expensive, and have less power. Guess they must have better quality sound?

Compared some dB cromo's to the Alto TS115a's today, and while the cromo's do sound nice and clear, the TS115a's have much better bass, guessing due to the 15" woofer...

 

I've seen and heard the Alto's and was disappointed with both sound and build quality. The Behringer Eurolive speaker line was better, and those are okay to not so good in my opinion. For the price, I recommend looking for used JBL Eon or Mackie SRM450's. They were both "excellent" PA speakers several years ago well before QSC K-series dominated. Hopefully there are some available used on ebay. I discourage going for a low-end or "cheap" speaker even if you're just doing small gigs. If they're low-end, build quality as well as sound have to be considered.

 

I know the Alto's weren't perfect, but for my budget I thought they were acceptable.

By JBL eon's did you mean something like this or a newer model? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JBL-EON15...d_Vision_Speakers_Monitor&hash=item3ce91bbfb2
They seem fairly cheap.

Found some Mackie SRM450's for £450 on ebay which is around my budget, reckon that's a good deal?

 

JBL Eon speakers manufactured in the last 7-8 years are fine. The older generations didn't have as much power, so many of my peers often told me to go with the Mackie SRM450's of the same manufacturing years. Mackie's get very loud.

 

Mackies first generation SRM 450 was a good speaker when it came out 10 years back or so, in the meantime things have changed.
This version has RCF parts built in it, but has issues with overheating when you push them, not all of them but alot.
Also I find the highs very agressive sounding when pushed.
Stay away from the mk2 model, mk1 sounds better.