I want to look at what options are available to us for monitors.

We meet in a cinema, with drums shielded with both drums and keys using in-ear. The singers monitors need a little more punch than the cheap active boxes we are currently using, and we will need something for lead and acoustic guitar, bass and electric mandolin / violin player.

When we had our FOH HK rig put in, we trialled a series of active wedges from HK, and whilst they were superb, at this point of time, I couldn't justify spending that much (circa £600 each). What cheaper active options are available?

How much cheaper do you want to go? (What is your budget?)
Are you wanting/needing them to be self powered, do you have a spare amp channel around to power passive wedges?

our FOH is active, so no spare amps around. We are also always against time so easier, on the whole.

budget is subjective. The less I can spend the better, but we need something that will sound "good," and will survive standard garage temperatures in winter, and it likely won't be loved by everyone moving them around. They shouldn't be driven too hard, but again, something that can handle bass is always good.

I was surprisingly surprised by the Tapco Thump TH-15A's as lightweight not too bad sounding (as long as you have a graphic eq to fix the mid/high's harshness) monitor speakers for I think it was about £400 for the pair. They do a small venues sound system completely fine and have survived over a year of being bashed around as they are used for FOH on a open mic night as well as the monitors for gigs upstairs.

A friend of mine one of these from Carlsbro.
He also has a passive cab which are designed to be used together.
Quite a nice little pair for the price, not masses of spl, but the EQ is handy.

to be honest, SPL doesn't have to be high as other noise is absorbed by the cinema screen.

our current boxes are rated to 150 but it is not a clean sound at the higher volumes.

the way the band is currently set up means that each muso can have their own channel and vox wise, two share a channel.

I predict that you'll end up with the DARTs...

+1 on 6th order's prediction... maybe find a friendly dealer and see what can be done! M

Plus they're suitable for small PA's on their own.

well the Dart's were lovely, but to get enough? I can't just justify the cost right now. We spent an obscene amount in the 'move' anyhow, and with buying a new property, everything is scrutinised!

but still...

I know it's not our money to spend, but I think most here would agree that you're much better off waiting and spending money on decent kit rather than rushing to buy something which is substandard.

If your current monitors are still working and you've lasted this long with them, then surely they'll do the job fine until you've got enough cash to buy the HKs, or are you really desperate?

thanks.

the main issue is that we currently have 4 little boxes which having had quite a few of them, have an indistinguishable lifespan. Some last quite a while, some just break.

End game is the Dart's, but that is a long-term end game. We will need something in the interim that represent good value for money, won't break, and is a step up from the SkyTec boxes we have.

We are in the process of spending a not-insignificant amount of money on a new premises (not for Sunday mornings), so budgets are tight for the considerable future.

Just go for whatever you can find cheap... until you get to about dart prices then you won't get much increase in quality. Invest in a couple of graphic eqs to make them sound ok then you should be fine till you can buy the proper stuff. At the moment I quite like the studiospares auditorium range as a starting point. Or maybe the yamaha msr100s.

As a performer, I would much rather have a set of Thomann plastic active speakers like these with a good monitor mix than a set of HK Darts with an average monitor mix. My dB Technologies Opera 215's are a step up from the Thomann boxes (I've used them almost side by side as monitors) and I'd be tempted to say that they are on a par with the HK's but that could be down to never having had a decent monitor mix with an HK rig.

Cheers

James.

Have a look at QSC K-Series... they do some smaller active boxes, for not a lot of money - and it's reasonable quality too!

Thunder Ridge make some pretty good monitors . You can't get a better endorsement than Lemmy asking 'Can you turn the foldback down,please' or words to that effect .