New PA

[conan]

Hi There I have been asked to do FOH for a 12 piece Rhythm & Blues band and have been asked to spec a new PA for them. Currently they are running Yamaha Subs and a mix of Peavy and Bose Tops and mids with peavy amps and an ancient x-over (not the nicest PA ever). They play medium to large venues. I was thinking of suggesting something like the HK Actor or the DBtechnologies 40 or 50Line systems as they don't have a massive budget. It can be passive or active but needs to handle brass rhythm and vocal well. They have a 32 channel soundcraft desk (a series Two from the sound of it).

 

Any ideas...

 

 

 

 

Cheers

[dfinn]

Hi,

 

It's hard to spec without a budget.

 

Best thing to do would be to get a full list of kit that the band current have. Everything from FOH cabs, amplification, processing, desk, cabling, stands and cases etc.

 

You can easily spec for the main bits of kit and be in budget but then find you need to spend that amount again on cabling.

 

Also how large is a large venue?

 

Another thing is flightcases, all well and good having the kit but with no cases it will inevitably get trashed.

 

With regards to the desk are we taking the 1970's series 2 desk?

 

Sorry to be so abrupt but with the information given we cant really say a lot.

 

Thanks

 

Daniel

[Rob_Beech]

Daniel is right.

 

You also need to tell us (maybe find out from them if you dont know) if there is any specific feature they would or wouldn't like.

 

Would they like it to be...compact? lightweight? give a coverage of 120degrees horizontal?

 

You say they dont mind if its powered or unpowered (the terms most of us prefer). The 50 line stuff is very good as is the HK actor.

 

Another thing to add.

YOU have been asked to do FOH for them. (I will assume you will also run monitors from there). If this is a permenant thing for you (ie they dont use you and someone else for this job) then you might want to think about a desk and outboard gear that YOU are happy working with.

You've got to stick to their budget and at the end of the day its their call. But if you would prefer working on a particular board thats in budget then choose that one!

 

Rob