Behringer B212A / Thoman PA202A/PA302A

[petecarter]

Hi All,

 

We currently have a pair of Phonic PA 450s powered speakers which we have been very pleased with however one of them came to an untimely end a short while ago and appears to be beyond repair. (Falling from the boot of a moving car tends to do that to you - don't ask - all I'll say is it wasn't me and was fortunately a quiet country lane! ).

 

One of the nice features on the PA450 was the little mixer on the back - which we found great for small acoustic (1 guitar, 1 vocals) type if setups in church halls etc. However we only ever really used this when using a single PA450 - if we had a pair we needed to drive then we just pulled out a little mixer and ran them as a L&R pair.

 

It appears that Phonic no longer make this model (or anything vaguely similar), which is a pain as these get used a lot as a pair as well as singly, so I have been hunting for alternatives.

 

Due to the limited availability of powered speakers with mixers on the back end and based on how we use them (see above) I suspect the best way forward may be to purchase 2 new boxes so at least we have a pair. As such I've been looking at the Behringer B212A and Thoman PA202A or PA302A.

 

Does anyone have any experience with these and any comments good or bad on them (or other similar boxes in the £300 a pair range).

 

Thanks one and all for your time and help

 

Pete

 

(Edit - just spotted the typo on the subject but can't change it.... can the mods ?)

Moderation: we can do anything....

[petecarter]

Feeling lonely with no responses.... ;)

 

Is there noone with any kowledge/experience of these boxes - there seem to be no reviews on the web either that I can see.....

 

Thanks......

[Dj Dunc]

What sort of venue etc are you planning to use these boxes for?

[paulears]

I have had plenty of plastic boxes from Thomann and have always been happy with them. One thing - Thomann are great and will take things back - but UK to Germany postage costs are a disgrace.

 

Most of these boxes, as I'm sure you know are Chinese. I bought some SX300 EV's a while ago, and noticed Thomann had some that looked identical with their own branding - so I bought a pair out of almost curiosity. Side by side - they appeared identical, internally, the wadding had a different texture, and the drivers were slightly different - but sound wise I was unable to tell which was which in AB tests. I bought another pile of them for a project and they had had a design change - still similar from the front, but a slightly different mould curve on the horn and the rear was different. Then I noticed the design change into the shape they now are. I have no reason to think that there are many real internal changes, and as one of their best sellers, I guess people are happy.

 

If you can manage the return postage cost, if you hate them - why not have a go?

[petecarter]

They will be used for a large range of applications and rooms - examples I can think of where we have used the PA450s are:

 

Village hall/church with CD player for background music

Wedding reception (150 ppl) background music

Small church services (1 x acoustic guitar, 1 x vocal, 1 x lavalier) up to about 75 people

Kids holiday clubs in school halls (CD, 2 x Mics, quality not so important for this one - they tend to want it loud - up to about 50 kids)

Quiz nights

Also doubling up as foldback wedges for bigger church events with a large (in-house) band

etc etc

 

Room sizes can vary from small 50 seat halls (carpeted, 8ft ceiling), through 100 seat school halls, up to 200 seat high ceilinged hard floored halls.

 

For bigger events at the larger venues we use our full PA. The PA450s have only been used there in the past for background music / wedding speeches etc

 

Thanks for your help

 

Paul,

 

Thanks for that.

 

Anyone used teh Behringers ?

 

Pete

[ghance]

Powered speakers with mixers on back?

 

Yamaha StagePAS 300. RRP £399, but on the interweb for around £320 / pair.

There's a big brother stagePAS 500 for around £700 / pair.

 

IMHO much better quality than either the thomann or behringer etc etc.. personally I'd steer clear of these unless I was looking for something v.cheap and didn't matter how long they lasted or what they sound like. that said, Behringer have a replaced the first generation of powered PA boxes. not heard new model, so couldn't say if they sound / built better. sorry.

 

I've not heard the Phonic 450's but I've heard some of the smaller ones and thought they were okay for the money. think if you liked the Phonic, you'd be happy with the yamaha.

 

Other suggestions: dB technologies Basic 200 for around £360 / pair. Not that loud, but ok quality for the money. or spend more and get a pair of HK Fast wedges (£900 / pair) or Powerworks RS122MA (£600 / pair) wedges. Active wedges that pole mount and double up as monitors.

 

good luck.. let us know how you get on.

[jamesperrett]

Feeling lonely with no responses.... :D

 

Is there noone with any kowledge/experience of these boxes - there seem to be no reviews on the web either that I can see.....

 

A local venue has a couple of pairs of Thomann boxes and, to my ears, the older ones sound better than the newer ones (which look like the PA302A). They seem much crisper and clearer than the new ones. I would have to add that I've only had limited experience with them so the new ones could possibly be tweaked to sound better. It might also be worth looking at the Studiospares Fortissimo range if you want something at around the same price.

 

Cheers

 

James.

[PoppaDom]

The Samson db500a's are 15"+1" powered speakers with a built in mixer on the back.

Line input and mic input with seperate level control. A link through to the next speaker, low cut, limiter and from memory not much more than a couple of hundred squid per cabinet.

I think they may make a 12" version as well!

 

They are not the lightest cabinet on the planet, also not the quietest when idling however they have a good low end response and I have had a pair on tour now for 18months with no problems.

 

Poppadom

[petecarter]

Thansk for all the comments/suggestins

 

Powered speakers with mixers on back?

 

Yamaha StagePAS 300. RRP £399, but on the interweb for around £320 / pair.

There's a big brother stagePAS 500 for around £700 / pair.

 

 

They look promising.... I'll take a look

 

The Samson db500a's are 15"+1" powered speakers with a built in mixer on the back.

Line input and mic input with seperate level control. A link through to the next speaker, low cut, limiter and from memory not

Poppadom

 

These sound similar to the old PA450s. Time for some googling - thanks for that

 

A local venue has a couple of pairs of Thomann boxes and, to my ears, the older ones sound better than the newer ones (which look like the PA302A).

Intersting to know they're been through a through itterations.....

 

It might also be worth looking at the Studiospares Fortissimo range if you want something at around the same price.

I'll take a ganger at these too - anyone got any experience of them ?

[jamesperrett]

It might also be worth looking at the Studiospares Fortissimo range if you want something at around the same price.

I'll take a ganger at these too - anyone got any experience of them ?

 

Apparently they're identical internally to the Carlsbro Gamma range and the Studiomaster plastic speakers but at a much cheaper price. I know one person who has a pair and they think that they're good value for money but I'd also welcome any comments from people who have used them as I'm thinking of buying a pair.

 

Cheers

 

James.