Yamaha "StagePA" Systems

[Bobbsy]

My son's school has applied for a grant to get a bit of sound stuff for a new hall they've just built.

 

They're looking at THIS.

 

Functionally, it meets quite nicely what they need it for (I won't bore you with the details) but I have no experience of this end of the market.

 

Has anyone used this system this system enough to comment on it? Are their others in the same general price and functionality range they should look at instead?

 

Thanks for any user reports!

[revbobuk]

It's a good, but quite small piece of kit that is popular as a resource for schools. Be aware that the 300 version does not have conventional pole sockets on the speakers, so that can't (without modification) be put onto stands. The issue with 'for a new hall they've just built' is that it is relatively low power, and so to offer any sensible opinion on its suitability we'd need to know how big that hall is, and what use was planned for it.

 

So - please feel free to bore us with the details!

[Mat]

I've used a system similar to this with the stands on the speakers for a few small gigs in pubs and clubs. They are really good and don't take a genius to make it all work. A nice small scale system. Would recommend it.

[david.elsbury]

Is this system going to be installed, or a portable system that gets moved around and used elsewhere as well as in the hall?

[Bobbsy]

Okay...the boring details.

 

It's a small junior school (about 220 students between 5 and 11 years old). The "hall" mention is mainly just a peg to hang their grant application on--what they want is a portable system that can be used in several different areas. The largest of this is about the size of half a conventional gym (the new hall) and, as a sports hall, the use hear would likely be entirely speeches and meetings, the main area is about the size of a tennis court and the smallest about a double classroom (where they do music).

 

Uses are mainly speech days and assemblies. There's occasional music playback but nothing at any sort of loud levels--think typical junior school nativity plays and the such. Their existing "performance space" (the tennis court size one) has an aging installed system of about half the power of this Yamaha and it's entirely adequate in level terms--I've taken my own mixer and playback in there several times because the problem now is with the amp that passes for mixing.

 

FYI, I already spotted the mounting issue--but the budget includes some bespoke adaptors that Yamaha sells for them.

 

Thanks for the input so far--at least nobody has said it has a reputation for breaking down.

 

Just to clarify my role in all this, basically I've just been asked for an opinion on what somebody is trying to sell them. I suspect I'd have a right of veto if it was rubbish but I would only suggest alternatives if I really felt strongly that there was better quality, reliability or value for money out there. Life's too short to be blamed for the next 5 years if I push them into something that goes wrong!

[handyandi]

Heard one of these a number of times (a Callie band with caller) & for the money not a bad system, especially since its from a major brand rather than some cheap unknown chinese copy firm.. Limited 2 band EQ but they have to cut the cost down somewhere. Almost bought one but went for something with more function & a sub but that was considerably more £ in the end & has not been that reliable. (An FBT Amico for reference, - huge current draw on switch up popping fuses.)

[Doug Siddons]

Functional and will do the job, I have used one on a number of small jobs only thing I would say is when they get it change the connectors on the supplied cables to something more child/teacher proof!

[revbobuk]

The carry case is worth a look - a wheeled case that will take the speakers even when the stand adaptor brackets have been fitted.

[andy_s]

I've recently been touring with a theatre company that splits its work between regular, reasonably well-equiped small to mid scale theatres and school halls. My shows were aimed at 3 to 7 year olds, and the school halls we were in were about the same size or possibly a bit bigger than the ones you describe. In theatres, we'd generally use the in-house kit. For the halls, the company has a Stagepass system to use, for playback of sound effects and incidental / underscore music (sound features very heavily in the performance style of the company - 50 or more cues in a 40 minute show is usual, but the nature of the "school performance" model is that get-in time is very limited, so set-up simplicity is a desirable quality good.

 

I'd recommend it for this purpose. Very portable, very robust. In and out of a van on a daily basis with no flightcase or cover. Add the top-hats for use on stands. "built in" mixer can be removed from the back of the speaker with a 20p piece (substitute Aus coin of similar dimension) - quite useful function where there are limited power sockets in the room. Very loud for a small box, no problem with loud rocket launch sound effects with quite a lot of bottom end (of course not comparable to using a sub, but not bad) as others have said, setting up is simple and quick, very "plug and play" - longest job on a typical fit-up being the 10 minutes spent taping down the cables!

 

the mixer function is a bit limited, but would be OK for a basic vocal PA, or speeches. I don't really have experience of it in a "Live" setting" apart from the theramin that was part of the last show I did for them. We had a little Mackie (or possibly Yamaha, I forget) mixer in the system, so the stagepass mxr was just powering the speakers really, not doing any actual "mixing". To do this, I went from the L&R outs on the little desk to the mic in of the stagepass, and this seemed to work fine, didn't have any gain issues or headroom problems.

 

sound-quality wise, well, you would hear the difference if you spent more money, but it's an acceptable fullrange (though not exactly bass-heavy)sound. for example,I would rather use the stagepass than a couple of E3s without the E12 sub, but of course E3s plus sub is going to knock spots off the stagepass.

[jamesperrett]

We've used one as a rehearsal PA and it worked very well. It is probably the best budget all in one system that I've heard.

 

James.

[KevinE]

Just had to scrap one of these because the amp self-destructed

[angusi]

Would recommend it personally, with the carry case. We have the 500 at Portobello, and I'd say it's perfectly adequate for our use.

As a portable system, it's pretty neat, and as mentioned before it doesn't take a genius to set up and use (though training is a must... We had a group of guys who couldn't work out why there was no sound coming out of the system - they hadn't actually realised you need to make a connection between speakers and mixer... D'oh!)

[dbuckley]

Its just the latest in a line of these sorts of things from Yamaha dating back over 25 years, and thus you would think they have this line pretty well sewn up.

[bruce]

heard a report that the fans on some can be a wee bit noisy.

 

If it's of any interest, there's a service manual downloadable from http://elektrotanya.com/yamaha_stagepas_300.pdf/download.html

 

That site (not in english) should have a "download manual" button at the bottom right - I see it when I view the site in internet explorer, but not firefox! But it does allow you to download the full engineers service manual.

[Bobbsy]

Thanks for all the replies, gang.

 

It sounds like, for what it does, the StagePA is a pretty good unit. I'll let the school folks know and see how they get on with their grant application.

 

Thanks again!