Please Help Speaker question

A couple of questions – what is tailgateing? what is your budget for these speakers? How many people need to hear them? And are you inside or outside?

When I/we know that we will be able to offer some more meaningful advice 🙂

bob6397

Okay. I’m going to assume that’s USD as a unit of currency.. On that budget I would be looking at a pair of half decent active PA speakers – maybe used if you can find a good deal. Active speakers have the amps built in and then require mains power and the audio signal separately.

For that number of people, you should be looking for at least 1000W RMS (That’s continuous power from the speaker – most manufacturers quote peak power but RMS is the number that actually matters) in total.. In terms of input I would get a small PA mixer for the job – one with enough channels to fulfil your needs. This will then have the correct outputs and proper volume controls for the speakers..

When choosing speakers/mixers it is best to go with a known brand – so lower end Mackie/Yamaha kit might do the trick. Other manufacturers are available though 🙂

Hope this makes sense,

bob6397

Hey Ian,

You want to make things as simple as possible for yourself, so I wouldn’t go messing about with a seperate amp and mixer. There are plenty 10. 12 and 15″ active speakers on the market that feature a small built-in mixer. Look for one that has two line inputs (one for your iPad/iPod/MP3 player and 1 for the TV/Satellite box), this might be a bit of a challenge. Alternatively get one of the small 6channel mixers with two stereo line input channels. Obviously in the latter case the speakers only need to have a line input to hook up to the mixer.

Is power and issue? Are you running through a 12V/110-220V converter or can you get mains power on the parking lot.

I’d say you’d be looking at a minimum of 500W RMS combined (two speakers) for 50 people or for 100 people with a slightly lesser volume level. 10W a person is a reasonably number for a decent volume outdoor gig. This can go up to 15 or 20W per person if you want heavy bass and/or a bigger area to cover.

It also depends if the music is the focus or the music needs to be there above background level but below “can’t talk to each other anymore” level.

Don’t know if you actually plan on playing out in the rain as well. Most PA speakers can handle outside conditions (like varying temperatures) but (lots of) rain can be an issue.

For outdoor use I’d stay with the molded ABS cabinets, not the (better) wooden ones. You can find covers for various speakers that protect the electronics and the actual speakers from rain if need be.

Frankly Ian, while I don’t know these specific speakers, I know the type. Hyped up marketing (advertised as 2000W speakers, where they are actually only 250W RMS a piece = 500W complete) for a price that is impossible when you factor in that you get two stands and cables with a carry-bag thrown in. I’d personally stay away from stuff like this.

Although I am no big fan of buying budget stuff (I’d rather get a set of used high-end speakers), you can check out the review on the new Alto 10″. Apparently they are pretty loud for their size, very lightweight and compact. And they will cost about the same a pair as what you saw at amazon, minus the stands and cables.

So, if you were to ask me, I’d go for a set of those Altos rather than carry around two of those huge 15″ boxes that might just sound worse than the Altos.

My two cents as usual.