Beginners PA Guide: Questions Thread

[nick greek]

well i have no questions about how they work or how to setup i really want to know if someone has experience with the company skytec
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skytec-SPD-10V-Passive-Speaker-Wireless/dp/B00AE4SY8C
i think they value for money but how do they compare to the equally priced wanna be monitors

[DJ Vintage]

Uhm … you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but if I look at these speakers I get goosebumps. Any kind of “design” feature costs money. Both in development and in production. Money that doesn’t go into the only thing speakers are supposed to do: play music in good quality at decent volume.

And I mean seriously, 175 pound for 2 speakers, with USB/SD playback functionality AND two wireless microphones? I couldn’t suggest one single wireless microphone that is halfway decent for under 200 pounds. Quite frankly, they look like they would sit very pretty in some 12-year old’s bedroom and impress the heck out of his friends.

Just little telltales to look for:

• The power cord is permanently attached to the active speaker. That just doesn’t happen with the real stuff. You have a detachble power cord, period.
• The input looks like it’s RCA only, which means unbalanced, which means you can’t put them further away from your controller than about 3meters and even then you run a risk of interference and hum.
• Finally the speaker connections are those springloaded push thingies. Not found on any serious speaker. Speakon, XLR, even banana-plug type (on older systems).

A good rule of thumb is, if you can find only connections you’d expect to see on your home HiFi, it is probably meant to go in the home.

Other than that, save up and get some good old BORING looking real PA speakers.

Greetinx and good luck,
C.

[Edgard Rivera]

What Chuck said plus being master-slave if the master goes out you have no sound at all.

[DJ Vintage]

atom12v, post: 39796, member: 1423 wrote: What Chuck said plus being master-slave if the master goes out you have no sound at all.

Good point … I thought of it too, but decided I had killed his enthusiasm enough already :-). But yeah, a master-slave configuration does take away that advantage from true active speakers.

Greetinx,
C.

[Terry_42]

I think Chuck summed it up pretty good, exactly my thoughts when I saw them. Thanks.

[nick greek]

Chuck van Eekelen, post: 39794, member: 2756 wrote: Uhm … you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but if I look at these speakers I get goosebumps. Any kind of “design” feature costs money. Both in development and in production. Money that doesn’t go into the only thing speakers are supposed to do: play music in good quality at decent volume.

And I mean seriously, 175 pound for 2 speakers, with USB/SD playback functionality AND two wireless microphones? I couldn’t suggest one single wireless microphone that is halfway decent for under 200 pounds. Quite frankly, they look like they would sit very pretty in some 12-year old’s bedroom and impress the heck out of his friends.

Just little telltales to look for:

• The power cord is permanently attached to the active speaker. That just doesn’t happen with the real stuff. You have a detachble power cord, period.
• The input looks like it’s RCA only, which means unbalanced, which means you can’t put them further away from your controller than about 3meters and even then you run a risk of interference and hum.
• Finally the speaker connections are those springloaded push thingies. Not found on any serious speaker. Speakon, XLR, even banana-plug type (on older systems).

A good rule of thumb is, if you can find only connections you’d expect to see on your home HiFi, it is probably meant to go in the home.

Other than that, save up and get some good old BORING looking real PA speakers.

Greetinx and good luck,
C.

i am not looking for monitors,i prefer spending more money on cdjs controllers etc. i just want some cheap loud pa speakers for house gatherings thnks for the info

[DJ Vintage]

nick greek, post: 39829, member: 2957 wrote: i am not looking for monitors,i prefer spending more money on cdjs controllers etc. i just want some cheap loud pa speakers for house gatherings thnks for the info

You are welcome … but … uhm … were are we talking about monitors in any of this. I don’t think I used the word. My entire answer was based on their worth as PA speakers.

You asked if the showtecs were value for money and I think you got a decent answer. NO.

They ARE however CHEAP loud PA speakers (although I am guessing the 400W rating is peak or music power, meaning RMS is probably 2 x 100W, still loud enough for a living room party). And if you don’t care for sound quality, then by all means, go buy a set and crank them up to their distorted maximum power!

Greetinx,
C.

[Terry_42]

couldn’t have said it better (again, I am worried hehe)

[DJ Vintage]

@Terry: LOL

[donnyboybelfast@yahoo.co.uk]

I have been using a pair of passive 200W Skytec speakers for several years, and while the horn/tweeter has blown a few times (usually when you go for a comfort break meaning some idiot has got the mic, or when I loaned them to someone) they are great for the money – I was doing small venue parties with them and only had a complaint once where the acoustics of the room meant they weren’t loud enough. I still use them in combination with the larger LD speakers where we have a big room to cover and they compliment the LD speakers well meaning together they give a well balanced sound in my opinion. I really can’t fault them for the price at all, like I say had them 3 years or more and working as a Mobile Disco/DJ. I use a Stanton M304 mixer and KAM KXR600 amp with them, when my business partner uses his mixer (one bundled with his CDJs) the sound quality is noticably poorer, I think because the levels from his mixer aren’t as high.

[donnyboybelfast@yahoo.co.uk]

My question is what is the difference between line level outputs on a DJ mixer, and balanced outputs on a PA mixer? As above I noticed a big difference between my mixer and my partners with our cheap PA (not as noticable with the better speakers). Would I still benefit from getting a PA mixer and connecting to Amp with XLR if my mixer sounds fine (to me)?

[Milos Djordjevic]

Don your mixer probably is pushing out at -10db while the PA mixer is pushing +4db

[Terry_42]

@Don: Soundwise no. Your sound seems fine. The only thing as a mobile DJ, the PA mixer in the queue allows for better flexibility and another stage for the sound check. It will be explained in more detail in the next part of the guide, that should be online soon(TM).

Some comments on part II (especially for Chuck):
I agree that for a guy that already payed some dues a grafic EQ would be more sufficient, especially if your controller can act as a mixer too. However the guide is aimed at total newbies and in my experience a grafic EQ is overwhelming for most people who first encounter them. A 3 Band EQ on a small PA mixer is less intimidating and you can start getting the idea how the whole soundcheck thing works…

Same with 19” stuff, now my mobile setup I have a “quarter rack” with amps, EQ and 19” top loaded PA mixer… This stuff is nearly perfect, but would blow any newbie out of their socks budget wise and technically.

I totally agree with active speakers being a good thing, we are changing out many systems of the PA team now to active speakers so we possibly can even go with 4 HE 19” for the rest.

[nick greek]

Chuck van Eekelen, post: 39832, member: 2756 wrote: You are welcome … but … uhm … were are we talking about monitors in any of this. I don’t think I used the word. My entire answer was based on their worth as PA speakers.

You asked if the showtecs were value for money and I think you got a decent answer. NO.

They ARE however CHEAP loud PA speakers (although I am guessing the 400W rating is peak or music power, meaning RMS is probably 2 x 100W, still loud enough for a living room party). And if you don’t care for sound quality, then by all means, go buy a set and crank them up to their distorted maximum power!

Greetinx,
C.

thnx for the info luckily for me this time of the year all the major clubs are changing their venues( they are placed in different locations according to the time of the year) and some of them are selling their old equipment.200 RMS for 2 booth speakers each is a bit overkill but i am spending only 300 euros without the amplifier

[DJ Vintage]

Lol, back on monitor/booth huh. 🙂

Glad you got something that works for you.

Greetinx,
C.

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