Sound System on a tight budget - Help needed

[yourdj]

Get/borrow another amp and test the speakers.
Check that you have wired them up properly and are putting a decent audio feed into them in the first place.

Then if its the amp get a second hand one off Ebay or ask on the Facebook groups.
People have amps kicking about. I have two that I never use

There is a lot of crap on Ebay, but the digital T amps (1u ideally) are excellent.
Watch out for brand and weight. the Thomann ones are brilliant for the price.

Something like this would suffice. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SubZero-AA...item2c97075f13

Personally I would save up for the Mackie thumps or second hand Mackie SRM'S (much better).
The V1's are well priced as they are flipping heavy, but not bad performing.

[funkymook]

My dilemma here is that I want something that will do the job but, because whatever I get will probably only be used a few times a year, it is difficult to justify spending the sort of money a professional DJ would spend. Having said that, I still need to be 99% sure that whatever I use won't pack in on me mid-set even if I aren't getting paid for doing it!

Rather than spending money on budget gear that won’t really be adequate or reliable, if it’s only a few times a year hire something in, you’ll end up with a far better PA.

[yourdj]

Rather than spending money on budget gear that won’t really be adequate or reliable, if it’s only a few times a year hire something in, you’ll end up with a far better PA.

Or that
Hiring PA is well priced for what you get.

[fullcontact68]

Drop me a message if you want to test with a different amp. I've got a couple of different ones you can try. (I Live in Rotherham)

One which was for backup, but I don't use anymore, Skytec Pro 600 (Never had a problem with it)

Also, (but my current backup), a Yamaha P6000S.

[Casual77]

Thanks for the offer fullcontact68. I might take you up on that. Having said that, the speakers seem to work fine and sound quite good when the amp is working so I'm sure there is nothing much wrong with them. I usually get about 3 minutes of music before the amp inexplicably shuts down. I think as other people have suggested, the amp is just not up to the job and quite probably faulty.

I've got the spec of the speakers now. They are 300W RMS and 8 Ohm. Here is a link showing the details.


https://www.djkit.com/njd-celestion/...ers-nj560.html


Having said that, they aren't as big as I thought. They are only 12" rather than 15" so I may need to go for something bigger/ more powerful in the longer term if the parties end up being as successful as I hope.

[Excalibur]

.

I've got the spec of the speakers now. They are 300W RMS and 8 Ohm. Here is a link showing the details.


https://www.djkit.com/njd-celestion/...ers-nj560.html
.

Good news, bad news. Celestion innards mean they should be of adequate quality. 12" drivers means you'll probably find them wanting in the bass department,compared to 15". I'm guessing that you will need very little microphone use, so 15" will be better for music. Better still is to put 15" subs under your 12" tops, but that's an unnecesary expense for your circumstances.

Personally,I'd recommend trying to find some s/h actives in your price range. They do turn up from time to time.

If you decide to go for a power amp instead, you need one delivering between 300-500 watts RMS at 8 ohms. Yes, your cabs are rated at 300, but don't worry. Another can of worms, but as long as you don't hit any clip lights, or push the mixer into the red bits, you'll be fine. My previous Thomann suggestions are both acceptable, although if it were me buying one for regular work, I'd go up a model to the TA, or TSA 1400. That pushes the cost up again, so probably not an option.

[yourdj]

Having said that, they aren't as big as I thought. They are only 12" rather than 15" so I may need to go for something bigger/ more powerful in the longer term if the parties end up being as successful as I hope.

Naa. Don't look at power in watts or size! No1 mistake. Every bad speaker company advertises in WATTS
You will however need to stay at 12 or 15 to get a better bass response though.

Look at Watts RMS and especially max SPL. Funnily enough your speakers don't seem to have a rating (funny that).
That is basically the speakers efficiency to convert the sound. My RCF 10 inches are only run at 125 watts per channel and are well loud.

They are 128 max SPL or something like that, which is pretty good.
Its logarithmic so one number means more. Most crap speakers are about 120 ish.

Peavey make sone very well priced high SPL speakers. They are very light too.

Here is an example of a pile of junk promising 1000 WATTS!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-Sk...item4ad2bc98ae

These are the 15 inch versions of my RCF's (perfect for you) and are 300 WATTS.
The difference is they are 127 max spl swill convert that 300 watts many times more efficiently and be louder/clearer.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RCF-ART312...item5d55285f9f

Find something like this at auction and you cold get a really good deal - they are 133 SPL!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peavey-Imp...item3f46d6717b

I would however consider actives to make your like easier. Mackie thumps and Tapco thumps can sell for peanuts.
You then have two amps as well as speakers all in one. Easy for storage and operation.

Here we go - get this one singularly and I bet it will be much cheaper as people want them in pairs:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DISC-Tapco...item20f68ccf78

Just wait for another one to come up on its own.

Good luck.

[mattydj50]

Al's already coming over to see me on 28 February to look at my lighting rig. It just so happens that I also have 2 x Numark Dimension 3 amplifiers surplus to requirements.

As mentioned earlier in the thread by Mr Excalibur, one of these may be suitable, so if you want, you could borrow one off me, give it a try and either exchange it for a wad of case or return it.

[Excalibur]

Al's already coming over to see me on 28 February to look at my lighting rig. It just so happens that I also have 2 x Numark Dimension 3 amplifiers surplus to requirements.

As mentioned earlier in the thread by Mr Excalibur, one of these may be suitable, so if you want, you could borrow one off me, give it a try and either exchange it for a wad of case or return it.

An excellent suggestion for both parties, I feel.

[yourdj]

2 x Numark Dimension 3 amplifiers

Wont go wrong with them.
I got two of those when I started running sound systems in club nights and illegal raves.
I had no clue at the time and found them easy to use.