On amps and monitors.... for stage.
Man, All I can say, is, unless you got lots of cash, build on what you have.
A band I was in started with the 100w 6 channel Kustom Briefcase PA with 2 speaker cabs. (1-15" & horn)
We had no monitors to start. As time went on, we bought an amp and a few speakers, added more and so forth. We even built our own monitor floor wedges and dropped radio shack speakers in them. We had some ratty looking gear in the early days.
We ended up with a tri-amped 3000+watts of clean power into our main PA with 4 bass bins, 4 mids, and 6 high freq. horn/pizo racks.
Our old PA was used for monitors as side fill with 6 floor monitors (2 each band member) and on the smaller jobs, all we used was the old PA (briefcase) with no monitors. Load in and set up was 25 min and load out and rolling was 15 minutes with the smaller rig. No lights no monitors.
The point is, you build from where you are to what you can afford....and it helps to have a plan of some sort so you aren't buying anything and everything that comes along. Over time, depending on how diligent you are you can have a slamming PA.
One of the other big bands in our local/regional circuit at the time was using all Yamaha gear... They had one Yamaha power amp for every 2 Yamaha speaker cabs (IIRC 2 12" and a horn) They used no electronic crossover. From the Yamaha mixer to the amps... full spectrum signal. The speakers has passive's in them. In smaller clubs they used 4 cabs per side in the bigger venue's they doubled that... no bass bins... nothing.
Their philosophy was KISS. The sheer number of speakers moved a lot of air and they had no problem with the low end. The system was simple to set up, scale to the club size, and it sounded pristine.
What more can you want in a PA?
post edited by Guitarhacker - 2011/03/15 08:21:46