Portable PA systems

It's all about the equipment

Moderators: Mr Awesomer, JesseMiner, CafeSavoy

Message
Author
User avatar
Cyrano de Maniac
Posts: 97
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:11 pm
Location: South Saint Paul, Minnesota
Contact:

#16 Post by Cyrano de Maniac » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:07 pm

Toon Town Dave wrote:I'd rate the sound of the passport as good or better than a telephone (3kHz B/W) but not quite as good as a clear AM or FM radio signal (5kHz B/W). Music where the vocals are front and center sound okay but instrumentals with lots of horns (eg trumpet) tend to clip and sound like crap long before the volume is close to maxing out.
I'll second that. While I've only dealt with a Passport system a few times, I remember being underwhelmed by the audio quality. If portability is your absolute top concern, I guess I don't know of anything better, but do realize that portability versus audio quality is the tradeoff you'll be making. Only you can judge where you want to settle on that continuum.

On the other hand, on at least two occasions I've been very impressed with some compact consumer-level equipment that managed to fill very large spaces, much to my amazement. One was some sort of bookshelf stereo system, I believe by Aiwa. Another was a quite large boombox, the make of which I cannot remember at the moment, but the gain wasn't turned up all that high and it more than adequatley filled a small dance studio. (I can look into the make/model if you're interested).

Brent

User avatar
tornredcarpet
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:05 pm
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Contact:

#17 Post by tornredcarpet » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:35 pm

Well, if not for sound quality, I would definitely want the passport for its features and design...
Anything similar? Or are PA systems just not recommended altogether? I notice people keep mentioning customized systems or boom boxes.
I can't imagine trying to mount a boom box 6 feet high and trying to play from it for 100 people using the boom box's mixer.
I also don't want to be carrying around the soundbox of doom as I mentioned in the first post and have to deal with all the cord balancing, power supplies, and crap to avoid too much noise crossover.
I just want to bring in the system, connect my turntable, balance & sound check, and go.
Jesse (Los Angeles, CA/Hampton Roads, VA)

Toon Town Dave
Posts: 661
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:52 pm
Location: Saskatoon, Canada

#18 Post by Toon Town Dave » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:38 pm

I will give you the pedastal/height benefit of passport although it's worth noting that the speaker stands are not built in to the passport unit, they are an external accessory.

I don't see how a boom box vs passport amounts to more stuff. I need a power cord and audio cable for the boom box which I can tuck into the unused battery compartment just as easily as the compartment on the passport.

The passport 150 only has one stereo input and 3 mono mic inputs with no cross fade/cuing capability and limited Eq so I still need my mixer for all that either way. The 250 does have 2 stereo inputs but still cue/preview or cross fade slider.

I haven't DJ'd with a turntable but my mixer uses separate phono inputs as the levels are different than a CD player. Not sure how well a passport would handle that as a direct input.

For me, I prefer the boom box option and rent a pair of mackies for the few big events where I need the extra power. for a 100-ish person regular event, I'd lean toward a pair of SRM 350's (450's if you want some power to spare) and my usual mixer + dual CD player. The Numark mixers with USB input are a tempting upgrade as I move to the digital DJ route to get rid of an external sound device.

Toon Town Dave
Posts: 661
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:52 pm
Location: Saskatoon, Canada

#19 Post by Toon Town Dave » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:50 pm

Another mid-range "portable" option might be the Peavey Escort or Messgener series. Those appear to be designed for audio, including 5 band eq.

User avatar
Bob the Builder
Posts: 525
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:53 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

#20 Post by Bob the Builder » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:58 pm

I'm interested to know Dave, what’s the RMS output of your boom box and also what size are the cone and horn drivers.
I don't see how they could be similarly matched to a system like the
Peavey Escort or Passport!

Brian :)
Image

User avatar
CafeSavoy
Posts: 1138
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 6:25 pm
Location: Mobtown
Contact:

#21 Post by CafeSavoy » Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:06 am

How does the Peaveys compare to the Passports? I have seen the Peaveys at the Guiter Center but I haven't seen any in use.

User avatar
tornredcarpet
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:05 pm
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Contact:

#22 Post by tornredcarpet » Sun Jan 14, 2007 12:13 pm

considering I've never paid attention and just went straight to dancing every time the passports were set up, I don't think I really cared, lol.

Can anyone identify what this system is?
Looks like a passport.
Wasn't stellar, but didn't sound too bad for the some 70 people we had in there (there were like 20 couples max I think dancing at any given time)
I'm pretty sure though that a boombox wouldn't have filled the claire de lune.
Jesse (Los Angeles, CA/Hampton Roads, VA)

Surreal
Posts: 402
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:31 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

#23 Post by Surreal » Sun Jan 14, 2007 2:24 pm

That's definitely a passport system. From the size of it I'm guessing the 250.

Toon Town Dave
Posts: 661
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:52 pm
Location: Saskatoon, Canada

#24 Post by Toon Town Dave » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:02 am

Bob the Builder wrote:I'm interested to know Dave, what’s the RMS output of your boom box and also what size are the cone and horn drivers.
I don't see how they could be similarly matched to a system like the
Peavey Escort or Passport!

Brian :)
The boom box we have is the JVC
RV-DP100


According to the specs, it's power is only 52W. We've used it in a small space with around 30-40 people with power to spare as well as in a large, gymnasium, it's been adequate. Typically we run the bass at a lower volume.

Power-wise, the passport can deliver more but starts to sound pretty crappy even at relatively low power levels. We can almost max out the treble volume on the JVC and it sounds okay although the bass tends to distort at about 3/4 max.

tornredcarpet, the photo looks like either a passport 150 or possibly an 80. The big box is a regular dual CD player and mixer and possibly other goodies.

User avatar
Lawrence
Posts: 1213
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2002 2:08 pm
Location: Austin, Texas
Contact:

#25 Post by Lawrence » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:22 pm

tornredcarpet wrote:Well, if not for sound quality, I would definitely want the passport for its features and design...
The features of the Passport are minimal. It is just a plug and amplify amplifier, with minimal volume and EQ controls, depending on the model. The amount of control over the EQ is MUCH greater with a simple portable stereo, in part because the frequency range is so much broader. Boomboxes/portable stereos are 1) less expensive, 2) more portable (not nearly as heavy), and 3) produce better QUALITY sound for small-mid sized rooms than the Passports. Boomboxes and portable stereos also can come with detachable speakers so you can spread them out.
are PA systems just not recommended altogether? I notice people keep mentioning customized systems or boom boxes.
* * * *
I just want to bring in the system, connect my turntable, balance & sound check, and go.
PAs are recommended because they fill larger rooms with better quality sound, not because they are convenient. Thier electronics allow more power to get to the speakers, resulting in "bigger" sound where the volume doesn't need to be as loud (or "pushed") to fill the room with sound. Passports do have sufficient power and electronics (low OHMs), and will fill a larger with volume better than a boombox. But the sound quality will suffer. That is why I dislike them: not because they are PAs. If you have anything up to about 1000 square feet, a big portable stereo will suffice until you can afford a better system.

The biggest downside to a boombox/portable stereo (and historically one of the reasons why Passports ever showed up at smaller Lindy venues) is not having two channels in which to preview and cue the next song, which was a problem when we used only CDs. Most music shops that sell or rent P.A.s don't have cheap setups with dual-CDs attached to a mixer. That's why many people turned the the Passports: because it is often the smallest, least expensive sytem at a music equipment rental/sales shop to which you can attach a mixer with dual CD-players.

However, the stand-alone mixers do not require a full-blown 4 (low) OHM system to get a dual-CD mixer system. You can get stand-alone mixers at Radio Shack for under $100, sometimes combined with an amp so they can attach directly to home-stereo speakers. Alternatively, get a boombox/portable stereo with a "Aux" input, and plug the unpowered mixer into the "Aux" input, and the 2 CDs players to the mixer.

Moreover, now that most DJs use laptops, the dual-CD mixer problem is covered through software. So you can just plug a laptop into an "Aux" input on a decent portable stereo, and you're good to go.
Lawrence Page
Austin Lindy Hop
http://www.AustinLindy.com

Toon Town Dave
Posts: 661
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:52 pm
Location: Saskatoon, Canada

#26 Post by Toon Town Dave » Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:39 pm

I'll echo that statement on the mixer. I started using the two stereo input channels on the Passport 250 with my CD player, besides the limitation of the eq controls on the Passport, there was no cue/preview. I did find a hack solution, plugging my headphones into the 1/4" input for the respective channel I wanted to preview. Electrically it was about the same as plugging in to one of the left or right outputs direct from the CD player ... no control over eq or volume and it was mono.

IIRC, I spent CAD$105 on a decent 2 channel Stanton mixer. It was money well spent for both convenience and better eq settings.

User avatar
tornredcarpet
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:05 pm
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Contact:

#27 Post by tornredcarpet » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:55 pm

I keep trying to bring this thread back on topic to PA systems... but we keep going to boom boxes and mixers and stuff...

Lemme try again...
So does anyone have any good PA systems to recommend?
Jesse (Los Angeles, CA/Hampton Roads, VA)

User avatar
Bob the Builder
Posts: 525
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:53 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

#28 Post by Bob the Builder » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:08 pm

Bob the Builder wrote:I use to use a system like this one for about a year.

Image

They are very handy systems, and easy to use.
Sound quality was good for 70 or less people. For personal use worth having. However there are some fragile components on them so only let component people work with them.

Brian :D
Image

User avatar
tornredcarpet
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:05 pm
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Contact:

#29 Post by tornredcarpet » Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:21 pm

Thank you brian!
Now, can I get another vote on the Peavey, or some trusted brands?
Jesse (Los Angeles, CA/Hampton Roads, VA)

User avatar
GemZombie
Posts: 772
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:46 pm
Location: Alpharetta, GA (Formerly SLO, CA)
Contact:

#30 Post by GemZombie » Wed Jan 24, 2007 5:35 am

My experience with the above pictured system is that it's fragile and cheaply made. I wasn't at all impressed with the sound quality.

Jesse, once again, when you are here for the "Meetin'", I'll show you what I use/used and give you another option.

Locked