From the mixer to the power amp;
Any female to male XLR lead will do the job. A couple of microphone cables would be fine:
[url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040731222233203214146048605358/g=live/s=amps/search/detail/base_pid/330372/[/url]
Although it might be worthwhile getting some that are a suitable length for what you need.
Using 2 15 foot mic lead probably would be too suitable if you only need them 2 foot long.
If you cannot find them that short.. You may have to get them made up for you (or make 'em up yourself)

For the poweramp to the speakers;
The poweramp uses binding post outputs.. So you dont really have to worry about the connectors for that.. Just get yourself a couple of good 16 guage speaker cable, cut off and strip the ends of each wire. Connect them onto the binding posts cleanly and solidly. and screw down the binding posts firmly. Take note of their polarity.

Then.. Whatever the speakers require in the way of an input (either a 1/4" plug or a Speakon connector - although most likely the 1/4" plug) just connect on onto the other end of each speaker cable.

Or... you could just get something like this:
[url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040731222233203214146048605358/g=live/s=amps/search/detail/base_pid/330557/[/url]
Get two of those, one for each speaker. Then cut off the unused end with a pair of wirecutters, and strip the wire for the bindings posts..

Ohh yeah. and I noticed in my last post i was going on about Neutrick conenctors. Sorry, but by this I meant 'Speakon' connectors. Sorry for the confusion.
But it is just Neutrick is a brand that makes Speakon Connectors.

[QUOTE=Aes820]Yeah.. that looks pretty good. It may struggle to keep up at some larger gigs but it should suit practise / jamming / and 'backyard party' sized gigs quite nicely.[/QUOTE]

Awesome!... thanks a lot Aes820

Thanks again Aes820, although the first link doesnt take me to a product...

[QUOTE=AfroDrummer16]Thanks again Aes820, although the first link doesnt take me to a product...[/QUOTE]
Strange. It works fine for me..
Dont worry.. all it is, is a link to a microphone cable.. Any microphone cable would work.. but the shorter the better.

dg_88: No worries mate.. glad to help.

Need Advice Fast! Thanks!
 

Alright everyone my band is small right now just starting to write songs, Only one done right now but i need to know what im going to need for small gigs like PA System wise, and how much its going to cost, because were going to play in my friends basement (we built a stage) and at my other friends house with his band, if u could get me a link or a website or something that would be very helpfull Thanks!

^ Hi.. I should've just said this in your other thread.. but nevermind:

Look around for packaged setups. Sometimes you can get packages that include the powerd mixer, speakers, microphones and etc.

Something like this would be pretty good:
[url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040802194052152091009009719110/g=live/s=packaged/search/detail/base_pid/630426/[/url]

Or, if you are on a tighter budget, this:
[url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040802194052152091009009719110/g=live/s=packaged/search/detail/base_pid/630130/[/url]

But look (and ask) around. Both in music stores, and online with sites like Musiciansfriend.

Is there any online music stores in australia that are good.

My band and i need a PA to hear 3 vocal mic's over
100 watt guitart amp x2
100 watt bass amp (all combo's)
and drums.

Hopefully it could be used for smaller gigs, but we are all tight for cash so cheap = good.

Thanks i was thinking about that last one, or one for 60 bucks more that has 240 watts

HAZCHEM: Sorry mate. I'm unaware of any decent Aussie music equip sites.
But, for your needs, check out the brand Ashton.
They've got setups very much like the ones that I linked to in my last post. And because they are Australian made, the price is fairly reasonable.
The 4100 as a starting point perhaps (4 channel, 100 watt mixer w/ speakers)..
Most local music stores should stock Ashtons, or at least be able to get them in for you.

Blink Fan: I think for just 60 bucks more, the model which you mentioned would probably be the better option.

Ok my band just bought [url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040802230602068224124178780874/g=live/s=packaged/search/detail/base_pid/630544/[/url] That pa system.We have 2 mics plugged in and the guitar.We are unplugging it tomorrow but like the mic volume is up all the way then we have the master volume almost half but when we turn it up more it makes a annoying *** sound.We have the speakers way in the back of the garage by the drums thenthe mics way at the front the mics are all the way up on the stands and it still makes noise.So is there anything way we can have the pa up all the way so its louder but with out the annoying *** sound please help me out please.If you would rather help me out on aim instant message me at Generixdrums please help me out

^ Okay. Try out a few things.

Fist off, just turn the mic channel down a bit. Put the mic volume at about 3/4. Then you'll hopefully be able to main volume a bit more before getting feedback.

Secondly, check your EQing. Mid range frequencies tend to feedback easier than others, so roll off your mids slightly. Or.. just make sure that your EQing hasn't got any extreme settings in it. As in, the Bass Mid and/or High knobs arn't all turned all the way up.

Third, you may be experiencing something called microphonics. Caused by crappy quality microphones. investing in some better quality mics will help you out.
Although this is unlikely to be the case, as the first two suggestions will be more likely to fix your problem.

Lastly, Read your manual!! It should contain plently of usueful information about how to correctly use your PA. If you dont read your manual then you might be missing some important piece of information that is preventing you from making the most out of your PA.

ok....my band just recently bought a PA system and i was wondering how to hook my guitar up to it without the PA squealing...i know it is a stupid question but some one has to ask it

well...

I presume yhou are not foolish enough to put ur guitar straight into the PA, i mean, thats not wise...

Make sure that the amp n speaker are NOT facing you, and if possible ur not standing too near, sometimes not possible but this should help

Edit for typo

[QUOTE=herobehindthemsk]ok....my band just recently bought a PA system and i was wondering how to hook my guitar up to it without the PA squealing...i know it is a stupid question but some one has to ask it[/QUOTE]
It's quite alright to plug an electric/acoustic guitar diect into a PA. Just run the acoustics pickup output into the mixer. And adjust the levels and EQing to suit.
Some people prefer to DI the acoustic before the mixer. But I've found that the is really only necessary while doing long cable runs (ie, the stage area is a fair distance from the mixer) or if the results you get out of running the guitar diect are not up to scratch.

You wont get very good results if you are running an electric guitar direct into a PA. For this it'll be better to either run your electric into an amp first and then mic up the amps speaker and run that into the PA. Or if the amp has got a 'line out' feature, using that instead.

ok thanks mayb ill just try micing up the amp then

[QUOTE] Ok my band just bought [url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...ase_pid/630544/[/url] That pa system.We have 2 mics plugged in and the guitar.We are unplugging it tomorrow but like the mic volume is up all the way then we have the master volume almost half but when we turn it up more it makes a annoying *** sound.We have the speakers way in the back of the garage by the drums thenthe mics way at the front the mics are all the way up on the stands and it still makes noise.So is there anything way we can have the pa up all the way so its louder but with out the annoying *** sound please help me out please.If you would rather help me out on aim instant message me at Generixdrums please help me out [/QUOTE]

The problem is that the speakers are behind the microphone. The speakers need to be in front of EVERYTHING so that it doesn't feedback. Move your speakers and you shoudln't have a problem. Also the size of the room may depend on how loud ytou can turn your pa up. If its a small room you wont be able to turn it up so loud because it will feed back.

ok, my band needs to know how big of a p.a. system we will need...we have two guitarists both have amps at 120 wats, and a bassist with an amp at 120 wats, and me the drummer, how many wats do you suggests the pa cabs should have?

also, what would be a good wireless sytem for this headset... [url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040808120821068102051115913748/g=live/g=live/search/bigpid/base_id/42416/[/url] and what cables would i need to hook it up to the p.a. system?

^ a 2x300 watt powered mixer should see you suited.

[QUOTE=Aes820]HAZCHEM: Sorry mate. I'm unaware of any decent Aussie music equip sites.
But, for your needs, check out the brand Ashton.
They've got setups very much like the ones that I linked to in my last post. And because they are Australian made, the price is fairly reasonable.
The 4100 as a starting point perhaps (4 channel, 100 watt mixer w/ speakers)..
Most local music stores should stock Ashtons, or at least be able to get them in for you.
[/QUOTE]

My Amps an Ashton, does pretty well for $600 too.
I'll have to have a look, thanks.

^ Look in second hand stores too.
Browsing through a local Cash Converters store for second hand PA gear can sometimes pay off.

I live in a the country so the Cash Converters (or equivelent stores) are pretty crap.
I'm gunna have a look in the Trading Post Too.

[QUOTE=Aes820]^ a 2x300 watt powered mixer should see you suited.[/QUOTE]

who was that directed to?

It was directed at you my good friend.

Sorry, but i cant be of too much help with the headset tho.
But. I always go for Shure. I know that is a good brand and you should be pretty safe with them.

oh alright thanks, that sounds good then cause were thinkin about geting some peavey speaker cabs that can handle 500 watts each,

ok power amps the ones designed for drving PAs, naddy,peavy, etc... could i use one of these power amps to for runing just a bass cab, like Bass--amp speaker out---> nady 800 watt power amp--->410 bass cab.

thanks.

^ Yeah. you can.
But keep a keen eye out for clipping. The lower frequecies with bass guitar suck up headroom like you wouldnt believe. But I think with 800 watts you should be alright. But still, look for a power amp with clip indicators on the front of it.

Do you wish to use it in stereo?
Becasue I'm guessing you are thinking of running it via a stereo preamp, right?
But if you can only use the 4x10 in mono...(i dont know if you can or not. I spose it depends on the cab) Then you are going to have to get a poweramp that can be bridged.

So if the 4x10 is 8 ohms. Get a 2x400 watt @ 4 ohm poweramp, that can be bridged. So, when bridged, it'll pump out 800 watts at 8 ohms.

I hope this makes sense. Let me know if you need it explained further.

EDIT:
Ohhh. no no.
Wait a minute.
DO NOT run additional poweramps off the speaker output of other amps.
You will very quickly cook the input stages of the poweramp if you do. And cause major damage to possibly both amps.
Use the poweramp with a dedicated bass preamp.. Or if your amp has a 'preamp output' or 'slave output' use that.. Dont use the speaker output.

im looking to buy speaker cables and stage snakes.. what should i look for?
is there a difference between different gauge cables?
how do i determine the quality of a cable or snake?

Ok could somebody explain to me how the wattage and the ohms are supposed to fit together between a powered mixer and 2 speakers? If a mixer has 150W output, I'm assuming this means mono? And if it is mono, does that mean each speaker only gets 75W of power? But if its 150W stereo that means each speaker gets 150W of power right? So is 150W stereo the same as 300W mono? And some questions on speakers, if a speaker is receiving 150W from the mixer, that means the speaker must be at least 150W power handling if you intend to turn the mixer all the way up right? And what is continuous power, program, and peak? Last question, what does brigged mean on a mixer?

[QUOTE=daaaaaaveeeee]im looking to buy speaker cables and stage snakes.. what should i look for?
is there a difference between different gauge cables?
how do i determine the quality of a cable or snake?[/QUOTE]
Different guages determin the cables efficiency.
Long cable runs with low guage - low quality cable will reduce your sound quality. The high end 'crisp' and low end 'thunk' of your tone will be the first to go.
It'll be best to stick with using high quality cables, for the best results.
Same thing goes for the connectors.

Good quality cables are most important between the poweramp and the speakers.. As this is the cables which do most of the work in carrying your signal. You can sometimes get away with using a slightly lower quality snake between the mixer and the poweramps (as long as you are happy with the quality that is). Except you'd want to have the connection between the poweramps and the speakers to be of the higest quality.

For my speakers, I use 16 guage Proel cables and Neutrik connectors. They've been cut to pretty much exactally the right length.

[QUOTE=BlinkRockr41]Ok could somebody explain to me how the wattage and the ohms are supposed to fit together between a powered mixer and 2 speakers? If a mixer has 150W output, I'm assuming this means mono? And if it is mono, does that mean each speaker only gets 75W of power? But if its 150W stereo that means each speaker gets 150W of power right? So is 150W stereo the same as 300W mono? And some questions on speakers, if a speaker is receiving 150W from the mixer, that means the speaker must be at least 150W power handling if you intend to turn the mixer all the way up right? And what is continuous power, program, and peak? Last question, what does brigged mean on a mixer?[/QUOTE]
Wow. so many questions.

First off. You'd want to check if the powered mixer is stereo or mono. If it is mono, then yes. it'll just be 150 watts. And driving two speaker cabs off the one mono amp, then each speaker cab will be receiving 75 watts.
Stereo powered mixer have two totally seperate mono amps sitting right next to each other. and if both the left and right part of the stereo amp put off 150 watts. then the amp would be rated at 300 watts total. Although they are also also commonly rated as having 2x150 watts. Which is essentially the same thing.
If a stereo amp is rated at 150 watts, then I'd assume that this means 2x75 watts.

With the speakers, their wattage rating is the indication of their maximum RMS power handling. Usually you would want to match this with what the poweramp puts out.
Except... it is really not uncommon for setups to contain poweramps which provide more power than what the speakers can handle.
300 watt poweramp through a 250 watt speaker for example.

This is done for the reason of 'headroom'. The poweramp will be able to provide plently of power to the speakers so you can run them up loud without any indication of clipping (clipping is what happens when the poweramp is run up too loud for it to handle). everything above this maximum level is cut off by the poweramp and ignored. You will get an unpleasant sounding distortion as your signal is clipped out and (more importantly) your poweramp, while it is clipping, will be sending a solid voltage straight through your speakers. And this can very easilly burn them out.

So. Having a more powerful poweramp means that you'll have a little bit of headroom spare. So you can run it up loud without any risk of clipping. But bare in mind that with the extra wattage you do run the risk of blowing your speakers if you push them up loud enough and push them past their peak handling.
So.. It is kind of a trade off between the risk of buringing out speakers due to a lack of headroom and blowing them because of too much headroom.

A 150 watt poweramp will provide 150 watts RMS. In most cases it'll be best to match that with a 150 watt RMS speaker.

RMS = Root mean Square. Think of it as the average amount of power that the amplifier can produce under normal conditions. Similar, and also often refered to as Program power.

Continuous power = the wattage that the amp can cleanly produce while producing one continous tone. Pump a straight 440hz sine wave through a 50 watt amp. And you'll get one solid tone out of the amp. Cleanly. At 50 watts.

This is differnt to Program power. Because real music isnt just one continous tone. It contains many changes in loudness and many differnt frequencies.. on occasions it'll peak well over 50 watts. But it'll spend just as much time producing more than 50 watts than it would producing less than 50 watts. But still, it'll have an 'average' power output of 50 watts. AKA, 50 watts RMS.

Peak power is the absolute maximum output power that an amp can produce (or a speaker can handle) before damage (or clipping) occours. A 50 watt RMS amp may be able to peak upwards of 1000 watts.. But this peak may only be for one very brief instance.. And one again, the amp will be peaking above the RMS for the same amount of time that it would be below.

Same with speakers. a 50 watt speaker will be able to handle 50 watts RMS but maybe up to 500 watts peak. With speakers, this peak power handling describes their absolute maximum power handling capability before damage occours.

Now for Bridging.. Some stereo poweramps/powered mixers have the ability to be bridged. What this means is that you are taking the two individual left and right mono amps that are in a stereo amp and combining them into the one. The left channel would manage your signal as is, except what used to be the right channel would be switched to manage a negative version of your mono signal. And so, when pushed through a speaker, will provide twice as much wattage as just one of its channels would on its own.
So a 2x150 watt amp would provide 1x300 watts when bridged. But bare in mind that not all poweramps can be bridged.

I hope all this makes sense.

Thanks alot Aes820. Yeah it all makes perfect sense. I'm glad I now know this as our band will soon be buying a PA. Thanks for the help

thanks aes

Here's something handy to know about amps that can be bridged:

Bridge the amp and run a higher wattage low range driver off the bridged terminals. Then run a full range speaker off the left channel as you normally would, even if it wasnt bridged. Now rewire your other full range speaker so that it is out of phase (swap around the negative and positive terminals) and run it off the right channel as you normally would if it wasnt bridged.
Doing this can give you a 6db increase in volume off the same poweramp. An increase in volume that you would otherwise achive by using a poweramp with 4x as much output power.

But. You've just got to make sure that the speakers you use can handle the wattage. And that the total ohm loading on the poweramp isnt too small. As in, if the minimum loading for each channel is 4 ohms each. then use 8 ohm speakers all around.

I have another question. As I said before our band will soon be buying a PA. I play guitar and sing and have a 100W 112 combo. Our bassist sings and has a 120W 115 combo. We have practiced maybe a dozen times singing through our guitar amps. Would you suggest we buy a small cheap PA just to practice or a larger one for shows later in the future. And whatever would be better, what wattage will be needed.

well, depends how soon you would be looking at gigging, and how big a gigs you would be looking at

If you are unlikely to be gigging in the near future It'd be good to look for a medium sized keyboard amp (2nd hand) to use, these handle vocals very well for practice

[QUOTE=BlinkRockr41]I have another question. As I said before our band will soon be buying a PA. I play guitar and sing and have a 100W 112 combo. Our bassist sings and has a 120W 115 combo. We have practiced maybe a dozen times singing through our guitar amps. Would you suggest we buy a small cheap PA just to practice or a larger one for shows later in the future. And whatever would be better, what wattage will be needed.[/QUOTE]
I think a 300 watt powered mixer and a couple of speaker cabs would be a good option. It will be more than enough for practising. And would even be able to stand up at some smaller (and perhaps even some mid sized) pub gigs. It should last you quite a while and see you easilly through the majority of situations.
I think if you invest in something decent now. It'll save you having to go through this all over again when the time comes to upgrade.

[QUOTE=Aes820]I think a 300 watt powered mixer and a couple of speaker cabs would be a good option. It will be more than enough for practising. And would even be able to stand up at some smaller (and perhaps even some mid sized) pub gigs. It should last you quite a while and see you easilly through the majority of situations.
I think if you invest in something decent now. It'll save you having to go through this all over again when the time comes to upgrade.[/QUOTE]
Yeah that sounds good. We're broke so we'll be waiting a while till we get it. I did want to make sure you realized the only thing we would be using the mixer for are 2 mics, cause our amps would be plenty right? (100W 112 Guitar Combo, 120W 115 Bass Combo) Or would that size of mixer be one that we mic'd the amps if the show was big enough? I think it would be wise to buy it in a package and buy the mics seperate if none are included. Do you have any suggestions for some good equipment? What are some quality mixers, speaker cabs, and mics? Also, how many people are you thinking, based and the size of our equipment, and the equipment you are suggesting, would be in the audience we are playing to? (How many people do you consider small to mid sized pub gigs) Thanks again.

Your amps should be alright as they are. There really shouldnt be a need to mic up the drum kit either.
You'd probably want to add on more speakers to you own amps (1x12 extension cab) before you get to the stage of running them into the PA.
But you can go either method. And running them into the PA would be simple if your amps have got a 'line out' feature. As in that case all you'll need is a cable to run it into the PA. You wont have to spend money on a mic.

But. when it comes to if there is a need for that or not. You are going to have to use your own judgement

But.. if you get a PA that can accomodate a set a drum kit and instrument mics at a later stage then you'll have room for upgrading later on.

When I say pub gig. I'm thinking to about up to about 150 people. But it depends on how noisy the place is. All you'd want is to get the speakers up onto stands. Having speakers at head height are going to be heard alot better than what they would if they were pointing at your audiences ankles.

I would strongly reccomed a packaged setup. When you buy individual componets you can quite easilly go over your budget. That is unless you find a real bargain.
I think there are Yamaha and Peavey packaged systems (that I think may include a couple of speaker stands and microphones) on Musicians friends that would be worthwhile taking a look at.

Thanks once again Aes820. I think you have finally answered all of my questions, thanks for the help. One more thing, the majority of PA packages seem to be either 200W or 400W, nothing inbetween, any suggestions?

There's plently of 300 watters going around:

[url]http://www.andysmusiconline.com/product_p/samson_pa324.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=333058&is=REG[/url]
[url]http://www.elevation-music.com/jomx300wapom.html[/url]

But of course, if you can find a 400 watter that you think is of good quality and you can get for a reasonable price. Then of course you should go for it.

300 watts is a fair setup, for most situations. But of you can get something with more headroom for a reasonable price. Then why wouldn't you go for the model up.

EDIT:

Ohh sorry. I realise now you were asking for 300 watt [B]packaged[/B] setups. Those links above are just to 300 watt powered mixers, not inclidng speakers and etc.

What I would suggest you do is to go to a local music store and tell them what you are after. Tell them that you are looking for a 300 watt powered mixer, plus a couple of speakers, stands microphones and all the cables.
I think if you talk to them about this you may find that they will be prepared to throw together several individual components in a kind've 'make your own' packaged setup deal. And should hopefully be able to do you a reasonable price on it also.
Especially if you tell them that you've seen some similar setups on some websites for X amount of dollars. And compare that price to what they are prepared to do for you.
See how you go with it.. Happy shopping!