"Coffee Shop Gig" speakers

[jazzjune18]

howdy, me again?!?

want to pick the brains of experienced consumers. We are currently playing with a Peavey 6500 mixer (400 watt) into two 12 inch, 300 watt Phonic S712 Speakers. We mainly play small venues (wineries, restaurants, coffee shops, etc). They are non-powered speakers, so get their juice from my mixer.

We often find ourselves having to lug the HUGE speakers through tight corners in restaurants, back in and out of the car multiple times, etc, and would LOVE a set of speakers that were just as good (or better), but not quite as big and bulky. Any recommendations? Not looking to spend a lot of money (couple hundred max for the set). What have you tried and liked?

Mark

[kjbllc]

how many people?

[Barry Wilson]

I am pretty sold on this Traynor Travelmate. It is 50 watts, has it's own battery, 2 channels in (3 if you count the rca in put that has no volume control). Channel 1 is xlr with volume and tone, channel 2 is 1/4" and has a 3 band eq with a gain.

The battery power makes setup easy and I play a lot of places where power is not supplied.

I do have a set of Yorkville YX 10's with an ART rack mount amp and an ART 8 channel rack mount board, though they have powered versions of these speakers.

[jazzjune18]

we (there are two of us) use two vocal mics, and two instruments plugged in, so 4 total. sometimes 6 when another guy plays with us.

[pops1]

Carvin makes a self contained unit that has 6 channels, 140 watts, battery optional, speaker stand mount if desired and weighs like 24lbs. Perfect for acoustic gigs, I have played outdoor weddings with the older version that was 100 watts and had plenty of power. I think it has phantom power too on the newer one.

[jazzjune18]

Thanks for the help so far. I want to stick with my mixer, just want to supplement it with smaller, lighter weight speakers.

[Steve Lavelle]

If you want smaller, lighter weight speakers you pretty much have to give up the powered mixer and the speakers you have and buy powered speakers and a small unpowered mixer. Most of the passive speakers on the market are designed for big venues where there are multiple speakers in an array. Small venue systems are almost exclusively active speakers and a small un-powered mixer now.

[kurth83]

the smallest pa speaker I have auditioned that I thought sounded great was a QSC-K8. I haven't tried any of the solo amp kind of stuff but hear good things about them..

[jefflester]

I don't think QSCs are within his budget. Kustom and Peavey make 10" (Phonic does too for that matter) based 2-ways that are in the "couple of hundred $ range that would probably do the job. They'd certainly be smaller. I have a pair of powered Kustom 12" that sound pretty decent as vocal monitors in my home jam space.

[colorado_al]

You should try to pick up a decent pair of stage monitors. They will be smaller, but the sound should still be good, and you can power them from your deck. They will work just as well as house sound.
Or there are several 8" and 10" speakers that will sound as good, maybe even better, in a small venue.
I like the Yamaha BR10. Just be careful you don't blow them with your high powered system. The Phonic S710 actually gets better reviews than the S712.

[pops1]

I set up a system on a river boat with little Carvin 5" speakers. We played live with guitar, vocals and mandolin and it worked well. I would not push the lows too much, I dropped the low slider on the eq for safety, but the sound was decent for the low volume. I would prefer to stay with 8" speakers, they should do anything you need to do acoustically including a mic on an upright bass if the amp and speakers are coordinated. My monitors I built several years ago for our string band are 8" with a soft dome tweeter and have served us well. I have a friend who uses 8" mains and it works well, that is my next step for the old man P.A.

[nickster60]

I have a a Carvin AG 300 it is the most amazing amp I have ever used. You play literally everything through that rig violin, mandolin, guitar, bass and vocals.

[Mandobart]

I have a a Carvin AG 300 it is the most amazing amp I have ever used. You play literally everything through that rig violin, mandolin, guitar, bass and vocals.

Big +1 on the AG300. Great sound, effects, can be pole mounted for better dispersion, three channels. The best acoustic amp I've tried yet. Built in the US and priced competitively. NFI.

[mandroid]

Just that the AG300 Mixer controls are in the speaker on the stand .

YamaHa Stage Pas the mixer-amp comes Out so you can set it near You and have the speaker

on the stand up where it sounds best ..

http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/global/en/products/pasystems/stagepas150m/index.jsp there are more powerful models too.

[Jim]

I have Kustom 10" with a horn,( KSC 10) not powered. Small enough to carry one in each hand with no strain. they have speaker stand holes on the bottom. I run 2 of them with a Pyle powered mixer (400 watt) indoors and sometimes 4 speakers for outdoor gigs. There are better speakers available but these are inexpensive, light, small and nobody has complained about the sound. Several have said it was sounding good at 2 blocks away.

[pops1]

Was looking into the Yamaha stage pass as it sounded convenient, and I liked the idea of the mixer being detachable, but the phantom is only 30 volts instead of 48 so that is a deal breaker for me as I have mic's and preamps that require 48 volts.

[Mandobart]

Did I mention the AG300 provides 48 V phantom power?

[pops1]

Did I mention the AG300 provides 48 V phantom power?

We need more inputs than 3 or that would be an option. I have a Carvin stage mate 4 channels, and am thinking of upgrading to their new stage mate 6 channels and 48 volt phantom.

[Jim B]

We use Kustom PA 50's. I can get get for $79.95 each at guitar center. I've got 6 - two are spares.
That and a small 8-channel Behringer mixer that I got for $40 on eBay, 4 mic stands from monoprice, cables from monoprice (monoprice has inexpensive stuff that I've not had problems with) & a hodge-podge of mics we already had and this is a small system that can fit in the trunk of my grand prix.
Total investment ~$450.

[oldwave]

The lightest rig I have found (and own) is HK audio. Not sure its in the budget. Nano 300 (around 600 street ?. packs down to one box with two tiny speakers and a low frequency. Lightweight. I covered a large out door venue with a duo and it sounded great. They make a larger nano 600 (that I own also) that has more guts and provides phantom on a mic. I use the NANO with a $300 behringer X-air12 mixer and a small computer or ipad. I can pack the whole PA in a trunk and be set up in ten minutes. Very hi-fidelity. Not on the radar of most people. KORG distributes these in the US. I have a pair of jBl powered tens if I need a lot of gain in an acoustic unfriendly environment. The older i get the lighter my PA is my mantra.
Other options are the new line arrays out there.

[mandroid]

Ive found the 8 ohm Shoebox sized Carvin PM5 speakers to have a quite full range accurate sound .

and theirNew powered Mixer with a switching rather than a Transformer based Power supply Surprisingly Light weight

My larger Speaker An E-V SX 80 not very big, either, Driver 8" & horn cabinet. also 8 ohm..

[pops1]

Ive found the 8 ohm Shoebox sized Carvin PM5 speakers to have a quite full range accurate sound.

I installed 4 of the PM5 Carvins on a boat for curises, we have played with vocals, guitar, mandoin and it has worked very well indeed.
The boat holds about 60 people and is open and moving and it works very well.