Suggested PA upgrade for Yamaha EMX system

foxyFuze

Hello all,

After a couple of successful gigs with my new band, our guitarist (rather knowledgeable with all matters technical) has pointed out that PA upgrade would be advisable at some point. We sounded decent, but the rig the main band after we played had a slightly clearer sound.

So, advice is welcome on a rig suitable for  4 piece band in which I would consider DIing my bass amp to, then using my Barefaced Super Midget as a monitor for larger gigs. For reference, we have an old Yamaha EMX 630 with matching speakers. It's plenty powerful enough but more than 6 channels and a clearer sound would be great.
2nd hand would be fine, and I'm aware that (much) more than £500 would be a realistic figure.

Thanks

ICBM

What speakers are you using with it - 12" or 15"?

You may be able to get a much better sound without spending too much if you add some powered subs - you really need these if you're putting bass or kick drum through the PA, as otherwise it tends to overwhelm the capability of the speakers, even if they have 15" bass drivers. In fact, 12" top cabinets are a better solution when subs are added than 15" cabs and will give a much clearer sound - by taking the deep lows out of the top cabs you will allow them to operate more efficiently, as well as adding the extra power from the powered subs, so you will get quite a big step up in clarity as well as bottom end.

foxyFuze

They're 15" - Yamaha SV15. Hmm, this is good to know, thank you. The drummer bought a couple of 12" Fame monitors so I guess some subs added to this lot would be a worthwhile investment.
Thank you!

ICBM

No problem . I may bang on about using subs a bit but it’s really important if you’re putting proper low frequencies through the PA.

The very low frequencies use very large amounts of energy compared to higher ones, so if you try to put the full frequency range through the top cabs - even with 15" speakers - a lot of the power will be used up on just these, which both restricts the power available for everything else and tends to make the sound muddy because the speaker is trying to respond to frequencies it can't really reproduce properly. This is also more stressful for both the speaker and the amp, which are having to produce and absorb more power than they would otherwise need to at the same volume. It's one of the reasons why proper mixing desks have a low-cut filter button on each channel (usually 80Hz or 100Hz) which cuts these frequencies out completely, and should normally be turned on unless that channel does contain bass sounds.

Also, sub cabinets will usually have a socket in the top for mounting the top cab on a pole, so you get a much simpler, more stable stand for the top cabinets than a typical tripod stand and which takes up less stage space, so it's really a much better set-up.

Especially if you're the bass player and the responsibility for buying the various bits of the PA is split rather than shared, it makes a lot of sense to own the sub cabs - you'll always benefit from them. Personally, I would not put bass through the PA without them at anything like a proper rock-band volume (although I might for a small gig), and certainly not kick drum.

If you're going to use the old mixing amp and speakers you'll need to improvise by using the Aux out for the channels with sub content and keep their overall level as low as possible in the main PA. It would be better to replace the whole lot with an unpowered mixing desk and powered cabs (either active speakers or separate power amps), both top and sub, but that's unlikely to be possible at your budget I think.

For what It's worth I use an old Peavey 8-channel/600W mixer amp with Celestion passive top cabs (actually only 1x10"s, but they're quite efficient) and a Wharfedale powered sub - just one, subs are non-directional so you can get away with this - and that's enough for *moderate* gigs, but I wouldn't use it for a louder rock band in a space bigger than the average pub.

foxyFuze

Again, thanks for the input, really useful!