Need advice on an events/live PA UK.

[Empora]

Hello there,

A friend of mine is involved in organizing mountainboarding events up and down the uk. Up until now they have had someone taking care of the PA etc for (mainly) commentary and music while the main races etc are taking place in the day...

Now, for whatever reason they now need to get a new system. As I said, this will be mainly for commentary however the events are getting more successful and there is more interest in putting on live music/dj's etc as part of the evenings entertainment.

So, they don't have a huge budget and this really isn't my area. I guess the main thing is- should they buy a rig (budget is pref under £1000). Or are they better off hiring in and saving themselves the hassle?

I myself have seen ex "party rigs" etc on ebay and have bought second a hand PA for my studio, but thats where my experience unfortunately ends.

I am guessing they will need-

Amp- How many watts 1000 ish?
Mixer- Say min 10 channels
Speakers-
Leads- Weather resistant.

We will leave out mic's etc for now, the only other real issue, being UK is weather. Any common ways you guys use to get around this?

So please if anyone can offer any advice that would be great!

Many thanks,

Mark X

[mixedupsteve]

What kind of venue is it and how many people etc.?

[Empora]

Yeah sorry,

For the events in the day it is all generally outdoors. Crowds I expect are no more than a few hundred. Multiple speakers will probably be in order to get the necessary "spread".

[LX3]

I'd say it won't be possible to do what you want to do (at any reasonable level of quality) for £1000. In your position I would carry on hiring. It means someone else has the problem of storage, transport, setting up and maintenance. Plus you'll be able to bring in different systems depending on your requirements - if you actually buy a system yourselves, it may not suit 50% of the situations that you're working in, so you still end up having to rent something.

I'm in a vaguely similar situation and the more I look into it, the more that live sound systems reveal themselves to be a giant money-pit.

Of course, it depends how much you're currently being charged to rent a PA...

[Empora]

Thanks LX3 will pass that on.

[valthesoundman]

Yeah I agree with LX3

Hire in, at least it suits your events, you don't have to worry about setup, and if anything breaks, A) it's not your fault, B) you don't have to pay for it.
Important if you're in tricky weather conditions....

[Roland]

Hi Empora,

As LX3 and others have said, forget about trying to buy a rig for this even, it will cost far more than your budget.

I'm quite close to you, (Hastings/St Leonards on Sea), if your friend needs a rig for this event, I can supply something suitable, probably along the lines of multiple D&B (this is top line kit), complete with a mixer CD, mic's etc. Either you or he can operate or if necessary we could. If it's of use to you, PM me and we can chat about it.

Regards


Roland