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Right now I have two 12'' Peavey speakers and two very cheap 15" speaker.
One of the Peavey's is blown and one of the 15"is also blown.
I was wondering if you could give me any info on:

Behringer B215 Eurolive 2-Way PA Speaker

I realize these are not top of the line speakers but are they decent speakers at all?
I have a Samson power mixer/amp and a JVC cdg player.
Mostly i have just a basic set up and I really have no clue how to do anything else.
The systems that are computerized are totally beyond me.
Anyway...I am hoping this basic system is enough to do at least 1 show a week.

any insight would be helpful.....

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

Here we gog again  :dancin:  :dancin:  :dancin:

Now there is going to be a big debate of the quality of Behringe products, some like em, some don't.

AS for mee, I usall ALL behringer PA equipment, and have NEVER had any problems.

As for the speakers, yes they could work for your setup, it all depends on the mixer/amp you have powering the speakers.

You need to match the speakers to the amp.  Underpowering can do dammage to a speak just as overpowering a speak vcan do damage.

Need to know what is the model of you Samson powered mixer?

Some of the research I have done talking to people that have used these products state that this years 15" speaker is good, but years past had some problems. I used a mixer that worked great. I think they are good products, but I am very novice!

my samson is a S63 model....i dont think they make it anymore..
The Behringer speakers are suppose to be 400 watts apiece...
see and that is where it all gets confusing to me...i have no clue what ohms means...4 ohms or 8....heck i dunno...isnt more better?  
i know i probably need to upgrade my mixer...it works ok though...
but is it big enuff? i dunno....
but i already ordered the speakers and they are suppose to be here today...so...
i hope they work out ok....
i was going to use the behringer's for the main speakers and the one lone peavey that is not blown as a monitor...

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

That model mixer is probably the culprit on why your speakers are blown, it isn't very powerful & you may have been trying to push the volume a bit.  It pushes 130 watts into 8 ohms.  You didn't mention which model Peavey speakers you have or even the 'cheap' 15", but chances are they required a bit more power than what your amp is capable of.  
As far as Behiringer goes, i'm one that find their quality very lacking both in construction & actual sound quality.  But you may end up in the same boat and possibly blow the B215 as well as they need about 400 watts into each speaker, your amp is seriously going to underpower them & when you need to push the volume up, it's going to start pushing distortion - you may not even hear it at first, but the speakers will - hence possibly why you already have 2 blown speakers.  Could you get the model of the Peavey & Make/model on the 15" - this will give a better idea onhow much power they needed as well.

You will probably want a larger amp'd mixer that will be able to push the speakers more efficiently.

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when i first got the mixer ( about 10 years ago now...wow...doesnt seem that long ago) i got it from a pro audio place along with the peavey's ...the guy told me it had plenty of power....for the peavey's....duh....now that i think about it that was all i had running through them then...
and you know what...that is exactly what happened to my speakers ....they were fine at first....as a general rule i try not to turn them up real loud...but ..hey sometimes you just have to do what you have to do... ....and we were having a rocking good time ...for about 2 min....then.....distortion....especially on the bass....
ok..i am going to go check the model of my peaveys they are at least 10 years old...
ok this is what it says on the back of the speaker:

STADIA II B / PR 100

....i dont think they make it anymore...my system is a dinosaur
AND they do not say peavey on the front of them...they say nothing...but on the back it says peavey

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in the specs it says the samson S63 will run 200 watts though 4 ohms...
see what does that mean? do i get less if it is 8 ohm speakers?
but still 200 watt is not big enough for the 400 watt speakers right?

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

what kind of power mixer do i need...i need one that is reasonably priced...

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

Yeah well salesmen will often sell you something jsut to make the sale not something you need.  Those Stadia speakers, I know eactly what they are.  They were one of the earlier designs utilizing the molded plastic boxes.  They really needed to have an amp that was pushing about 400 watts into 8 ohms.

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It will run 130 watts into 8 ohms & 200 watts into 4 ohms.  Ohms is resistence, the higher the number the less power will go through it.
Usuing the Peavey speaker as an example, it's power handling capacity at 8 ohms is 200 continuous/400 program (the rating you want to match the amp to)/800 watts peak.  Your amp was only capable of pushing 130 watts maximum (without distortion), not even the speakers continuous rating.  So what happens is you get to the maximum clean rating & still need more volume, now there is nothing more to give BUT distortion.  This basically heats up the coils in the speakers until they simply melt/snap/give way/BLOW!  
WHen you match your amp to the speakers program rating, this will basically give you the power it requires without having to push it into distortion.  Basically cleaner/fuller volume at regular listening levels, but you still have the added room to push up the volume if you choose.  Now don't get me wrong, you can still blow a speaker with too much volume, however, you are less likely to!

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Well again, for those speakers you want your amp to push at least 400 watts into 8 ohms.  Not sure what 'reasonably' priced is for you.

The Yamaha EMX512SC is a great choice.  It pushes slightly less than the speaker is required, but not so much that you'd hurt them.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=630191

The Peavey XR8600 looks ok.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=631374

Now another option you have is to keep your current mixer & just purchase an external amp.  Your mixer has a mono pre-amp line out which would hook into an external amp - basically bypassing the mixer's internal amp.

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well i am thinking i need a new amp anyway...the first mic input will not work on it...and everytime the amp comes on it crackles very loudly...it stops immediately but it never did that before...and my equipment is all very old...
i have a small job to do on the 15th...just a couple hours....i am hoping i can get that job done...
suppose to do another one on new years eve....that one is a much bigger place....and i am going to need all the push i can get i guess...
so should the amp wattage be just a bit less than the speakers?
thanks Lonman

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

ok...just reread the post....
think i understand a bit more.....
my amp is just way to small all around!!!!!
ok....so if i do the small job with the amp i have and keep the volume down will it be safe for my speakers and amp?
just let me say...as you probably well know....my samson was no where near the amount of these other amps...........but hey that was a long time ago..
i have been thinking that was the problem all along..
i knew someone that had a Crown amp.....his system sounded awesome.....of course he had some nice JBL speakers...are Crown ok?
thinking i may have to look up some of my buds and see what they have...
even though toledo isnt that huge we do have a store that i can rent some equipment if i have to....

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

ok so i just went and looked at the crown amps ...and duh....i finally get it...a crown amp is an external amp......duh...see i feel soo dumb about this stuff...
that is what you were talking about buying an external amp seperate from the mixer amp...ok....that would be a little cheaper....
but would also give me more equipment to have to haul araound (although i dont care my husband has to set it up...)
so then if i hook up an external amp that is what pushes the speakers? then the mixer would just be left with the job of mixing?
sorry so many questions....i have no technical ability at all...

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

Speakers - well good ones - usually have 3 wattage ratings
a continuous / a program / a peak
Using that Peavey speaker for an example it's rating is
200/400/800

You want your amp to push the speakers "PROGRAM" rating.

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Yes your mixer would basically lose it's internal amp but if you said it has channels going out, it may be time to replace that as well.
Crown makes nice amps - remember for those speakers, the amp should push 400 watts into 8 ohms.

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Queenbeekaraoke,

Think of your speakers as a car and the amp as the engine that runs that car.

Right now you have a pretty big SUV with a 80 HP honda Civic engine running it. The volume is like the speed, it isn't EXACTLY the volume that takes up the engine power, but it is related.

Sometimes, you will be going downhill and your engine (amp) won't have to work the engine as hard to get to higher speeds (volumes). However, you will be working the engine really hard to get the same speed (volume) while you are going up hill (more dynamic live music and vocals with lots of dynamic bass, for example). In fact, if the hill is steep enough, there is no way your little engine is going to push your SUV up that hill, and the engine is going to blow up!!

So, you can see how volume isn't exactly what is going to blow your speaker, it is how hard the amp has to work RELATIVE to the volume, not directly based on it.

Of course, the best solution is to go out and get an engine (amp) that is more suited to the weight (output potential) of your SUV (speakers).

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C Mc
KJ, FL

wow...that makes perfect Topher......those are terms that i can totally relate to
you guys are great  :worship:  :worship:  :worship:
ok....  another question....
what does bridged mean?

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Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun....

Bridged means it takes the power output from both channels & sums them into 1 channel.  So in effect an amp that produces say 300 watts into 2 channel into 8 ohms can produce maybe 900 watts into 1 channel at 8 ohms.  Turning that dual channel amp into a single channel high power amp.  You can't bridge all amps - although most of todays are capable.  Also this is where 'ohms' come into important play again.  Some amps you can't hook certain loads up to while in bridge mode.

Here is another analogy I like to use on power.

Think of it this way - in terms of headroom.  You are the speaker.  You are in a low ceiling room (low powered amp).  You are sitting comfortably (normal volume) but now you stand up (volume increase) & hit your head (clipping ie distortion) OUCH (blown speaker).

Take your same self in a high ceiling room (power amp higher than rated power), you are sitting comfortably but now stand up (volume increase), you don't hit your head & can still stretch your arms to boot - headroom!

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ok....i see......i am glad you guys are good at analogies because those are what seem to work best in my brain.....
so if i get an amp to plug into my mixer would that mean i was bridging it?
or am i like ...still totally confused?

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