Karaoke Forums

Hello,
I need help putting together a new system for our covered pavilion. We have an outdoor, covered pavilion (60' x80') where we host a festival and offer it for company picnics, parties, etc. It has an enclosed stage (3 sides), but the pavilion itself does not have walls. I am setting up a Karaoke system that we can offer as part of the rental package. I have the following components:
1- RSQ MV333 triple tray Karaoke player
1 - wired mic
2 - wireless mics
1 - Mackie 1402 VLZ Mixer (or Mackie CR-1604)
>1500 songlist (mostly newer songs and Sweet Georgia Brown set)

I need suggestions on what other components are needed. I am looking at the following components:
Mackie M800 or M1200 Power amp
Peavey SP-5G 15" Speakers

Will these components be sufficient?
Do I need a preamp? equalizer? Sonic Maximizer? What else?

I will not be doing this professionally for a living but I want to offer good sound.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!!

The Mackie M1200 would be better - allows for cleaner volume at regular listening levels. The smaller amp will need to be turned up louder & distortion may occur quicker which could blow your speakers faster.
The Peavey SP-5's are ok, also take a look at the Yamaha Club Series S115V. These actually sound a little cleaner than the Peaveys & produce a much better bass response, especially noticeable in an outdoor show.
A sonic Maximizer would aid in cleaning up the sound even more.

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As with anything it depends on how much you want to spend. But as far as the components you've listed I have heard and witnessed many many many issues with Mackie's amps. I won't advocate a particular brand, there's the usual suspects out there and almost all of them focus their business on power amps.

I will always have a soft spot for Peavey and those are decent 15"s if you want to go that route but something you might want to look at is the recent trend of powered speaks. I also think a quality 12" powered speak is more than sufficient for most bars or clubs than a 15". I recently picked up a powered subwoofer/satellite system that I'm looking forward to put through its paces -- I wasn't looking forward to stand mounting 15" mains every night and this way I have better bass and I save my back!

BTW -- A few bucks spent on some effects can make a smaller system sound louder (i.e. sonic maximizers) so I highly advocate you take a look.

Best of luck, go out and listen and find what you like, if you want some brand names PM me.

--Guy

Does your rental package include a sound man?
If not, you might find that the Mackie 1402 will overwhelm the average person. You would be safer downgrading the mixer and using powered, (active), speakers. Powered, (active), speakers will be "self protecting", meaning that they cannot be turned up so loud that they self destruct.

The differance between active and simple powered speakers is that simple powered speakers have only one amp and a crossover directing its power to each of its componets. High frequencys go to the horn, low and midrange go to the driver on a two way speaker. If the speaker is a three way there will be a second circuit that sends the midrange to the driver and the lows to the woofer.
Active speakers have a seperate amp for each of the speaker componets.
This will give you a much cleaner sound.

Mackie and JBL Ions are fine examples of these, however, they are on the costly side.
I reccomend Carvin for the most bang-for-the-buck. They offer 15" active 2-ways for $400 each, 15" active 3-ways for $580, and active dual 15" "floor standing" speakers for $600.

Since you don't have any EFX, you will have to get an "out board" sound processor just to give you reverb, (which is what most laymen call echo).
If you down size your mixer, get an EFX mixer that has EFX built in.
I like the looks of the Alesis Multimix 8 FX for $120 at Musiciansfriend.com
search for product code 630157. It has 4 mic inputs, 2 stereo line inputs, a level set indicator, and EFX. It may not be enough mixer for a "pro" show,
and it may not be durable enough for a "Pro" show, but it is an inexpence way to start, and rather easy to operate.

Good Luck!
Kojak