My singer is going to purchase a PA so we can practice basically anywhere and play small gigs also basically anywhere. How many watts do we need? What brands to stay away from (obviously Behingerfailz) and anything else I need to know? I'm not sure on price...

I'll tell you, Behringer has a bad rap, but they are pretty robust for being that cheap, built in effects, one of my bands last year used one for all practices and gigs 2-3 times a month, it never failed. When cost is an issue some of their stuff is worth it.

That said, Now I'm using a small Carvin 12 channel Mixer and QSC's for mains and subs... but they are not teh cheeps.

I feel like it is easy to find used Peavey PAs everywhere for super cheap, but I have no idea about them in terms of quality.

The band I used to play with have had a Behringer powered mixer for years. They're still using it actually. It's used to power JBL speakers of some kind and a couple of monitor mixes.

This is what I was thinking... play the used market and put a system together... It really doesn't have to be too robust. Band practice and maybe small 50-100 people gigs where the venue doesn't have a PA. For the uber cheaps I'm tempted to recommend a keyboard amp or some type of powered monitor as a temporary solution for band practice where we just need to amplify the vocals. Again, I just have no clue how much power we need for either situation.

Drummer loudness is like a 6.5 on a 1-10 scale.

I guess if its necessary I could give Behringer a chance but past experience don't inspire me very much. Last band I was in the singer had a few Behringer mixers and they would just break down constantly

Used PA gear turns up on teh cheaps regularly.

I'd probably shy away from the Behringer stuff not out of snobbery but as an unknown quantity- some of their stuff is perfectly adequate, some is unreliable. Without knowing a particular piece, I'd take a lower-end Peavey or Yamaha for the price, even if it costs a tiny bit more.

What are your requirements re: channels? Vocals only, or are you gonna be putting other stuff through? How many auxes for monitors? Do you want a discrete mixer + amp or a powered mixer? These are relevant. And what's the band's overall budget?

Re: wattage- more than you'd suspect from being a guitarist. You want clean headroom, lots of it, as driving the output of a PA amp is bad times (as in "blown speakers" bad times).

And yeah, used is your best bet here. You can find some real rugged, good-sounding stuff that isn't broken or an ashtray full of beer if you look around for not very much compared to new stuff. PA gear does not hold its value money-wise.

Channels 4-6 I think... 2 maybe 3 for Vocals and for those smallish gigs, mics on the bass drum and snare... Any gig where guitar and bass would need to be mic'd should have a PA provided for us... 1 maybe 2 monitors.

Its main use is to amplify vocals to be able to avoid pricy rehearsal studios.

Whats the difference between Mixer+amp+speakers vs powered mixer + speakers vs mixer + powered speakers?

Powered speakers seem like a hassle though... having to get electricity all around the stage... My initial guess was somewhere between 300 and 500 watts

Your initial guess was right; I'd aim for 500 to be on the safe side.

The mixer thing- functionality and routing, both on the board and outs to monitors, subs etc. If you just need a couple monitor wedges and a couple mains yer good with the powered mixer setup. Just a question of how complex you want or need to go. Board + amps + unpowered speakers is where to go when you need a more complex setup.

Same as everything else, really, look up a piece before you throw down the cash for it. We have a pair of big JBL cabs that both now have aftermarket tweeters in them because... well, the stock tweeters are known crap it turns out, and we blew both of them under normal usage. Reputable brand, happened to have a sketchy design. That being said, I've owned powered JBL EONs in the past and they were damn nice. The powered speaker thing is... well, how long a cable run do you want to make and how many? You're gonna have to run 'em either way, it's just a question of where. All our stuff is in a rack with the mixer mounted on top, which is nice, but if we bring that we're running in-ears which eliminates some issues re: setup.

Given your situation I'd say an eight channel* powered mixer with two auxes so you can create monitor mixes would be fine.

*you never know when you'll need an extra channel. There's a reason I throw my Pod in my bag before every gig. Bass amp dies? Run direct! Channel acting up? Fuckit, fix it later, plug in to the next one and go. Doesn't matter how good the stuff is, live or studio, something eventually screws up and you're in the middle of something.

Granted if you could find some good powered speakers on the cheap I would not dissuade you from that, it just means buying some extension cords. A lot less gear to carry and what you can get for a very-small-format mixer these days is nuts soundwise.

It is. At least in the States. Re: quality, roughly what we'd expect from them in that it functions, roughly, forever. Can't say I've ever heard anyone knock the ruggedness of their stuff.

http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDMis ... er=4079334

win? The guy had another ad where he said the powered mixer was a Peavey XR600c

and yes the local classifieds are full of Peavey shit... AND there is a Peavey Ultra 60 for $300

Can't speak for it sonically (probably what you'd expect) but I'd be fairly positive it works.

And an Ultra 60 for $300? Question: do you like high gain? If so, do you have $300? Question answered.

The answer to the questions is respectively yes and no...

We use a 400W per side PA which just about gets the vocals up to acceptable volume. We're a loud band though.

So 300W per side should be ok. We aren't super doomy awesomeness loud... Thanks guys!

honest to god-- the best value going is the soundcraft gigrac 1000. http://www.amazon.com/Soundcraft-GigRac ... B0007P7074

i use these things for running 2 bands sound (they have overlapping members)-- and they're great in about every way for either a 2 monitor setup, or monitors and mains. two 500w amps in it, two eq's for monitor and mains, not super cheezy fx, good gozintas and gozoutas. super portable, loud, and flexible. $500 brandy new... theres' a smaller version-- but 1000 watts is loud enough for them, and they're not loud.. always overshoot on wattage.. always..