How to Set Up PA Systems : Basic Speaker Placement for PA System Setup

[sonnyboy1069]

i need help people please help me. im a beginer with pa systems and i dont know any thing at all.ive never had 1 befor but i need 1 for my rock band. ive got a 75 watt guitar amp which im happy with,it is good enough for a gig ect. but i need to get a pa. please tell me the basic info that i need to know like. how many watts and which pa is ideal ect. thank you very much =)

[lucas2718]

I have two Realistic brand PA speaker cabinets I bought in 1981. They are 20 watts-a-piece. Will that provide enough volume and clarity to DJ an outdoor gig with roughly 350 attendees?

[colinharris05]

@lucas2718 no. 20 watts is not enough power

[dinesjoe]

i like your yellow dot idea! x

[dinesjoe]

A monitor isn't at the side, it's on the floor usually. 45 degrees normally so you can hear. Blimey!

[DJLunasf]

From asking questions, it seems that people rate thumbs down is bacause it doesn't answer their question. For example, you can search "speaker configuration" and end up with a basic vid on how to unscrew the speaker stand, etc. It would be helpful to suggest a forum site as youtube is general.

[topflightsecurity101]

Funny how most people hate on this guy but I highly doubt any of them made a successful career out of managing sound and designing systems. Do people pay you to come and speak about sound setups, probably not so shut up already!

[southpawOO7]

would you do it for my atheist community?

[souljaboyed1]

I HATE ALL THESE EXPERT VILLAGE SPEAKERS

[wazroady]

you dont know what your talking about go back to school dude, and if i ever see you on a gig you will walk , for shure

[iggins8965]

wtf is this guy talking about? 10db is not twice as loud its 3db

[uberteknik]

@iggins8965

wtf do you know? He is right, you are wrong. The human ear is non-linear and whilst a 3db increase relates to a doubling of sound pressure level at the measuring device (ear) or power output (say of an amplifier), an increase of +10db is needed to perceive a doubling of loudness by a person. This is the biggest reason why so many people are hoodwinked by the marketing boys into thinking that their 400W amp or speaker is four times as loud as 100W. To do that you need 10kW !!!!!

[fancysnake1]

what? LOL

[Westy196740]

Amy Whinehouses dad

[spartan0738]

um...what?

[danpaolangeli]

Doing your dot trick passes off your responsibility as an engineer to the musicians. It's not their job to stay in one spot so you don't have to learn how to better EQ your monitors and maximize efficiency. This "Well, are you standing where I told you to" approach is demeaning and unprofessional. Don't forget, you are providing a service the audience, the musicians and the venue. They are not serving you.

[CrazeSniper]

@danpaolangeli perfectly said, but i do appreciate his other advice tho

[jgroves1989]

!0db twice the volume??? - I think you'll find 3db is twice the volume and 10db is roughly 10x the original volume

[danpaolangeli]

@jgroves1989 10dB SPL is twice the perceived volume according to our ears. Psycho-acoustical.

[LunchieTey]

@jgroves1989 3db is twice the ACOUSTIC pressure, but 10db is 'twice' as loud to a human ear.

[MrBrickcity513]

He Does not no what he is talking about the speaker shoud be in back of the as far as you can get it

[je2555]

"putting the speakers in the wrong place is one of the worst things we can do" No its the worst thing you can do, its common sense for the rest of us

[discocreator76]

churches? sound systems? Churches are supposedly for worship, not listening to music!!

[stephengriifith]

This isn't even helpful.......

[theodore881]

hi how do i get rid of the writing acrose the screen please. what is the point of this m8t it just enoring me.

[stephengriifith]

@theodore881 click the red 'cc' button in the bottom right :)

[shy331]

Very good information about setting up speakers for a PA sytem

[Fieldhouseuktube]

what is he talking about?

[Srikiness]

PA stands for Public Address

[DillonStudios]

Ur a su ch a li a

[gurps10]

"first sins of sound" bahahaha merr

[RattyLittleVideos]

I have not read all the other comments, but 3dB is twice the volume not 10dB, this guy hasn't got a clue.

[kipconner]

@RattyLittleVideos It would appear that he is a little confused about about volume vs. power.

[erosar10]

Wow your videos suck!

[Kooljt8]

it all depends on whether u have a cardioid microphone. i use Shure SM58 which are cardioid and yes u want the monitor directly behind the microphone but if it is supercardioid the u have more positions your monitor can be placed and also it depends on the microphones patterns. some have a tighter pattern and pick up frequencies that are really close to the microphone and some have "loose" which are "hot" mics which pick up everything. i dont know if that made any sense. but hope it helped

[893165009]

What does PA stand for?

[MrTopsykretts11]

@893165009 It stands for personal adviser.. lol it doesn't, it stands for public address system. i'm guessing because your addressing the public i suppose.. :)

[zkranz0]

@1stereofonik Really and what makes you so confident about that? If you're such a smartass, then why would you be watching a video titled "BASIC Speaker Placement"? Surely you wouldn't need to watch a video on the basics of something if you already knew it. Shallow prick...

[larrylamp2003]

plug fail

[fificboi]

actually 6dB is twice the distance or voltage and 10dB is twice the power

[fukinred]

every 3dB SPL (volume) is double the previous SPL. 98 is twice as loud as 95. 101 is twice as loud as 98 etc etc etc.. not 10 decibels. how much power you need to produce these levels depends on the quality of your amplifiers, and the ability of your speakers to deliver that power.

[MikeZar]

What the hell is he talking about at the end with the dot? It doesn't make any sense the way he tells it.

[djstoltz2000]

@MikeZar He's talking about having the speaker pointed directly at the musician who needs the monitor - if they can't see the dot wedged in the horn of the speaker, it's not pointed directly at them and thus they don't have the full sound of the speaker coming at them - hope that made a bit more sense. Basically, the speaker needs to be pointed right at them and not angled (unless two people are sharing one monitor like drums and bass, then you're in trouble lol)

[MikeZar]

Cheers that makes sense

[resistor74]

has anybody worked with Meyer Sound speakers? They have a pretty nice prediction software called Mapp Online. I started to use it and it impressed me a lot. I wonder what you say about.

[fukinred]

Meyer makes some of the best speakers for live professional audio.

[tazzman10000]

with the right speakers you should of not had a problem if placement is done with crown amps-jbl boxes or das or boxes designed for applications of critical designs in church you should use critical constant wave speakers designed for indoor venue to much speakers overkill

constant variations exist you have to do the math.

[EmpireLS56KW]

use a Beringer BFQ2496 problum solved!

[jacethebase]

Feedback? Move the speaker? RING THE DAM SYSTEM OUT!

[eiffeduden]

Jesus used PA systems to listen to reggea music.

[damiangt]

@eiffeduden Yes Dread

[razzor432]

althogh mosta there advise sucks they have some nice gear for example the yamaha mg32 and the qsc speakers

[friskydingo112]

thanks that helped alot

[xxxDEATHCORExxx]

OMFG Expert village manage to be wrong in just about every video they make

[sammysoulman]

How do you get tons of volume out of the speakers if you're using a powered board like the Soundcraft PowerStation 350 with home stereo speakers? Right now I have the faders almost maxed out and the gain too but still can't get enough volume, and also I can't get the effects to work.

I've even contacted a music store for help and we still couldn't solve the problem.

[Boomdoggles]

double check the power out on the board cause i have some home speakers and they dont work on a power amp i had

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

Use proper speakers, home stereo speakers have insufficient sensitivity (unit: dB/1W@1m). That means, for the same electrical input you get less acoustical power than with a proper PA speaker that has a better sensitivity. And read the manual carefully ;)

[iloveaxxo]

I have a pair of valdus 500 floorstanders

sensitivity 93db 1 metre

would they be loud enough on their own for mobile discos (max rms 200w @8 ohms)

[InuYashaFreak64]

depends on how big the place is. right now your looking at a setup for a rather small place. get something with more wattage and your good to go. but always check the sensitivity also. you want to get loud for what you pay.

[iloveaxxo]

thanks for the reply i was coming to the same conclusion but they sound sooo much better than dj speakers :(

[InuYashaFreak64]

my solution: jbl. you get both outstanding sound AND good spls. thats what im gettin when i can afford them lol

[InuYashaFreak64]

hm. never herd of them. i checked out their site and their stuff looked ok. but i dont really judge until i hear them so yea

[iloveaxxo]

theyre not trully high end but for the price they are unbeatable in my opinion

not all of have many thousands to spend on a true hifi system

[thatguitarguy97]

Yes I needed this I have the same problem with Mic feedback

[konaboi80893]

this is sooo helpful!!!

my lead singers mic always feeds back...

thanks for the mic placement tip!

[tweetingbird]

I've seen performers at smaller gigs place one speaker for house as suggested (directed to audience away from mic) and then the second speaker down on the floor BEHIND them so they have it for foldback but also as boost of sound for house. It looks practical but how do they get away without feedback?

[motojeff]

No, no, no.... Thats suggesting an across the board fix which is not right.

[allexcosta]

No, no, no... If you don't really know what you're talking about, please don't give advice.

[browntownrecordsllc]

@allexcosta HOW CAN I HOOK UP MY MIXER TO MY LAMDA LEXICON? IT DOES NOT HAVE IN AND OUT

[TheVidalis]

@allexcosta are you from greece ?

[allexcosta]

@TheVidalis: No, Brazil...

[rhode123]

well, not every microphone has thaose 60° ;) need to pay attention bout the directionality of course.

thanks for that hint at the end!

[dusneed]

This is very informative, but it didn't really give any speaker placement tips. I am glad I wasn't too far off with the 6db thing.

[fukinfunnyboy]

6 dB is a doubling in Sound pressure level(absolute). volume is perception of sound (subjective)and generally regarded as 10 dB.

[geekstud]

Note that Supercardioid and Hypercardioid microphones, which have tighter front pickup patterns, also have a "hole" (node) directly toward the rear that will pickup sound. With these mics, the advice would be to not point the rear directly at the monitor speaker, but rather offset.

[LemonAndYoghurt]

nice, Im starting to learn this as Im setting up PA for live performances of local bands at a 10-14M small youth center, for free. I realy like to learn !

[dusneed]

i thought 6dbs is double the volume

[socksy]

1 Bel is double the volume, a deciBel is a tenth of that. Named after Alexander Graham Bell...

[dusneed]

Thanks, I consider myself informed now.

[TimpBizkit]

3dB is double the power 6dB double the pressure. He was talking about approximate loudness doubling levels (usually around 8-10dB on high frequency, and about 10-15 on bass and lower mids it seems that bass gets louder less quickly to me)

[motojeff]

funkyfunnyboy has it right, 10dB is perceived doubling of sound, 6dB is actual doubling of power.

[Lyxtwing]

It depends on the text book. Mine say 3, some say 6, some say 10.

[RoteKampfSocke]

To clear this discussion : I am 100% sure about this numbers :

3db + per power input doubling

3db + when doubleing the sound source

6db - per distance doubling.

[furstenfeldbruck]

can i have any of the guitars behind you for free?

[thisishard9999999]

where and/or how should amps be facing from the speakers???