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Last month we talked about the two most important parts of a PA system. This month I'm going to continue on and try to put together a budget minded system for "the average" quartet. This will include just the bare necessities and ideas that I think will get the job done for the least amount of money, which will also be the least amount of equipment.

Okay, let's look at what we haven't gotten yet. We talked about speakers and microphones, so let's move on to the mixer or audio console. Obviously, for cost sake, get a board that only has a couple more inputs than what you'll need. Some mixers also have built in equalizers, crossovers, and effects. This would be a very economical way of starting a system. Go listen to these too. If you can, go buy your microphones, find a place that carries the board you're interested in and the speakers you've either bought or are considering and listen to it all together. Make sure the place will let you be "hands on" because after all you'll be the one making the adjustments in the field. I would stay away from powered mixers unless they have a feature that allows you to bypass the internal amplifier.

Cables come in so many different ways, who knows what to buy. Does the quality of cable matter? Yes! Is the most expensive the best? Depends. Whatever you do make sure all of your cables are balanced. This will give you much less chance of any kind of hum, especially from grounding problems. The only cables that don't need three contacts are cables going from your amps to your speakers. However, powered speakers need to have balanced cables going to them because you're going into the amp first. If you're feeling really ambitious, go somewhere or ask someone to teach you how to solder. In the long run you can save a lot of money by purchasing cables and connectors and making your own cables. This also saves money in that you can custom make your lengths.

Monitors are a tricky breed. When trying to save on money, look for a monitor that well cover more stage area horizontally instead of vertically. This will allow you to start out with fewer monitors(in some cases one) and add to them later.

That covers the big parts of a system. I mean a lot of the other stuff depends on what you use for tracks, which I recommend minidisk if you're just starting out, and cases and stands are other items that depend on what system you build. If I were building a system on a budget right now, here's what I'd get. Remember no brand names unless you email me.

A small mixer with effects, EQ, etc. 2 powered, 15" speakers for house and 1 or 2 powered 10" speakers for monitors. Some basic cardioid microphones and a minidisk player/recorder and of course the required cabling, a case for the mixer and one for the minidisk.

Enjoy and I hope this helps.

Josh Hoevelmann

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