Portable PA recommendation?

[aidan.f]

can anyone recommend a  portable PA, this is  for lectures to 'mature' audiences in a village halls,

Wirless clip on mic, speaker stand(s) and trans-portable is required, I have  looked through the  three pages  in CPC, too much choice!

[Kim]

I'm out of touch with what's current, but for this sort of thing the trick is not to skimp on the wireless mic.  A proper diversity receiver is essential, IMHO.

If it's a 'mature' audience, consider running an induction loop for the hearing aid users.  Would need a loop amp and some wire strategically taped to the floor (you could probably get away with a reasonably small one, if you worked out some way of herding the hearing aid users to sit in the looped area).

[aidan.f]

Thanks for the replies - budget £300, (Ex VAT) Not sure about practicalities of an induction loop - it needs to be highly portable. The problem is quiet presenters, best to go for a good quality lapel mic - what about gain adjustment? I will have a browse but all suggestions will be appreciated

[Veloman]

A friend of mine is a fitness/aerobics instructor who uses a powered speaker (100W) from Maplin and radio mike (lapel or hand mike).  Beauty of the powered speaker is that the amp is built in and very portable.  Also very good for connecting the ipod and blasting out the power.  Nice and cheap too.  I have also used it for the village hall lecture.

You can spend a lot on so called portable PA systems when all that is required is an amp, speaker, bit of cable and sound generator (mike/ipod/cd player etc).
Have a look at:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/buy-music/pa-and-live-sound/speakers-active

http://www.maplin.co.uk/buy-music/microphones/wireless-microphones

100W speaker for £99.99 and VHT tie-clip mike for 79.99, sorted for £179.95.

[Valiant]

Something like a Yamaha Stagepass would be ideal. The cheapest reliable lapel mic system is the Sennheiser Freeport. Sadly both combined is slightly out of your budget but it worth stretching to as it's far superior to anything cheaper.

At the bottom end of the usuable scale is a Behringer or Kam active speaker and the Kam wirelwesd lapel.

[aidan.f]

Thanks for the advice, will check out all the links