Karaoke Forums

Hi everyone, I'm a brand newbie and been reading up in the various forums regarding karaoke set up. I would greatly appreciate any help here. I'm trying to put together a home system set up (mainly for my basement..about 2000 square feet) and was wondering if these would be appropriate?

mixer - Mackie DXF6
speakers - B52 Matrix 1000

I chose these cause they are not too expensive for a small setup and i hear that they provide excellent sound for karaoke. I'm not sure whether I would need additional amp because i believe the B52 Matrix 1000 set up already includes a set of speakers that has amp and a subwoofer as well.

My other choice wwas using these:

mixer - Yamaha MG series board (MG82CX)
Amp - QSC GX5
Speakers - Behb212A

Any suggestions on which setup would provide better sound quality? Or if you don't like either one, please throw out any others that you'd recommend. Greatly appreciated!!

chikibabe I'm looking to do a very similar setup.

I haven't decided exaclty which mixer, but am definitely leaning towards Mackie. I considered the B-52 Matrix 2000, but for home use I think the 1000 is going to suit my needs. For about the same price as the 2000 I could always add an additional 1000 to the setup for a larger or outside venue.

The Matrix 1000 would be a great system for home use, and the Mackie DFX6 mixer will be a great sounding mixer with all of the inputs you are going to need.

The ONE issue you may run into with the B52 Matrix is that is it not going to be upgradable. The bass unit houses the amp that feeds 150 watts to each speaker. That leaves you with very little flexibility if you decide you want to upgrade in the future. You would really need to sell the whole unit and go to separate components if you wanted to upgrade.

If you started off with separate components, you would have much more flexibility to upgrade each individual piece in the future.

However, for home use, the B52 will probably fulfill your needs enough that you might never have the need to upgrade, so I'd go for it. If you might want something bigger and badder in the future, you can always just sell the entire B52 and get separate components then.

Happy singing!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Thank you for the response. So if I wanted to pursue a more flexible option, should I go with the second set with the separate amp and Behb speakers?

I don't know the difference b/t the 1000 and 2000, is the 2000 more powerful?

Looks like between the B52 Matrix and the Mackie board, you are looking at about $900.00. For $900.00, here's what I would do:

Mixer/Amp:

For home use, and portability, I think you would be much happier with a POWERED MIXER. Yamaha EMX512SC is 350 watts/channel @ 8 ohms with effects. I owned this same mixing amp for a long time when I first started out, and it is rock solid.
$569.00 below, but you can probably find it for around $525.00 new on Ebay. I personally wouldn't hesitate to buy a used one of these either, as they are built like tanks. You could probably find one on Craigslist for around $200-250.

http://www.humbuckermusic.com/yaempomihe2.html

Speakers:
Yamaha BR12s. These are the speakers I originally had paired with this mixing amp, and I used them in a professional show in a small venue. They are high SPL speakers, very rugged, and hands down the best bass response you are going to find in this price range, so you won't need a sub for home use.When I started working in a larger venue, I needed subs, but these will more than suffice for any room up to about 2000-2500 square feet. Again, the listing below is $210.00 each, but they can be found all over E-bay for about $180-200 each. Again, due to the durability, I wouldn't hesitate to buy these speakers used. Buy the mixing amp and speakers used on craigslist, and you will probably have $300-400 leftover to upgrade mics or buy a sub!

http://www.acmelectronics.com/store/ind ... ff8039cc96

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Just as a side note, I purchased my Yamaha mixing amp and BR12 speakers in 2002. From 2002 - 2005 I used them in 2 karaoke shows a week, weekly band practice as my vocal PA, and 4-5 times a month in band gigs. From 2005 to the present day, I still use one of the BR12s as the singer monitor speaker 2 days a week.

So after 8 years of heavy use, they are still rockin and rollin!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

What's the difference between a regular mixer and a powered mixer??

A regular mixer requires a separate power amp.
A powered mixer has the amp built in.

Or powered speakers.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I have a Mackie DFX6 and a DFX12. Both are good, but I tend to use a powered mixer for my gigs.

As for the powered speakers... the B52s seem to be a bit of overkill, maybe? With 700W, you could make enough noise for maybe 100 people. I guess if you plan on having karaoke parties that large, then you should getting something with that kinda power. Oh, and you should be inviting everyone on this forum as well.

I would opt for saving some bucks. I have a pair of powered speakers which are the predecessor to the Behringer B12XL. I haven't heard this newer version, but I am happy with mine. The new ones sell for $150 and have more power than mine.

The only limitation for mine is that the bass starts to fart out when you crank them. I didn't think they were adequate (at all) for an outdoor gig. I found them marginally adequate for an indoor dance party of about 70. For future outdoor parties, I am gonna (at least) add a subwoofer.

If you want a bunch of detailed information about the whole karaoke setup, I would point you to a series of blogs I wrote for KJ wannabes. The first post is at http://john-the-revelator-does-karaoke. ... art-1.html, and they are all linked from there.

I am perfectly open to any and all comments on these blogposts, provided they don't start with "John you ignorant sl**"

Revelator

, overkill. Depends on your definition I s'pose. My basement system consists of two Peavey SP4 (dual 15") bi-amped with about 3000 watts or so.
Going to be adding a sub soon, nice thing is, with the set up, yes I can get loud if I want, but the point of the overkill for me was to have a very good amount of headroom at normal listening levels - I have no worries about blowing the speakers like I have with smaller systems that tended to get turned up without really realizing how loud it was and popping the speakers. So IMO the B52 1000 is a great home setup.
And if one wanted to upgrade on it, they really could - a friend of mine did this very thing with his Matrix 2000 system, got 2 separate amps for the tops (just needed to get the power rating that they could handle - although he said he may possibly replace the drivers to a higher powered driver) ran with an external crossover for a little better control there - with the tops bi-amped with a custom connection with a switchable input that he can go directly to the drivers for a true 3 way system or switch it back & it uses the internal crossover, and just run the sub out on the crossover to the powered sub alone or could even get a new powered sub or separate amp/sub combo. But he also put in a passive jack to the the sub driver directly with a switch, so he can run it with an external amp as well through the external crossover - bypassing the internal amp completely if needed with the switch - one is for the built in amp, the other is for the external. The sub that is actually in the system is rated much higher (1000 watts) than the built in amp of 600 watts.
So when he has it in a 3 way mode, it sounds SO much better, but still a great sound on it's own.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I cant seem to find behringer XL series that are POWERED and $150, can you share any details.

IMO the Matrix 1000 is perfect for home setup, it might be overkill if it only played at full power... But that is what that little slider on the mixer is for. I just saw a Matrix 1000v2 on craigslist this week at $420, that IMO is not overkill.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=580025
I still wouldn't use them though.


Yep!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

the one you linked to is passive.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Ah so it is, may be where the other poster was getting confused as well. I was doing a powered speaker search too on their site. Didn't really look close

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Sorry... my mistake. $280 each. I was looking at a price for the passive version.

Thanks for all the feedback. Now it seems there are more options available. I like the idea of the Matrix for a home system since you can just buy the "whole" package but if I want to upgrade later (possibility ) then i think the Yamaha BR12 is probably a better idea.

Is there anything else I would need additionally to make a kick a$$ home karaoke system in all your professional opinions?? Obviously, I would be needing:

Mics (Shure PGX24/SM58 wireless)
Computer/laptop (will be custom built by a friend of mine who knows the in and outs of building one w/ great sound cards and what not)
Speaker stand (?) -- not sure if it's necessary? Would probably sound better if the speakers weren't on the floor, i'm guessing?
Do I need some sort of Receiver?

I started with these speakers long before I started my business and just wanted a good basement system to sing karaoke with my friends. In fact I still have em!

Could you use them to host Karaoke in a large bar full of people? No. But in my basement with friends? I was the Karaoke KING! For the price, they are great sounding passive speakers for "pro-sumer" use. Even with 12" drivers, they had plenty of bass. I pushed them with a 100w per channel amp before I knew better and never even came close to clipping the amp, even though it was technically under spec. With a good mixer (with effects) and your SM58 you will get rave reviews. You don't have to spend thousands for a great basement system. It's a whole different animal than playing out.

I still use them on occasion for those "living room" karaoke private parties.

Just thought I'd give an update on what I did. I elected to not go with the B-52 mainly because I didn't want to give up the floor space for the sub. Plus there wasn't a way for me to use the satellites without the sub or having to purchase a seperate amp.

For right at $1,000 at Guitar Center, I bought a Mackie 1202VLZ3 mixer and a pair of Behringer B215D powered speakers (550W ea). My living room is 17 x 22 and there's is plenty of sound. Already had a powered monitor so the powered cabs seemed to be the best solution for me. I also run a haunted house so I should be able to use these with seperate audio sources if need be.

I'll be setting up for a family party at the end of the month in a larger area so I'll let you know how it goes.