Karaoke Forums

I am currently trying to decide on a setup for my house just to play around with during get togethers with family, but I am having a hard time deciding which amp to buy. I recently purchased a JVC triple tray player and I have a seperate home theatre amp laying here but didnt know if that would be the best thing to use. I really dont want to invest a ton of money as I am not gonna be doing any shows or anything with it. This will be a personal use only. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank You.......

I have been looking at amps on ebay but they vary so much with such a difference in price, not sure what direction to go. I have always been the car audio guy.....These setups seem to vary a bit different than car audio.....

were you planning on using the mike inputs on the player or getting a separate mixer for that purpose? my suggestion is look into a reasonably priced powered mixer and speaker combination. You'll be much happier with the sound even if you're only doing home parties.

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

Well I dont know......which would be the better route to go??? Like I said, there are alot of differnet setups on ebay, some alot of wattage for little money( TechnoPro, etc) then there are like the Vocopro 200w for twice the price. Not sure what is good and what is bad.

Like are these setups worth a crap???
http://cgi.ebay.com/400Watt-PA-System-K ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-DJ-SPEAKERS-4CH- ... dZViewItem

Don't like the looks of either of those, myself.

What is your budget? If it is less than $500.00, go look at one of the Phonic packages at musiciansfriend.com.

I have one setup that is some MTX TP112 speakers attached to a home theater amp, run by a Yamaha MG82CX mixer. Works pretty well. The speakers are available for about $100.00 apiece, and the mixer for $150.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Hello, I have your solution. FIRST of all, I want to make perfectly clear, I am giving you my opinion on what would be the best solution for your HOME SYSTEM.

I don't want to get bashed for making this suggestion as a pro-quality system ready for a bar gig.

Now that I have that out of the way, I think your best bet would be a Fender Passport Deluxe PD150. I have one and I love it for home use and small indoor parties. It is small and easy to move around. It only weighs like 30 lbs. and it puts out 75 watts per channel of crystal clear, loud sound.

It has a stereo line input for your CD player (or PC or Ipod if you choose), as well as 3 XLR inputs for mics. The speakers are oriented in such a way that they have a very wide coverage pattern. It has outstanding feedback elimination, even in small places. It also has adjustable reverb effects on each channel that work well.

I would venture to bet that you are going to have your hands full trying to reduce feedback on those low-end powered mixer/speaker combos you are seeing on Ebay. And even once you get the feedback reduced or eliminated, I don't know how good the system is going to sound.


It comes with everything you need to set up, including a basic (run of the mill) Fender microphone.

I have this unit myself and have used it at many parties of between 10 and 100 people and it worked flawlessly and sounds much bigger than it looks! You might think 75 watts x 2 is not enough, but believe me, this thing can CRANK!

Ok so how much? If you want the best place to buy it, go to www.zzounds.com. They will let you pay in 4 payments. But they advertise it for $499.

When you call zzounds, they will price match any online price, so have them price match the price @ B&H Photo of $439.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/2 ... table.html

Anyway, IMHO, that is your best bet, for the best price, and it will last you for years and years. This is not a piece of junk, it is a light, durable home PA system.

PROS: VERY small and easy to set up, literally in minutes. Anyone can move this little PA around. It is super clear and has excellent sound. Feedback is nearly nonexistent.

CONS: The bass is lacking in these small speakers, but for Karaoke in a home environment, lack of heavy bass is usually not a deal-breaker.

Thanks for the help on this matter.....now one more question, what mics should i buy......remember it is a home system on a very modest budget. Thank you guys so much

Stay wired. The Behringer XM8500 gives excellent sound for $20.00. Cheap wireless mics will sound just like that -- cheap.

Buy a good quality cable. Minimum:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--WHRMC20

You could look at Monster or Mogami for better durability and a lifetime guarantee.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I can only guess at how much you want to spend on mics, but the Shure PG48 is pretty cheap and not bad as far as inexpensive mics go. If you want something really cheap, Nady makes several mics for under $20 each. I have seen them used at bars but not the kind of bars where people go there and sing because of the sound quality, you know. Your best bet may be to go to a local audio store like Guitar Center and ask to try some of their cheaper mics out on whatever demo PA system they have sitting around.

The Behringer XM8500 blows both of those choices out of the water. On handling noise, build quality, gain before feedback, and sound quality. And it isn't a close contest.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

That's really good to know -- I assumed the Behringer was junky. Any chance you have used the Behringer headset mic? I have been asked to provide one of those for a bartender to interact with customers at a gig, but I have been dragging my feet on buying one because my partners think it is a dumb idea. We all own our own stuff, but I don't want them to have to put up with something they think is aggravating when they are working at that bar just because I got talked into it.

What is your budget ???

Never used it. I have heard fair things about the Samson cheapo VHF wireless headset mic for $99.00.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Ditto! They're the way to go. Best under $80 mic currently made.

Well let me ask you this, and I am sorry I keep asking questions for such a cheap setup, but what do you guys think of a VOCOPRO CDG-8000PRO dual CD+G player? Would this be a reasonable player for home use? Or would I be better with the JVC triple tray player I have here?? I like the fact the vocopro is a rack mount......

For Home the JVC is a great unit --but if you need or want rackmounted
There are better alternatives I believe than the VOCPRO which is expensive!!!!


Try looking up NUMARK or google dual cdg players

If you have a computer in the room where you intend to use your home karaoke system, it will probably cost a similar amount to buy a karaoke player/database and a CDG ripper (I assume you own a bunch of CDGs already.) I paid under $100 for my karaoke database/player license, and I think about $40 for the ripper/burner I use.

The nice thing about using a computer instead of a traditional CDG player, other than you do not have to look for discs and swap them, is you can buy a lot of karaoke songs on the Internet these days for pricing that is similar to buying ordinary music tracks from iTunes or amazon.com. The old, why buy a whole disc for $20 when you can get the songs you actually want off it for $5, certainly applies to karaoke.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

No computer near this room......found a good deal on a vocopro 8000 pro dual cdg player.......just wanted to know everyones thoughts on it....

I have two of the CDG8000's, one I bought new and the other used for a really great price on ebay. I know a lot of people here love to bash Vocopro but I have had these units over 5 years and haven't had a bit of trouble with either one. My only complaint with the 8000 is that you can change the pitch but not the key (the CDG9000 addresses this, but costs more). One of the things I like is that it's 2 decks in one case as opposed to the three tray but only one deck machines, so you can start the next song the song the instant the first one ends or even preview a disk while the other deck is on line.

Not saying there aren't a lot better machines out there, but mine have served me well.

Karen