Great move. Having a pair of PA speakers is a game-changer for anyone playing amplified music.

thanks for all the suggestions guys, i ended up taking e.s.c's advice and aquired a pair of used mackie th15'as.

these things are amazing, nice low end, nice highs, still trying to tweak a little to get the NES to cut through everything, but overall, the NES sounds amazing over them (and they stack on top of eachother too, which saves tons of space).

so if any of you guys come though michigan, hit us up for a show for sure! we'll provide the PA (and a futon)

The Roland amps are indeed excellent.

With the options you listed above, I'd grab the JBLs. A pair of powered speakers is going to take up less space than a halfstack. A well designed 12" is going to have plenty of low end, but a cheap 15" might not do so well. Keep in mind that most bass players use cabinets that only have 10" speakers in them!

I would double the recommendation for any of Mackie's powered speakers, as well. I've owned a pair for years and they're little tanks, never had a problem with them. Mostly I use QSCs which sound incredible, but they're expensive (I got a lucky deal!)

The Groovetubes speaker looks amazing, wish I had an excuse to buy one!

i have a jc-120 and it makes a great (but very loud) keyboard amp.

I always wanted to try running a nes though those Roland keyboard amps .... but they are on the more expensive end... damn you roland.

if it's just NES, its mono, so youd kinda only really need one powered 15" PA speaker (like the mackie thumps, which make the NES sound very nice)

@noisewaves: JBL makes some pretty good speakers, if nothing else they'll last a long time. Haven't got any experience with Phonic or Kustom, they'll probably do the job but I don't know how they'll stack up over time.

@Theta_Frost: It might make more sense to hire if you're not going to use it a lot, then again if you hire it out to people it'll pay for itself, there's always someone who wants a PA system.

The problem you'll get with cheap systems is they won't have an even frequency response and may not be able to handle high SPLs very well. That might not sound like a major issue but you'll find their weaknesses show up fairly quickly once you have to put on a big show. Cheaper speakers also generally take bad shortcuts to save money which reduce their operational life, not sure if it's still the case but Behringer speakers traditionally used overhung voice coils which have a nasty habit of melting if you drive them too hard. That said a good system doesn't cost too much these days and you may be able to get a good one second hand for a steal.

For a cheap new system maybe look at Mackie's Thump TH-15a speakers or one of Yamaha's Stagepas systems. You could potentially build a system if you've got the patience to research speaker cabinets, might take a while to make some that sound really good but it might be a fun learning experience.

I've been wondering this as well.  A friend tells me I'll need at least 15".  I only really want a pa for playing at my school and stuff so renting for the occasional activity seems overkill.  Are there any super cheap options for active 15"s?  (Maybe I could build my own )

hey guys, im facing another dilemma hahah, its mostly just me being indecisive, so please bear with me.

ok so, heres what its come down to. i got the following options in mind.

option a) http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr … sku=584993

option b) http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr … sku=486183

option c) saw a craigslist posting for a pair of active JBL Eon 510's or 515's

since i have very little knowledge of live sound, im not sure what will be the best for JUST the NES. i want substantially beefy bass for the triangle and really nice mids and highs for the squares. ive played out of dual 15's before (not kustoms, but B52's) and loved the sound, ive read so many mixed reviews on all these options, so im kinda stuck.

what do you guys think? i want the nes as loud and clean as possible.

thanks dudes!

awesome, thanks ill definitely check these out!

http://cgi.ebay.com/GROOVE-TUBES-SPACES … 654wt_1036

This is one of the coolest powered speaker options available.

Words can not describe how awesome this thing sounds.

There are also many other good manufacturers to choose from.

What is you maximum spending limit?

If its under $200 try buying something used. But always try it before you buy it because speakers get worse and eventually die with heavy use.

Carvin makes some nice low cost powered speakers.

And much more, so check them out.

http://carvinguitars.com/

Id jsut grab some jbl powered wedge and rock it in mono... works for recorded material like a dmg and for vox