Good amp for a small PA ?

[shotgunapproach]

Hello folks, this is my first post.
I'm an EE, former electronic service tech, sound reinforcement guy, new guitar player.
I'm looking for advice on selecting a power amp for a small PA for a trio's vocals.
I have a pair of Peavey SP5G speakers I just purchased used and need an amp for them.
What I care about is reliability, serviceability, ease of repair etc. , since if it breaks I will probably be the person repairing it.
I've been away from sound reinforcement for many years and don't have any idea who is building good equipment in this field and really appreciate any advice.
cheers

smitty

[tedmich]

Whats your budget? There are many "bargain amps" but we'll skip those if you aren't masochistic. These are pretty small speakers, only handling 500 program watts with a -3db of 70Hz. I'd snap up one of the Yamaha P3500S currently $400 (less than a P2500s!) at MF; it includes crossovers to save these little guys from too much bass.

[Enzo]

Depends on what you want to amplify. If it is just vocals, I wouldn;t be too worried about excess bass, unless you have that guy from the Oak Ridge Boys singing with you.

I'd look into a powered mixer, sounds to me like you don;t need a large involved PA system. "Powered mixer" just means a mixer that includes power amps right in it. Certainly Peavey makes a fine line of mixers, amps, and powered mixers. Powered mixers come in two basic formats, the "desk" variety, which lie flat and look like the large PA mixers, and the "box mixer," which is built like a guitar amp head, the front vertical panel has the controls. The desk type, in my opinion, is more friendly to a soundman sitting there actively mixing. The box mixer typically takes up less space and is more suited to sitting off to the side so someone on stage can adjust it. But of course either type would work fine. Most companies that make mixers make a box mixer. I like Peavey for servicablity, the company will send you any schematics you need and they will sell you parts directly as well. ANd if you are not doing the service, they have service centers all over the place. But other companies like Yamaha, Mackie, and others also make good products.

If you just have three vocals, then a basic mixer should do, you don;t need 32 channels, 5 AUX sends and dual FX. A typical box mixer has 8 input channels, so that covers your three singers, and leaves you some spares for emergencies and for the occasional acoustic guitar pickup or maybe some drums.

[tedmich]

Enzo's right, as usual, a casual search of Clist finds a ton of good powered mixers for <$300, including Yamaha's nice EMX series.