Building a sound system on a budget

[bsanghera]

Hi all,

I am throwing an indoor party for my dads birthday and I'm trying to put together a sound system that can entertain approximately 90-100 people. What type of speakers, amp, receiver would you recommend?
Is it possible on a budget of $500- $600?

Thanks for the help.

 

[jcparks]

One time use? Or do you plan on throwing lots of parties? There are lots of variables. For that price you may just consider hiring a dj...

 

[bsanghera]

Well I plan to use the speakers for future parties is why I would like to purchase the equipment instead of hiring a dj. Would that price range not cut it?

 

[ImcLoud]

You can get something decent in that sound range...

Amazon.com: PEAVEY AUDIO PERFORMER PACKAGE INCLUDES MIXER, 2 SPEAKERS, 2 STANDS, & 2 MICS: Musical Instruments

http://www.amazon.com/Peavey-Escort-3000-7-Channel-Two-Way/dp/B00B8QC9O0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413119949&sr=8-1&keywords=peavey+escort

the escort systems are nice because they fold away in a neat little package, they have larger ones but the 3000 falls in your bidget, the performer package is what I would go with. You can always add active subwoofers later on if you want more bottom end punch...

If you dont need a mixer and mics, and you are just going to use an ipad or iphone ect for a source then you can just grab a pair of powered loud speakers and plug the source into them...
like a pair of these... Amazon.com: BEHRINGER EUROLIVE B212D: Musical Instruments

I have spent much more on my "party system" and notice the only time we really crank it is when the kids are having a party, our parties have gotten much quieter over the years... We have something like this Karaoke Laptop Karaoke Computer Karaoke System Professional Peavey Speakers Mics | eBay with dual 18" subs and 15" monitors powered by crown amplifiers, it turned into a pro setup from something I wanted to simply throw together, but we have used the karaoke functions many times, and if I add up what we saved not hiring DJ's then the system has made me money... Dj's around here get $550 for a 4 hour birthday party, we throw a lot of parties and entertain A LOT out side so it was worth the larger investment, granted I could do it all with a nice $600 setup, I talked myself into going a little further with it...

If I were you I would go with the performer package, peavey is great stuff, you can add a good amount of function to that setup, and them speakers will be WAY more than you would ever need inside a building, outside some low end sub support may help with bass heavy material but they should have no trouble projecting a 50ft dance floor...

 

[bsanghera]

Thanks for such a detailed response. I had actually come across some of the options you mentioned. I am now trying to decide between the peavey audio performer package and peavey escort. I see that the Escort package is cheaper than the audio performer but my only concern is the loudness. Will the escort speakers be loud enough without distortion for a party in a restaurant with ~90 people? and how does one go about making such measurement?