A guide to buying PA equipment
Personal address systems can be expensive, which is why you can hire PA and AV equipment. If you are looking for PA sound system for your home, office, or school, you will have a different set of needs from that of theatres or arenas, which obviously need professional level PA systems. You can get portable PA systems and speakers for schools and camps.
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PA system overview
When you buy a PA system for a home, school, or office, you will be able to get basic models at electronics stores. You will get a microphone, an amplifier, a speaker, and a power source. Beyond that, it gets more complex. Features For example, a wireless microphone will have a transmitter. A wireless PA system will have a battery charger or battery back up. Before you buy a PA system, you must decide upon how you will use it because you do not want to pay for features that you do not need. For example, if you are getting speakers for a DJ house or school party, you will not need wireless microphones as you will be sitting in only one place the whole night. If you are in a church or lecture hall setting, you will possibly need a wireless microphone to move to different areas as you address your listeners, but you will not need to have a completely wireless system. Therefore, you do not need a battery back-up.
Considerations before buying a PA system
Easy to carry
Some people need truly portable PA systems. For example, if a student with hearing difficulties is moving from classroom to classroom, the microphone, amplifier, speaker, and power source need to be easy to carry and easy to set up.
Portable PA systems
Many portable PA systems use lavaliere microphones that can be worn as a necklace or that can attached to clothing.
Purposes
PA systems are usually intended for amplifying voice audio. A theatrical touring group would use a PA for plays that have some singing. Full musical performances will need a different, more exacting calibration than a typical PA system offers.
Sound reinforcement systems are more appropriate for performances that are mostly musical. DJ systems are specifically designed so that the audio and the music can be heard by the audience.