I saw a Latin singer at a Children museum singing his hearts out "La Bamba" through a pair of Ramasa speakers mounted on tall poles. Several hundreds people listening in. I thought it sounded crisp. Good base although not heart thumping and very crisp.

I am not knowledgable in this sound dept but I know these topics have been mentioned in the past. Are these speakers really good or the amps or both ? What is the cheapest setup that provided decent sounds ?

www.barbetta.com

sona 32

Ditto! Sona-32-C at www.barbetta.com

Gary

Are Ramsa part of the panasonic family?

Are they going under also Technics/Panasonic?

Yes,
Ramsa is Panasonic/Technics

Eric

Repectfully, I think the sona 32's are overpriced. Buy a Behringer PMX 2000 http://shop.synthplanet.com/product.lass...943D7FA16&from=

and a set of un-powered speakers to your liking and you have a great sounding Stereo setup with 10 channels, 3 stereo channels, full effects, thumping bass, crisp highs for under $500.00!!!! (I use 2 15"s with horns)

That's my setup, and I'm sticking with it.


[This message has been edited by kbrkr (edited 01-12-2004).]

Lets see now, the Behringer sells for $365, plus another $103 for shipping, for a total of $468, plus tax in some states. Then you need a pair of 15-inch speakers with 10-inch horns, another $600 plus freight of $200. Whoops, we're up to nearly $1,300 bucks, they take up lots of room, require lots of wire and cables, and weigh a ton. Oh! Almost forgot. Total wattage = 500 peak, 250 RMS and they will not provide anywhere near the quality of the Barbettas.

The Barbettas, on the other hand, only weigh 36.5 pounds, have a built-in four channel mixer, puch out an incredible 450 watts each, fill the largest halls with the highest quality sound and the price tag on the street is about $650 each including freight--total $1,300. I've owned lots of seperate, unpowered speakers and lots of PA systems, tried a dozen others, and after A/B-ing more systems than I can shake a stick at, I came to the conclusion that a lot of pros came to as well--it's tough to beat the Barbettas. My suggestion is to do the same thing that I and many of my collegues have done. Take the time and make a concerted effort to listen to every system, even if it involves traveling a couple hundred miles just to hear them. Then, make up your mind based on the quality of the sound you hear--not what the good folks on the forums say.

Good luck in your selection,

Gary

[This message has been edited by travlin'easy (edited 01-12-2004).]

All the RAMSA stuff I've heard seems OK.

Gary,

I just knew i'd start a firestorm on this one since you are such a strong supporter of the Sona 32's.

I paid $259.00 ($299 list) free shipping) for my PMX2000. I don't know where you got the $365 from?. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=.../base_id/104121

I paid $100 each for used 15" speakers. Plus another $45 for the speakon speaker cables. That's a total investment of $484!!

Not too shabby for the cost-conscious musician looking for good performance in a 500 watt stereo setup.

Of course you could upgrade the speakers to your taste and liking, but I chose these speakers cause they are light, have wheels, and sound darn good.

I got the price from the link you posted on your previous post. I've listened to the Behringers and they are not at all bad. They are a good mid-range system that is probably quite acceptible for small to mid size venues. In contrast, the Barbettas seemd to provide greater clarity, a much cleaner, crisper sound and superior bass, even when pushed to near maximum levels. The amazing thing I found with the Barbettas, especially over some of the other systems I compared them to, was their ability to retain quality of low and mid range levels, plus their ability to project high-quality sound over great distances without perceptible fall-off. I spent a nearly a year and drove more than 1,000 miles checking out systems before I changed from my Peavey's.

Keep in mind that making a change of this nature, requires a major change in nearly every aspect of the set-up as well. Spending $1,300 for the Barbettas did not cause me to blink. It was all the other things that I would have to do in order to make everything fit together and make compatable that required lots of soul-searching. I suspect that anyone who is in the entertainment business would have to make the same type of decissions, but that's why I strongly urge anyone that is looking for new equipment to do take the same steps I did in order to end up with the results they hope to achieve.

Cheers,

Gary

If one already has a small mixer like
the Behringer MX802A, is it still necessary
to get the Barbetta with onboard mixer, or
just the plain Barbetta with no mixer.
Also, will the Barbetta with onboard mixer hold a better resale value(i.e.,depreciate less) than without mixer?

I am not aware of a Barbetta Sona 32-C without a mixer.

Gary

Vquestor...

Give Tony Barbeta a call....
he'll answer all your question ...
www.Barbetta.com

Gary, according to their site, the 32 with a simple PA amp is called the 32L, but I've never seen one either.

Here's the link to the Sona-32. http://www.barbetta.com/Live/Sona_32/sona_32.html Scroll down the list and you'll see the specifications for the 32-C.
List Price, "C" version:
$899 List. (Typical Street Price Range: $659 - $749)*





Good luck,

Gary

I see that the "L" version is only $50 List
cheaper, so it's obviously better
to get the version with mixer.

Get the "C" version.....

The 2 models have different horns, and different dispersion characteristics, If I was using a mixer, I'd definatly go for the PA version to avoid double preamping.