My voice takes a beating by the end of my shows, and I considering purchasing an amplifier. I am looking for any recommendations you guys may have on amplifiers that would be suitable for kids shows in living rooms, and some summer camp shows of up to 40-50 kids. I was looking at the Pignose 10 Watt Battery Powered Amplifier at Hocus-Pocus. It's right in my price range, but I know nothing of the quality. Any recommendations of the brand or wattage?

You could look in the FX thread. There has been many very good discussions in there.
JoJo

I have a JBL eon 10. It is a powered speaker with two inputs. I used to run it with a mic and a minidisc player without a board. I have added a board now. This speaker can also be piggy backed to another speaker for future expansion.

Hope this helps.

Tim

In my kids shows at houses, I never need a sound system. However, for my larger shows at schools or camps etc. I have a Fender Passport 150. It is an aweosme system with a lot of power and control and sets up very fast.

Kyle

I use a mini battery Fender, a 10 watt amp no bigger than a lunch kit. It has a remote mike and can be set up in less than a minute. It lasts for 8 hours on one charge.
You can find this on the http://www.fender.com site.
Darryl the Wizard
I sometimes only use this system for my music attached to a mini disk system and a stage cue remote system.

Here's another idea (Honey Tone Mini Amp, only $45):

Click Here!

- Donald.

P.S. I think that Ken Scott uses a small sound system at his in-home birthday parties. Maybe he'll give a response.

There are some very inexpensive options at http://www.hisonic.net. One of them has the wireless receiver built into the battery powered amplifier. I have one of their inexpensive wireless microphone sets. I use them all the time for magic shows and cub scout meetings. They aren't spectacular, but for the price, they more than suit my needs.

http://www.wirelesswizardry.com/an1000.htm

I use anchor's an1000. It is small yet powerful speaker.

I have gone through several sound systems and for the small shows this is the best for the size. I too use the Fender passport 150 for my school shows or larger shows. I also use anchor's explorer system.

Ken

When I was in Australia recently I saw a few buskers using a thing called Amp Can. It's made by Fender I think. It was pretty powerful and had a recharchable battery which I think last for over 8 hours. It really is a tiny little thing, like the name suggests.

JoJo

I use the Fender Amp Can in all my kidshows. It's actually a guitar amp (I use it for guitar too sometimes), 15 watts but sounds like more. It's very compact, and has 2 inputs (on one input there's a gain button for guitar, the other is labeled "mic"). I use one input for my mic, the other for the CD player. It's a great little amp and I highly recommend it.

As a microphone, I use the Samson Airline headset mic. This has the transmitter (the box usually clipped onto your belt, with the wire going around your back, under your jacket, and to the headset) right on the headset. It is very convenient as I do not need to always wear a jacket. (BTW: In order to plug in the samson mic into the AmpCan you need a XLR to 1/4-inch input converter)

-Roy

Mine goes to 11.............

Seriously though. Great advice all round. I'm looking into amps at the moment, too.
The guy in the music shop said I needed at least a 40 watt (but he would wouldn't he?). A friend of mine has a 30 watt marshall and this seems more than enough. I was thinking of a good quality 20/25 watt job but they seem to go straight from 10 to 30. For you guys with the 10/15 watt amps. How big a room would it fill. A sports hall with 500 kids in it?
And is there any loss in sound quality compared to the amps with a higher wattage?

If you want a great amp that is custom made for performing, buy the Florida Magic wireless at this site
http://floridamagic.bizhosting.com/
It has a headset that comes with it ready to use, no fumbling, it's already set to go. Just plug the amp in. it also has an auxillary for a minidisk etc.

You are right Cabrera. I have that one, the Sekaku from florida magic...small, user friendly and will do large audiences if elevated.... I was lucky enough to buy mine used, but I understand that the folks are florida magic are extremely helpful and will answer any and all questions.

Hi Gang

I've noticed that many of you quote the power rating of PA systems. But is the watts rating the rms value, peak, peak to peak or music power?

An amp with a 100 watts pp rating is really only truly 100/2 x 0.707 = 35 watts RMS.

Also you should look to see that the RMS value is marked with the word 'continous.' There is so much 'BULL' given by manufacturers that we can easily get caught.

A 10 watts (rms continuous) amp will be fine in a 500 seater auditorium.... that is, until you fill it with 500 people! Then the effect of acoustic damping will render the 10 watt amp to be next to useless. I would guess that you need a power amp with a minimum output of 200 watts rms continous.

I use a Coomber 85watts rms for small halls with up to 30 kids, but then make use of its dynamic loop-through feature and add another 85 watt rms amplifier (each with its own dynamic loop-through feature) so that I can daisy-chain in multiples of 85watt rms as the acoustic damping increases.

If I play a 500 seat theatre or club room then I just use my little 85watt rms amp with radio mike on its own. This is obviously not enough BUT there is the facility on the Coomber to take an audio output so that I can plug it into the theatre house's sound system.

The reason for this is that I have modified my Coomber to contain a mixer unit, mini cd, footswitch control, separate wired microphone input and sound effects unit. In this way I have full control on my voice level, music cues and sound effects, but there is little chance of howl-round (positive feedback) as the house's sound mixer guy is able to balance the house system according to the acoustics.

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers

John Breeds

I always use a speaker and mic in all of my shows especially kid shows... Even if it a living room with 10 kids... I don't need it... because I am a loud person with a big voice (the Italian genes) but I always use it cause it give me more control over the kids and they have an unconscious belief that if you have a microphone you are a star or celebrity and need to be given their full attention. (no kidding this works)

I have used the Seku system and I don’t prefer it. To small and cheapy for me…

I also use, as someone posted earlier, a JBL powered 10”. It is perfect for most venues. It has two inputs – one I use for my wireless headset mic system and the other for my cd player. It works great… When I do big library shows or show in a great hall… I put the speaker up on a stand. This gives better projection. I don’t use the stand in living rooms.

I usually use the Ampcan in living room shows... I don't think you'll have a problem with 500-kid sports hall...wouldn't they provide you with a sound system in that case? Usually there's a DJ or something..just plug your mic right in.

The biggest venue I have used the Ampcan for was actually for my guitar in a school gymnasium (that served as their theater as well) accompanying their chorus (along with a drummer, bass, and pianist). You could hear the guitar well enough (the bass player was also using a 15-watt) in an environment of about 600 people. But this all depends on the acoustics of the room. I tried using it to amplify my guitar for something in a Caféteria with low ceilings...and it was horrible.

It is definitely suitable for most situations, however.

I am always astonished when I hear of people using microphones in a living room working to about 15 kids.

So unnecessary and burdensome, not to say overkill.

Still, each to his own I suppose.

Very true, Wisdom (lol such a modest username), the reason I was enquiring about whether it could cover a hall of 500 kids is that I rarely use one. Up to about 300 folks my voice is never insufficient, In fact, I would presume that using an amp for a smaller number would actually encourage background chatter.
As RoyHM says, usually for big shows I can plug my own headset in to their system and for smaller shows I don't need a mic. At the moment I borrow one for big shows without their own amp system or sometimes for larger outside shows but it hasn't been that often which is why I've been ampless for so long.
For those interested in the UK, I contacted Florida magic re the amp Cabrera recommended and P&P over here is $61 (just over 30 quid)

I agree that my user name is not a modest one. I do not understand modesty. It is quite a foreign concept to me.

I am trying to learn it though. I was going to use the name "genius" instead but I forced myself in an attempt to be humble to use "wisdom" instead.

So far I am being extremely humble indeed. My ego is being held in check for the moment. It would be wise not to tempt me to unleash it. I am finding it a bit of a strain as it is.

"I am always astonished when I hear of people using microphones in a living room working to about 15 kids."

If you perform a lot of shows, with and without a mic for even a small venue, I can guarantee that you'll find the show will be better with a sound system.
Think about it, when kids are being entertained, thay have television with sound systems, computers with sound systems, cd players, video games etc.
So in my opinion a sound system atmosphere creates a "Bigger" show sense for the entire room. Plus If you use music, like I do, a sound system is a must.