I have just got an installation contract with a small club and am looking at my audio options.

It will be a mobile sound rig, as the room is also used for other purposes.

The room measures 14.5 metres (48.3') deep by 9.5 metres (31.6') wide with a ceiling that is 2.7 metres (9') high. I will be set up on a small stage in the corner of the room that is 0.3 metres (1') high. About 60-150 people pack in there each night.

Music will typically consist of a mix of commercial r&b, hiphop, Top 40 Dance and a bit of harder commercial dance.

I want the audio rig to be VERY easy to set up (most DJ's are great at what they do but not good at PA setup!).

I was thinking of getting 2 x active Mackie SA1232 1300W RMS speaker cabinets. In my opinion, They should be powerful enough to get a good sound. These speakers are just within my budget (They are US$3400 a pair in the US but AU$7000 a pair here in Australia!)

Does anyone have any advice on whether this is a wise choice for this kind of money? I was looking at active boxes for the simplicity of setup/packup but am open to all options.

I would be VERY grateful for any feedback or suggestions!

Chad

Nah you don't want feedback mate, the punters will hate you!! (ok it was a silly post but its late)

The only/main thing that concerns me with your requirement of it being easy to set up, is that most DJ's wont be expecting ACTIVE speakers EG: Speakers with amps built in...

I've got this terrible image of a visiting DJ plugging his amp outputs into the Active Speaker Line-level outputs...BANG!, or at best a shed-load of distortion. (or do the DJ's not bring any of their own gear?)

Also, and this is more a comment about ACTIVE speakers in general, but with any speakers, you'd normally expect them to be at least 20feet apart in a venue of the size that you detailed. This could mean at least 20ft of cable between the back of the DJ mixer and the speakers. At Line-level, these cables are VERY prone to picking up electrical interference from any entension leads, lighting etc...Whereas if the long leads are at speaker level eg: carrying hundreds of watts, rather than 775millivolts, then such interference is tollerated/ineffective.

For ease of setup, you might be better off simply colour coding all the sockets and wires, using dabs of paint (on the OUTSIDE), or different coloured insulating tapes etc.