buying PA speakers vs CLR speakers or other high cost monitors

Chiguete

Experienced
I have a question for all, how about buying PA speakers vs CLR or other high cost monitors?

Now hear me out, the reason why I'm getting an AX8 is because a) it will be an easier way to carry GREAT tone around instead of moving my rack and 4x12, b) that tone will be more consistent because factors like mic placement will be constant and c) it will be easier to record at home.... everything is good so far.

Then I was thinking of the live tone part and it came to me that people that buy CLR speakers or other high cost monitors to hear them out on stage will be happy with there tone but that don't meen that the tone coming out of the PA equipment will be as good.

So instead of building up my patches/presets/scenes using a great sounding speaker at home and then having to change settings for the PA speakers in a gig why not just buy common PA speakers and build up the tone using them at home? I think that maybe if I'm happy with the tone I'm getting with those common PA speakers then when I play live the tone coming out of the venues PA system will me more similar to the tone I'm getting home than if I would use at home CLR speakers or other high cost monitors.

What do you guys think?
 
It's perfectly fine to use the "common" PA speakers/monitors for your guitar. If it sounds good to you, then use it.

Now, if you want some reasons to use a higher end monitor: You are coming from a traditional amp/cab setup. Whatever the audience is hearing is certainly not what you are hearing. 95% of the people listening likely think it sounds fine and wouldn't know the difference. However, you might like the sound you're rig on stage and if it was different, you might not play as well. So thinking the same way with FRFR, IF brand X monitor is not doing it for you and IF a CLR sounds great to you, that would be an argument for not using the cheapest monitor.

I would say try it with the cheaper option first. If you like it, then you are done and you can afford more beer. If not, try a higher end monitor and get someone else to buy you beer for a few gigs.
 
the reason to use something like the CLR is to get the most accurate reproduction of what the Axe puts out. Sure, you're at the mercy of the PA and sound guy wherever you play....but at least you know your preset is great starting out. let's say you compensate for a speaker with hyped freq's by cutting them in your eq...then the room you play has speakers that aren't as hyped...you're doing extreme cutting and probably wrecking your tone from the very beginning. one reason to use the most accurate monitor possible.
 
You will never get the same tone at home or on stage as the PA puts out. Even if you used the exact same PA room acoustics would change at the gig and you will sound different. Your tone also depends on what the rest of the band is doing! If you have a great thumpy bass to your guitar sound and the bass player has a big boomy tone he will mask all your low end and your tone won't stand out anymore.
If you want a tone that sounds good on a PA you have to make a tone that will sound good on anything. A great tone will sound good on laptop speakers, earbuds, studio monitors, a cranked PA, a quiet home stereo system, everything. It will sound different on all the systems but it will still sound as good as the system it's played on.
We talk about fletcher munson curves and hyped systems but if the IPod music they play befor the show sounds good, your guitar should sound good too!
You can buy the most expensive monitors or some cheap crappy PA, the important thing is that you learn how your sound translates to multiple systems.
 
Something like a CLR will reveal mediocre tone and force you to dial in something better, which will in turn sound better on a typical PA system. That's been my experience with Adam S2-A studio monitors. To that point, I just upgraded my typical PA system to CLRs and a sub. So in "theory" everything will sound better - LOL.
 
I can use my CLRs as pro studio monitors.
Can you do the same with your P.A.?
Most P.A.s color a lot.
 
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