Do we need the subwoofers?

For speech alone, no. For anything with music — a dance show, a musical, a disco — they make more difference than turning the tops up. If you are unsure, tell us the show and we will say honestly whether you need them.

Can we run it ourselves?

Yes. It is four boxes, four mains leads and the signal cabling, and we label everything. If nobody on your team has done it before, a technician for the get-in is usually money well spent.

Will it be loud enough outdoors?

Outdoors is harder than indoors because nothing reflects the sound back. It will cover a school field or a car park event, but tell us the space and the audience size and we will be straight with you about it.

Home Services Equipment Hire PA System Hire

Full-range PA hire — speakers, subs and stands

A PA that fills a school hall or a leisure centre without straining. Two full-range tops on poles, two subwoofers underneath, and the cabling to join it all up. It arrives as one job, and it goes together the same way every time.

This is the package to hire when the small PA is not quite enough: a bigger room, a bigger audience, or music that needs weight behind it rather than just volume.

The subwoofers do the work you notice most. Backing tracks, a drum kit and anything with bass underneath it stop sounding thin, and because the low end comes from the subs the tops are free to carry the voices. That is the difference between a hall that sounds loud and a hall that sounds clear.

Everything is active, so there is no separate amplifier rack to patch or understand. Each box has a mains lead and a signal lead; if you can plug in a kettle you can set this up. We will tell you where to put the subs, which matters more than most people expect.

If you are micing a cast as well, this is the PA that usually sits under a radio microphone system and a desk. Tell us the room and the show and we will confirm whether this is the right size.

What you get

Two full-range active speakers on poles

Two active subwoofers

Speaker poles to sit the tops on the subs

Signal cabling between the desk, subs and tops

Mains leads for every powered box

A technician to set it up, tune it and run it, if you would rather not

Good for

School musicals and end-of-term shows in a main hall

Dance school shows with backing tracks that need real low end

Leisure centres and sports halls, where a small PA runs out of room

Awards evenings and presentations with music between speeches

Discos, proms and after-show parties

Outdoor events where sound has nothing to reflect off

What you need to know

How big a room

Comfortable in a school hall or sports hall. For a classroom or a small studio, the Small PA Package is the better fit.

Power

Four ordinary 13A sockets, two at each side of the stage. No special supply needed.

Setting it up

Tops sit on poles in the subs. Two leads each. We will mark up which lead goes where if you are running it yourselves.

Who runs it

Take it and go, or we send a technician to set it up, tune it to the room and mix.

What it does not include

Microphones, a mixing desk and radio mics are separate — say what the show needs and we will put the list together.

Alternatives

Small PA Package — for classrooms, studios and small halls where a full rig with subs is more than the room needs.

Common questions

For speech alone, no. For anything with music — a dance show, a musical, a disco — they make more difference than turning the tops up. If you are unsure, tell us the show and we will say honestly whether you need them.
Yes. It is four boxes, four mains leads and the signal cabling, and we label everything. If nobody on your team has done it before, a technician for the get-in is usually money well spent.
Outdoors is harder than indoors because nothing reflects the sound back. It will cover a school field or a car park event, but tell us the space and the audience size and we will be straight with you about it.

More pa system hire

School Musical Sound Package

Twelve headworn radio mics, desk, stagebox and floor mics — the musical, mic'd in one hire.

£350 / day

View & check dates

Small PA Package

Two speakers, stands and a mixer for classrooms and small halls.

£25 / day

View & check dates

Alto TS210 and TS315

Active speakers singly or in pairs — plug in and go.

from £10 / day

View & check dates

See the rest of our pa system hire stock, or browse everything available to hire.

Talk to us

Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.

Call 0333 404 0621, email sales@1stintheatre.co.uk, or send us the details of your production.

Related: Theatre production · Dance shows