Upgrading Your Audio

If you read Episode #0 – Who Is The Novice Pyro, you’ll recall I mentioned my first “pyromusical” was played on two small, stereo Bluetooth speakers. I got ‘em from Costco. Pretty cool speakers. I don’t think they were designed to accompany fireworks though. We didn’t hear the music at all. Can’t say I was really surprised, but it’s all I had at the time. 

I got married the following year. We purchased a PA system for the DJ to use outside during cocktails instead of renting theirs. It was a win-win. I knew I was buying a sound system for the fireworks show that July but just filed it under “DJ” in the wedding budget. 🤣

I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but I did a lot of research on the best bang for my buck (a common theme you will notice) and ended up purchasing the Rockville Power GIG RPG-152K (2) 15″ Active DJ/PA Speakers Package. 

I was not disappointed. This PA system is pretty damn good for $399. It comes with everything you see in the photo. Two very solid speaker stands, a decent mic with a basic (cheap) XLR cable, and a ¼” speaker to speaker cable.

One speaker is “active”, which means it has a built-in amplifier. The other is “passive”, which means it does not. So the active speaker powers both. 

These are outstanding for the money but they absolutely need to be paired with a subwoofer. There’s just not enough low end, for my taste anyway. 

So… A few months later, I purchased a Rockville RBG12S 12″ 1400 Watts Bass Gig 1200 Active Powered PA Subwoofer. 

That’s more like it! It makes a world of difference. When I took this setup outdoors to test in a real world scenario, I was actually blown away! The range of sound that came out of this setup was far better outdoors than indoors! I’m not sure if it was designed that way, but I’ll take it!

At first, I felt I needed the 15” instead of the 12” as I had to crank it all the way up. However, after thinking it over, I think the 12” is perfect if paired with another subwoofer. It makes sense to have one on each side of the audience anyways, so that’s a better plan. Will be purchasing another one of these soon and I can run them at around 80% power and should do the trick nicely. 

If you’re looking into getting a PA setup like this, which you should be if you’re going to script a show to music, then you’ll probably need to figure out your cable situation, ensuring they’re long enough for your needs. The Rockville PA speakers came with a basic ¼” cable for connecting one to the other. I honestly don’t recall the length of the included cable, but I purchased the heavy-duty 50 foot cable for the span I needed. 

That’s all there is to it, really! I am happy with Rockville and for a pro setup, it really made our fireworks show pop and the audience could hear it LOUD and CLEAR!

Let me know in the comments if you’ve had experience with Rockville for your shows or if I’m missing anything.

Keep learning!
– The Novice Pyro