Hi. This thread is spun off from the "Single 18" Subwoofers" thread. I've decided that the most important thing for now is to replace the main speakers, not the subwoofers. I am a member of a large Christian organization on the Purdue University campus. We are looking for a way to upgrade our PA system that will get us the greatest improvement in overall experience for our audience. We have two acoustic guitars, 1 electric guitar, a drum set, an electric bass, a keyboard, and three vocal mics at any particular event, and vocal intelligibility without fatiguing is very important to us. We currently have two older Peavey dual-15" bandpass subwoofers, loaded with Black Widow woofers, to handle the bass. The room is a large lecture hall, with balcony seating, and a total capacity of over 400.
What main speakers should I consider? I heard once that for midrange clarity, 12" woofers were preferable to 15" woofers. Suddenly, though, I seem to be hearing that I should be considering tops that use 15" woofers instead of those that use 12's. So I want to know, what top boxes should we be considering with a budget of $1200, or $600/side. There will be a single top box on each side of the room, pole-mounted. Also, why wouldn't a 12"+HF box be suitable for this application?
I spun this thread off from the single-18" subwoofers thread, because we are no longer looking for subwoofers, but mains.