Stage Monitors

Common stage monitor speakers have 12" or 15" woofers and provide a full frequency range to give the performer clear monitoring of sound. They are designed to lie on the floor angled upwards to face the performer on stage allowing for singers/musicians to hear their own mix onstage and separate to what the audience is hearing. Common names for the stage monitors include stage monitors, floor monitors, foldback monitors or stage wedges. Small monitors with 12" woofers tend not to have the low end capabilities so are not ideal for bass guitar/ drums and are best used for vocals, keys, some guitar or speech. Stage monitors with 15" woofers are better suited for louder stages and allow for bass guitar, kick etc.. and are more common for stages that need more volume and low end . It is common to give a musician at least one monitor however it bigger set ups a stereo pair of stage monitors is common.

Stage monitors are an essential purchase for any professional venue or touring act unless they prefer In-Ear Monitors. Be sure to check how many individual monitor mixes your mixing desk is capable of via the aux outputs when deciding how many you need to buy. Most full range top speakers are designed to be used as stage monitors as well by laying them on their side which is useful if you need versatility from a speaker. It is always advisable to have a trusted sound engineer or sound savvy band member on hand when adding stage monitors to complete your PA system as they are the most common cause of feedback when used incorrectly (essentially turned up too high and not properly equalised).

Active monitors having built in power amps meaning that each speaker requires a nearby power outlet which can be an issue in smaller venues for touring bands and more common for function/pub bands.  Passive monitors are the more popular choice when buying three or more stage monitors. Requiring an external power amp means that it is only a speakon cable running to the speaker which is a time saver for touring performers and space/ power outlet saver for venues. They can also be easily linked together around a large venue for speech and background music.