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I will be driving 2 amps, a DRPA+, and a mixer off a 3.5 kw Honda generator. Should I be concerned with generator power to drive everything? Maybe add a Furman power conditioner?

power conditioner is unlikely to do anything.

is it an inverter type gennie?

Honda's are better than most in terms of power quality. Don't try to use a CD player or any frequency sensitive devices unless you verify 60 hz output. . Your vocals could sound of chipmunks otherwise!

I went through all my manuals and calculated total power draw to decide what genny to buy.

As you know, amps can go rapidly way up and down in output, especially the sub amp (due to kick drum mostly).
This can make a not quite large enough generator cycle rapidly rev wise up and down to try and maintain output based on demand.

One way to counteract this some is to put something on the genny that has a relatively constant draw, like a pair of par 56's in the case of a 3.5 genny.

I think it will be ok though. If the genny starts to sag if you turn up the sliders/overall volume, you will need to back off.

67baja wrote:I will be driving 2 amps, a DRPA+, and a mixer off a 3.5 kw Honda generator. Should I be concerned with generator power to drive everything? Maybe add a Furman power conditioner?

Nothing matters here but the amps....the other stuff draws diddly.

If you go with the new light amps, you should have no problem at all. I've run 2-Crown XLS1500, 1- XLS 2500, and one Xti 2000 on one 15amp circuit off a generator and it never was a problem.

If you are going to use old iron amps, you might have issues.

I've run a Peavey IPR1600 with two T39s and two OT12s with no issues off a Honda EU2000 and a couple similar, small generators with inverters.

This setup has been used in about a half dozen parade floats over the last couple years.

I put on free parties as well as going to lots as well. A 3.5kVA genny sounds fine for your needs. The kick drum usually is quicker than the genny can respond, so it usually just revs up a little when the bass kicks, but then it doesn't have enough time to slow down again before the next kick comes along. You will notice it settling down a bit for breaks without any kick, but once the kick comes back you'll hear it crank up a little.

Power conditioner will do nothing... you need an line active (or is it interactive) UPS to give you a nice smooth power output. This type of UPS seperates the incoming voltage from the outgoing... the power from the genny charges a battery (or caps ) and then an inverter creates the nice even power that your rig will see.

I've seen old iron amps and newer class D amps run fine off gennies. I'd be a little more concerned over the class D varieties, as their current draw can sometimes be very large (albeit for a very short period). It is definitely a good idea having something else pulling a constant load from the genny - something in the region of 500W - to keep the genny's revs up.