Quote Originally Posted by Luvin Da Blues
Are you guys freakin serious? It's a ball diamond not a concert hall.

Pick up a used 100 to 500watt 70 volt PA amp with built in mixer, a mic and maybe a source (ie; a cd player) and a bunch of 70 volt PA speakers/horns. Place the speakers where they do the best good now and add to them later as the funds allow. You will have to run 18/2 twisted wiring but tap this line for each speaker on the way.

TOA always made good budget PA gear but there are lots to choose from.
It's not a concert hall but it is an outdoor application, which tends to require a lot more than people think. What's loud in your living room is a different story when you're 100ft away.

A 70V system is a feasible option here if they're looking to cover a large area with announcements and such. If they can find a great deal on something used maybe it can work, but even with this kind of system they'll be scraping the bottom of the barrel for $500. For example this TOA 60w 5-channel 70V amp runs $360 alone. Then you've got to find some decent speakers for $140. (that are sensitive enough to play loud on 60w without clipping) I found a pair of Pyle horns on ebay for $100 but they'll sound like crap and have questionable reliability at best. Here's a really basic system that will do ok for announcements and such, but not music for $600 - and it's only 2 speakers so coverage will be limited.

If they want reasonably decent sounding music playback, then 70V isn't the best route, and the outdoor speakers capable of that kind of application get significantly more expensive.