alleycat Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hey after a bad experience this past weekend, which included my 2 speakers blowing out due to insane high-end on gabber (:phear:) and djs who didnt listen, Im seeking new and better speakers. I want good quality, high-wattage speakers for use in parties. Also, where to get them would help a lot, and by that I mean online, as Im in the US and probably have different electronic stores near me... Anyone have any good stories about good speakers? And which ones to avoid (Besides the noname "Acoustic Audio" brand ), actually this is the most important thing I want to know. Links are nice. Any links to speaker-building or maintenance is great also! I know I need to get a limiter as well, so when I do get the nice speakers I can have insane high-end on the gabber and not worry (Except that the music will turn everyone into gabbers...), well you get the point. I go away from the dancefloor for 5 minutes, come back, and the highs are blown.... :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I've heard Dynacord are great! Get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergroover Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 i would recommend to do a little seachengine work on big audio stores near you. Or just go to a few rental companies and ask them for some info. It's quite important to listen to a bunch of speakers with some music you brought before you decide on one. You could try here for some starting info. Also a good idea is to find some fora that are all about pa's (public address) and audiostuff. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xochi Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 A Pair of Makie's, I say nomore http://www.mackie.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 A Pair of Makie's, I say nomore http://www.mackie.com/ they are cracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Have you tried Logitech? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Have you tried Logitech? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yohankiwi Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Not sure about speakers, but all i can say is if you get some really good ones, make sure you have a quality amp to run them off. We had a great set up for our last house party, but a shit amp which blew half way through. So we were stuck without music for an hour whilst my friend drove to his to pick up another one. Well annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 I have a so-so amp, not really a well known name, Ive never seen it on pro audio sites... Pyle? Anyone hear of that brand? It seems to be working after the weekend but I dont have any speakers now to test... Next time Im in town I gotta check out the stores around there... Ive been noticing, as on the Dynacord site, these setups that have speakers as the base of a pole with another speaker on top, which are pretty compact, but Im wondering if they actually do put a lot of sound out. Anyone know anything about these? My dad's bluegrass group (hehe, you may be interested to know they toured Germany (Bavaria) a few years ago) has those ultrathin Bose towers, which are about 1000USD each... But they sure do have some SWEET sound... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideffect... Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 If I'm reading this topic correct you are looking for good speakers to throw a party ? if not just ignore this answer best ones are always who use a wall of speakers, like 10 speakers of 150 WATT but built in a sorft of wall and get the same input, you haven't got the dubble annoying bass effect like on festivals... we'll my experience... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 If I'm reading this topic correct you are looking for good speakers to throw a party ? if not just ignore this answer best ones are always who use a wall of speakers, like 10 speakers of 150 WATT but built in a sorft of wall and get the same input, you haven't got the dubble annoying bass effect like on festivals... we'll my experience... People often have amazing misconceptions about speakers. First of all, speakers do not have WATTS. WATT is a measure of power - amplifiers do WATTs. Speakers do not. One can talk about how many WATTs a speaker can handle, but even then it is not always a good indicator. Secondly, the most common (by far) reason why speakers blow up is not because the amp is too strong for the speakers and pushed it to the edge. Rather the opposite is true. The amp is not strong enough to drive the speaker beyond a certain decibel level and as you push it the amp starts giving up and starts spiking. It is these spikes which then destroy the speakers. Often you can hear these clipping noises - if you do, this is not a good sign. Turn down the amp. So what are the ideal speakers? It does depend on lots of variables but if you want speakers to go loud without blowing up you should check their impedence and their sensitivity. These give you an idea of how difficult a pair of speakers are to drive. In fact, you can calculate (roughly) how loud a speaker can play in decibels if you know the speaker's sensitivity and the amp's wattage. For simplicity purposes I will skip the question of impedence (usually the higher the better, 8ohm being quite nice, but there are other aspects to consider as well since it is a matter of an impedence curve and not a single number) and just focus on sensitivity (or efficiency). Speakers are usually rated at how many decibels sound pressure level (SPL) of sound they will make one metre away if 1 watt of power is applied. You then need to apply roughly twice the wattage to add another 3db of sound. So if a speaker says it is 85db efficient it will take you 128 watts to make it go 106db (fairly loud). This is calculated as follows : 106-85=21 db increase. That is seven steps of 3db, seven times you double . 1 -> 2,4,8,16,32,64,128 watts. If your speaker was rated as 100 db (which is equite efficient) you would only need 4 watts. 106-100= 6db. 2 steps of 3db 1-> ,2,4. Therefore, the second speaker sounds 32x louder than the first one. You would need an amp 32x (!!) stronger for the first speaker than the second speaker to get to the same loudness. If you had a 50 watt amp on the first speaker you could probably destroy the speaker if you went too loud. A 50 watt amp on the second speaker would drive it comfortably to ear deafening levels without any damage to the speaker or amp. There is also the question of how many db a speaker can go before it starts to misbehave. But the point I am trying to make (in a simplified manner) is (1) to make sure you get an efficient speaker (2) it is measured in db per 1 WATT and not WATTs (3)and make sure your amp can handle the speaker to the noise levels you want. Usually within the same speaker range of the same company, a larger speaker will go louder because it is easier to drive. Think of the energy that you use to bang on a small drum and on a large drum. With the same energy (i.e. WATTs), you make a larger noise with the large (or more efficient drum). Hope this helps. Pedro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 THanks Pedro, thats a lot of help! My amp is a Pyle 2000w with 2 channels (1000w each), and as far as I can tell it has an automatic cutoff or something like that that cuts the output when it gets clippy. But I could be mistaken! When I looked at the amp, after teh speakers stopped workign properly, the channel volumes were turned up only about 1/3 of the way around the dial, maybe this is why they blew... Not ENOUGH output? One thing I know for DAMN sure is Im never going to allow anyone I dont really know to handle or setup my speakers. Not after what happened last time. NO FUCKING WAY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 THanks Pedro, thats a lot of help! My amp is a Pyle 2000w with 2 channels (1000w each), and as far as I can tell it has an automatic cutoff or something like that that cuts the output when it gets clippy. But I could be mistaken! When I looked at the amp, after teh speakers stopped workign properly, the channel volumes were turned up only about 1/3 of the way around the dial, maybe this is why they blew... Not ENOUGH output? One thing I know for DAMN sure is Im never going to allow anyone I dont really know to handle or setup my speakers. Not after what happened last time. NO FUCKING WAY. Your amp has 500 Watts into 8 ohm. Usually the wattage that is quoted is the one into 8 ohms with two channels. Most amps increase their wattage as they meet stronger resistance. I am not an expert at all on pro systems (I listen to hi-fi). But it sounds to me that your amp might be the problem - it seems like it is probably having trouble supplying stable, constant current. Have it checked out. Pedro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritual om Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 turbosound. you won't believe your ears. http://www.turbosound.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 if you want passive speakers use EAW or JBL if you want active speakers use Mackie active speakers ( ones with built in amplifiers ) are better because they have additional protection for drivers by limiting amplifier output to safe levels. but if you already have good amplifiers you can use passive speakers. also as of now ( 2007 ) the selection of active speakers is not as good as that of passive ones and mackie active speakers arent as powerful as some passive EAW and JBL speakers. JBL and EAW only recently started making high-end active speakers which are still ultra-expensive ( mackie is affordable ) and not worth it at the prices they have today ... but in about 5 years from now the prices on JBL VP series and EAW NT series will probably come down ... right now its something like $4,000 for a single 15" speaker or 18" subwoofer but they include digital amplifiers and digital sound processing built in and are very accurate, when they price will come down to something like $1,000 they will be worth buying JBL designs and builds their own driver, cabinets and everything ... EAW buys drivers from other comanies, but they buy quality drivers and their speaker designs are very advanced probably surpassing JBL Mackie speakers are designed by EAW just like Mackie studio monitors ( which i use myself, the HR824 ) are also designed by EAW. mackie products are typically cheaper and more portable while EAW products are typically large, expensive, permanent installation speakers but of course EAW makes smaller speakers too. www.eaw.com www.jblpro.com www.mackie.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 A Pair of Makie's, I say nomore http://www.mackie.com/ mackie is the best choice for budget speakers. almost all clubs in brooklyn use mackie speakers ... but thats because these are cheap clubs. EAW is a level above altogether. the best sound i heard was in an elite hip-hop club in manhattan that used nothing but EAW. the bass was absolutely clean with no hint of distortion of any kind and so loud it made my bones hurt and my heart skip pyle ? of course i know pyle ... if EAW is like 2007 Audi and Mackie is like 2005 VolksWagen then Pyle is like 1985 rusty school bus www.eaw.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychonaut Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 by the way if you want to know what good amplifiers are for full range: high end professional : Lab.Gruppen FP series medium grade professional : QSC PLX entry level, budget professional : QSC RMX for subwoofers: high end professional : Lab.Gruppen FP series, Crown I-Tech series medim grade professional : Crown K series and the best forum for these kinds of questions is: www.prosoundweb.com Lab.Gruppen FP series is creme de la creme. it uses the most advanced design available - tracking downconverter with switching power supply. i do believe that it is also the ONLY amplifier that uses this design ( because this is the most complex of all topologies ) and it is also the the only amplifier available in 13,000 watts FROM STANDARD SIZE AND WEIGHT amplifier ! if you can afford one of these then you dont even have to look at any other amplifiers ... i havent used them myself but everybody is raving about these amps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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