newbie questions about sound system setup
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  1. #1
    Tech Wizard
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    Jun 2011
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    Default newbie questions about sound system setup

    Hey guys, I'm new to this forum and new to DJing (and will probably have questions related to that in the future). But for now...

    I'm responsible for "building" a sound system for my college suite for parties next year. It's a real small school, so parties are never bigger than 30-40 at a time, the suite's common room is maybe 12x14 feet, cinder block walls. My buddy's 3 channel mixer (he as well as two or 3 other friends of ours will be DJing along with me) will be the audio source. I was originally thinking of something pretty standard, patching the mixer into a 1000w or so receiver and plugging in an assortment of speakers (whatever i could pick up cheap) and a cheap powered sub, which would more or less replicate what my buddies used in their suite this past year. The problem, as always, is money.

    so I have 2 alternative ideas. one is two use a cheap 2 channel power amp, into some sort of splitter type thing to a whole array of speakers. this is in case I just can't find a receiver with enough power less than $200. My dad runs his very old school amp through this sort of splitter thingy, connects about 8 speakers or so to it from a 2 channel amp. is this possible?

    The other is to use a bass guitar amp, and possibly a guitar amp, as a powered speaker/subwoofer. Now I know the deal about blowing the preamps if I try to plug it directly; my little 8 inch Crate has a stereo RCA input which I believe bypasses that, and I know it works plugged directly into my computer (too well actually, I have to turn the volume down on the amp, soundcard, and itunes or its distorted). However I don't want to spend the change on cables and accidentally blow the amp just to find out it doesn't work if the line signal is coming from a powered receiver. I still have to find out if my buddy's bass amp has an RCA input. I guess my question is can I make this work, and if (in reference to using the bass amp as a sub) there is any way to adjust the frequencies being sent to eliminate anything above say 40Hz without buying an additional filter.

    Any ideas welcome, sorry for the long post, and thanks for reading if you made it this far

  2. #2
    Tech Wizard
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    Oct 2010
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    Default

    12 by 14 is really small. Also, your neighbors will hate the shit out of you. That being said: might want to just get a pair of thumps. Relatively cheap, easy to set up, pretty durable.

  3. #3
    Tech Wizard
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    Default

    yeah, its small. not worried about neighbors, its on-campus housing, probably about half of the 12 suites in a building throw a party any given week.

    by thumps you mean?

  4. #4
    Tech Wizard
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    Oct 2010
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    Default

    Mackie Thumps.

    http://www.zzounds.com/item--TAPTH15A

    Pretty light, easy to install, you'll get BIG sound for a 12x14 room.

  5. #5

    Default

    mackie thumps.

  6. #6
    Tech Guru
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    Dec 2010
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    Default

    In the size space you are talking about, any Pro-Audio cabinets will be overkill...but several orders of magnitude.

    A pair of reasonable bookshelf speakers would be a good choice. This kit is the best bang/$ you will find...and can be assembled in a couple hours.

    http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-640

    Edit:

    Here is a very reasonable subwoofer to compliment the bookshelf speakers:

    http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-633
    Denon X1600, NI X1 Mk1 & Mk2, MF Twister
    Kontrol S2, Maschine Mk1, APC 40
    Retired: VCI-100 Arcade (Signed #198/300))
    BFM 10x DR200 & 10x Titan 39

  7. #7
    Tech Mentor Frank112916's Avatar
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    yeah...get a mid range 5.1 surround sound system or computer speaker system and call it a day...

    For a 40-50 person party in a small basement we used a decently powered 2.1 system and it was plenty loud. No one in college cares about sound quality.

  8. #8
    Tech Wizard
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    Oct 2010
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    Well, if you do go the computer speaker route, these http://www.logitech.com/en-us/speake...s/devices/7321 are a good option for 2.1. Klipsch ProMedia 2.1s are another good option.

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