Speakers for a gig outside??

[haze324]

Hi My budget is 600-1200$ USD and the gig is 4-5 hours long. (kinda nervous since it's my first 1) I'd like to spend closer to 600 but then again I wouldn't want to have to upgrade again... What about JBL Eon's? I don't know which model would be good or if they are any good. How do they compare to Mackie's?

You can get some pretty damn good speakers for that price. I would get something better than the Thumps. Here's my thoughts and I've tried out a few pairs of speakers on a budget.

Active speakers are more convenient and easier to hook up. I'll never get passive speakers although some people prefer to hook up their own amps.

I've never been into doing weddings or big corporate events, etc. but fun pool parties for friends or even small happy hours in bars I enjoy. I had some Thumps -- they are budget speakers but for 500 bucks they are not bad. Until I heard some quality speakers and then I knew they sucked. Doing small gigs I knew I would never invest a sub. Just too much money to spend and extra shit to carry when really I'm not a "mobile DJ" doing weddings. So I invested in a pair of RCF 315's. These are high quality speakers and man could I tell the difference. Super loud, very clear and they sound great the louder they are. Only catch with them is they didn't have much low end (Ive read the 312's are actually better due to the design of the box). So as stand alone speakers they sound super clear and loud, but not really enough bass (I understand for a serious punch I would need a sub). I got the RCF's on sale for 820.00 -- they're about 550.00 a piece now. I just sold them and I'm about to get some EV Live X 112P. They have some more low end, are plenty loud, clear sound, etc. Cost for these after doing some searching is 465.00 a pop. So now I'm up to 930.00 but think i have what suits my needs. Small, portable, great sound, just enough low end.

Moral of the story is I've gone through three speakers increasing in price to find what best suited me. Having to do it all over again if I had the cash I would've just gotten some decent speakers from the start.

I really think for the price the Thumps are "decent" they're just not really loud, and unless you get a great deal on EON's there's probably better speakers in that price range.

[loverocket]

that B-52 Matrix for less than $1000 is Boss.

this guy says it ALL about 1:40 in:



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[DJ Rolf]

I got my first speakers used. Two Mackie SRM 450 version ones, and they served me great. They had real thump and a good low end. The version twos seem to have a little less thump to them.

[sobi]

I'll try to avoid promoting and/or smashing any certain brand, and say this. You get what you pay for, and with speakers, quality is very noticeable. With quality systems, you are MUCH less likely to fry your system in the long run. Not if, but when cheaper systems go bad, you will also deal with the customer service/warranty service of cheaper speakers which won't be as good as more reputable/pricier companies. Higher end stuff will last longer, and if it doesn't my experience has shown that warranty coverage (good companies will cover their gear for 4-6 years) is quick and painless. Oh, and don't forget the cheaper systems aren't going to sound as good.

**cue the minority of cheaper system owners saying how what I just said isn't their experience**

[Pow3rs]

Thanks so much for the speaker advice. My friend at first had a gig the same day but somewhere else and it got moved to a different date so now I can borrow his speakers for the night. Saves me money until I can get a good quality speaker system of my own. I now have to worry about the more technical stuff.. Since it's a party for 13-year-olds, I have had to grab a ton of music that is foreign to mix with for me. If you know anything about where I can find music these teens will like/ or have any advice please post it on my other post

http://forum.djtechtools.com/showthread.php?t=58347

[Serbman9]

I like the Mackies but recently I got 2 Alto 122a active speakers and for the price (300 each) they are something else, check them out if you have a chance

[djslik]

For good sound quality passive is hard to beat. You can increase your power buy getting bigger and better amps to provide sufficient voltage to your speakers. Also using limiters is a great way to keep your speakers from blowing. With passive amps you have the ability to test the output voltage with the multimeter and check it against the specs of your speaker.

RMS Voltage = Square Root [(RMS Watts) x (Resitance Ohms)]. By monitoring the voltage output of the amps you can prevent your speakers from ever being driven harder than it's RMS rating. Even if you momentarily go beyond it for short time you should have plenty of safety margin based on the speakers peak ratings.

As far as recommendations for speakers DIY would be the cheapest route and would get you PRO quality speakers that are much better than the B52's recommended here. DIY Audio, Billfitzmaurice are 2 good resources to start with.

For under $1500.00 I was able to build a BFM mobile setup including Crown XTi amp that rivals what you can hear at most clubs, and even beats some of the mediocre ones.

If I want more bass I can build another sub for $500.00 and basically give you better than/equal to club quality sound depending on size of venue.

[djslik]

I'll try to avoid promoting and/or smashing any certain brand, and say this. You get what you pay for, and with speakers, quality is very noticeable. With quality systems, you are MUCH less likely to fry your system in the long run. Not if, but when cheaper systems go bad, you will also deal with the customer service/warranty service of cheaper speakers which won't be as good as more reputable/pricier companies. Higher end stuff will last longer, and if it doesn't my experience has shown that warranty coverage (good companies will cover their gear for 4-6 years) is quick and painless. Oh, and don't forget the cheaper systems aren't going to sound as good.

**cue the minority of cheaper system owners saying how what I just said isn't their experience**

I definitely agree with this. Higher end speakers use components with
1. Higher RMS wattage ratings
2. Higher Peak wattage ratings
3. Speakers with a higher xmax value (aka how much physical movement the cone can handle)
4. More robust speaker framing/design to allow the extra power handling
5. Correctly engineered and tested speaker enclosure to maximize volume within certain frequency ranges
6. Allow for better dispersion of sound

The lower end speakers are fine, but you must use them within their design limitations. And for most DJ's the volume produced within the speakers' limits are not enough. So most DJ's will overdrive the cheaper systems to get that so called punch they are looking for. The end result is it sounds like shit and they tend to blow their speakers sooner or later. If you want more volume from lower end speakers simply buy more of them to increase the SPL, but then again with that money you might as well buy nicer speakers.

The higher end speakers usually only get pushed at like 60% to 75% of their RMS levels before people can't even handle the sound. They are no where close to being distorted and should last much longer as a result of not being pushed so hard.