Any Recomendations For Active Speakers?

[riotto]

Hey guys, hope I posted this in the right place! If not mods please delete or move.

Anyway I'm looking for my first set of speakers, would prefer to go active. Budget lets say is $500-$600, obviously louder and better sound quality is preferable. Mainly going to be used for house parties.

Any recommendations?

[exokinetic]

I would recommend something like a 15" Mackie Thump, or anything really in that category (15" active monitor)...


A slightly more expensive, but probably higher sound quality option would be two KRK 8" Rockits with the KRK Active 10" sub, this would probably be better suited to "household" parties, depending on the size of the house.


The benefit to going to Mackie Thump route is you can easily add a $3-500 active sub to the setup down the line, and have a very potent PA system for a packed dancefloor of 100-150 people. The KRK setup would certainly leave 150 people finding something lacking.


The benefit to the KRK setup is it will sound better at lower volumes, and would make a very competent studio monitor setup, something a PA setup is not really suited too.

[hayden14]

For $600 you can get a pair of Mackie thumps which will be your best investment at this price level by far. They come in two diff sizes now 12" or 15" (th-12 or th-15) These speakers beat any other companies entry level active PA's. Theyre lightweight for there size, Are very sturdy and constructed well, and are loud as hell they have like a 450 or 500w amp something crazy like that for that cheap of a speaker. Ive played these things at like a 300 person dance hall and had it rockin' i truly recommend these guys. Haven't heard a bad thing about them and have never let me down.

[hayden14]

I would recommend something like a 15" Mackie Thump, or anything really in that category (15" active monitor)...

Damn you exokinetic i tried to come to the rescue but your just too good and posted while i was typing, really good forum member forsure.

but we came out with the same result which means the mackies should deff be your choice you wont be disapointed.

[riotto]

Thanks alot guys! I gotta say, I only joined this evening but im already enjoying my stay here, really awesome community and helpful friendly members!

So I see there are 2 speakers sizes, 12 and 15 inch. I used to be a bass player so sometimes i still think in terms of bass speakers. Will a 15 be too "muddy" sounding or does it still provide clear crisp bass?

[hayden14]

i own the 15's and even though they are a little bigger the bass seems to be on par, its clear and pretty crisp and if you want you could make these things sub-like and shake the ground. pretty impressive

[Flash101uk]

I used some 15" mackies the other day for a house party. Sounded like a club, it was awesome!

Not something I'd use for practicing in my bedroom though.

One thing I will say is that, at low volumes, the voice coils in the mackie thumps are crap. You need to push them to get the best sound.

Another manufacturer you should look into are RCF. They make some top quality gear thats pretty expensive, but totally worth it.
Check out your local clubs, ive been noticing the sound rigs recently, ALL of them have upgraded to RCF speakers. That should tell you something.

[riotto]

I used some 15" mackies the other day for a house party. Sounded like a club, it was awesome!

Not something I'd use for practicing in my bedroom though.

One thing I will say is that, at low volumes, the voice coils in the mackie thumps are crap. You need to push them to get the best sound.

Another manufacturer you should look into are RCF. They make some top quality gear thats pretty expensive, but totally worth it.
Check out your local clubs, ive been noticing the sound rigs recently, ALL of them have upgraded to RCF speakers. That should tell you something.

About what percentage of the volume is needed for them to sound good? Ideally I would want speakers that could sound good loud and in cases where i dont wanna piss off the neighbors

[bmo]

I use the Mackie TH-A15 Mackie Thumps for my stuff and htey are awesome. Definitely nice that they have a decent low-end, especially for when you have hosue parties. They are quite adequate and really thump. Ofcourse there's a limit though, so if you're expecting more than 80-100 ppl get a subwoofer.

They aren't too expensive either, you can cop a pair up for around $600-700.

[bmo]

About what percentage of the volume is needed for them to sound good? Ideally I would want speakers that could sound good loud and in cases where i dont wanna piss off the neighbors

Yea if you want to use your mackie thumps in your house just for normal room use, they will sound like crap that low (around 10-15%?) Usualyl when I do House parties depending on how many ppl show i set my speakers at either 25% or 50%, I've never ever had to go over 50%, 25% is enough to make the hosue shake.