Need help picking first set of powered speakers?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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Need help picking first set of powered speakers?

Hey all, first time visister.

So I’m having a really tough time going through all my options for a set of speakers. I’m a guitar player essentially looking for a set of powered speakers for quite a few different purposes. An acoustic guitar amp, a vocal amp, a home stereo, monitors for stage use, and home recording. So I want something of decent quality obviously, but would prefer not to break the bank. Id like to stay around $500 CAD per speaker. I’ve been looking at a couple at the moment, but am more than open to suggestions. Seriously. You guys know best so let me know what you think.

I’ve always been a fan of Yamaha gear, and the DBR10’s seem to be a decent option. But I’m worried about the noise level of these speakers. Are there ways to optimize them or are they just naturally noisy? They sound great turned up from what I’ve heard, but I don’t want that hiss at very low volumes either.

I’ve also been looking at the Yorkville YX15P’s, since the store I would order from has them on a good sale AND it would be 0% financing:

The Mackie Thump15’s have grabbed my attention as well. I don’t know much about the Mackie name, but reviews are saying good things. And they’re on sale.

I’d like an onboard EQ. I’d like them to sound good at low AND high volumes. I don’t need to really blast anyone away with volume either, so I’d rather have a quality sound over a loud sound. But obviously still loud enough. Please share your thoughts and let me know. Thank you for your time!

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IMO there is not 1 speaker that is good at all of those things

each of your desired uses for a speaker are quite different & therefore different types of speakers are needed to specialize for each use case

if there were a 1-size-fits-all speaker that was good at all of those things, I doubt it would be within your stated budget

all of that said, I have always been a fan of either Mackie or JBL when it comes to powered PA speakers

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I agree with dj andym. As painful as it was to buy everything when I first began, I can appreciate using my Berringer Eurolive PA speakers (a whopping 1,200W each!) when I play outdoors or in a large space.

It’s also great to mix at home or play songs with depth through my KRK Rokit 8’s. It wouldn’t make sense for a speaker to be able to do both well. Imagine being an excellent long distance runner and a powerlifter- the two skills counteract one another!

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Seems previous posters saw here something that says “hi power PA” aside the usage you stated but I don’t see it.

I feel some kind of column array speaker would be just fine for your needs and within your budget with a option to upgrade later with a 10" sub for larger venues if you do live gigs. Cheapest option would be something like Alto Trouper (and I even see it’s advertised for just such target audience) but I’m sure there are some better quality ones considering your budget.