Sound System Guidance! Need You Guys’ Expert Opinions
Hey there guys,
As school is getting closer to starting, myself and my roommates have been looking for a solid sound system to use for parties this upcoming year. To make a long story short, one of my roommates is able to get a decent deal on one of the Samsung Giga systems, so we’re trying to decide whether getting something like that would be sufficient for what we’re trying to accomplish, or if we should opt for something more along the lines of a traditional PA system.
The other option would be to get something like two tops (JBL EON? Behringer, Mackie, etc.) and maybe a subwoofer (if necessary?), but I don’t want it to be too loud to the point where it disturbs the neighbors. I think the Samsung unit looks decent, and all of the reviews I’ve seen have been positive, but I know that there’re some good PA options for around the $550 mark as well, so I figured I’d see what you guys recommend.
My equipment consists of two Numark V7s and an Ecler Nuo 2.0 & the majority of parties will be held in the basement of our house, which is probably between 800-1000square ft.
Any guidance you guys can offer is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Depending on your budget, I would look into 15" active speakers as an alternative. We use wharfedale pro 15" on stands, plugged into our mixer, and we have not had to crank them over 40% power even at pub gigs. I think the unit in your post looks dope, but i guarantee it would not cut it with a packed basement
There’s no chance that thing pushes 2300w. Maybe peak, but you can’t drive that thing at peak–it will sound like ass and you’ll blow everything. I’m guessing it’s more like 150. Those things are not meant for parties.
When I was in college we had a 10" top and an 18" sub (both Yamaha) hooked up to a Samson power amp and ran everything mono. Those pushed a total of 800w RMS and that was MORE than enough, even for outdoor parties. If I were buying something today, I’d look at picking up a pair of EONs and an 18.
Thanks for the insight, Jester & To0ntown. It’s looking like 2 15" tops or 2 12" tops + a sub are going to be the best course of action at this point. Do you guys think that 12" tops without a sub would be sufficient? Or do you think that the 15" are necessary?
I’ve got 2 QSC K12s and haven’t needed a sub for them yet. They’ve got a bass extension that really helps. That being said, I’m sure I could get more out of them with a sub but they’re more than sufficient for a room with a couple 100 people. I still use separate monitors though.
In a room that size, you will need way less than you think. That’s good, because your budget is really tight.
These kit bookshelf monitors are great value. Buy two kits (four total cabinets). Assembly is quick, and fun. This is about $330…with a soldering iron to aid in the assembly. Sadly, they are out of stock at the moment, and have been for a while. But, hopefully that is a temporary road block.
Affix them to the “front” wall, near the ceiling, angled down about 15-20 deg. Evenly space them along the wall. Feed the signal to them as “L R L R.”
Pick up any reasonable stereo receiver or home theater receiver to drive them. Do NOT worry about watts. Do worry that a 5.1 system can be configured to send two “lefts” and two “rights.” Anything in the $150-200 range will be more than enough. The Dayton bookshelf monitors can only handle about 100w per cabinet anyway…so a 400w receiver will be more than enough.
This will be a good system for a party room. When you are able, add a subwoofer. This is NOT a system to take with you to other parties.
As an added bonus, toss a flat screen on the “front wall” and use the system to watch movies.
+1 That is what happens when marketing tries to use a calculator.
If it’s a basement i’d go with the PA system. And if you can get a decent sub to add to the top speakers you’ll notice a ‘fuller’ sound and it will fill your basement out nicely.
I’ve got a PA system of two 15’’ 400w speakers with a 1500 amp and a 18’’ 1600w Active sub and it kicks out a right stink when set up properly and hasn’t let me down yet. I’ve found it’s nice to have a lot of headroom for the speakers as the amp just gobbles it all up and doesn’t come close to clipping or overloading and the sub is just sweet for shaking a room/basement/hall/dingy rave area/garden/bunker (and a host of other places i’ve set it up)
Just be aware that the outage labelled on a lot of speakers for PA systems isn’t what their normal outage is, it’s their peak output which can sound distorted and shaky when cranked to the max. Also, it might sound a bit daft but have a pick up and feel the weight of the speaker.
I say this as a mate of mine found a cracking bargain for a pair of 800w speakers on ebay that were washing machine size. He made much boasting about how much louder/better his setup would now sound. They weighed next to nothing (seriously. ridiculously light) and they were weak as hell, whereas mine being labelled as half his outage weigh a bloody ton (Two arm lift for one speaker!) and sound brilliant. It might not be an absolute across the board for all speakers, but in this case sumat eavy meant top’t line quality lad.
Can’t thank you guys enough for all of the help thus far.
I’ve been looking at a few options on craigslist and I think I’ve found a few good options ranging in price. Please let me know which of these you guys think would be the best option (if any). Also, I just got word that the official budget is $500, but there’s a little room for more if it’s worth it.
