Need advice on speakers for large room, dance parties

mjdubs

New Member
Hi there,

I really enjoy playing records for friends and am looking to upgrade my current, meager, vintage hi-fi setup.

Many of my friends immediately respond with "Get the LaScalas," and on that much recommendation alone, I'm willing to go for it.

However, I keep finding lots of neat alternatives...for instance, a pair of ESS-Heil AMT 1Ds in pristine condition nearby that are a few hundred less than the La Scalas I am looking at. It also seems like there are some older, large JBL models that might have the "oomph" I'm looking for? Do the beefy Cerwin-Vega models exhibit as high fidelity as some of these others?

The room I'm using is 21' x 26'....I guess I ultimately have many many more questions, but really would appreciate some "nuanced" opinions on vintage speaker models. My budget is..as low possible :D but up to about $1000.
 
p.s. my experience in the last 15 years as a club DJ has had me interacting almost exclusively with self-powered Mackie/JBL gear, so my understanding of watts in relation to room/crowd is currently limited. Some of the best times I've had have been on wonderfully built passively amplified systems using vintage rotary DJ mixers...
 
For large room, dance party use, you don't need fidelity so much as you need efficiency and big bass.... to me that spells Cerwin Vega. $1000 ought to buy you the best pair of D-9s in the whole world....
 
Same size room with 10 Foot Ceiling using R/S Mach 1's sometimes 2 sets did sound good:)
 
As much as you might not think I need fidelity, I would like fidelity. :D Thus my posting on this forum and not bassheadretards.com or whatever lol ;)

I did recently own a small PA with Cerwin Vega V-152s (with the wok tweeter), and tbh I wasn't pleased with their sound quality. No definition whatsoever in the mids. Those are part of a different line of products though, I don't have any experience with the home hi-fi products from CV but I would hope they provide a more defined sound + a bass kick.
 
As much as you might not think I need fidelity, I would like fidelity. :D Thus my posting on this forum and not bassheadretards.com or whatever lol

Then go with some bigger JBLs. That way, they'll sound impressive in any venue and for any occasion.
 
CVs can sound good too. There is a pair of D5s here. Enjoyable to listen to, but you never get the sense that the music is appearing out of the air - you can always say "OK, that's the woofer - that's from the mids.." etc.
 
I vote for CV too. But not the d9 too mainstream.. Id go for 2000-15 series I would consider them. As they are the BEST CV hands down! Look Um up. Or a set of Cornies if you like Klipsch.

holy shit, that's one big wall of midrange drivers lol
 
cool, i'm finding loads more models of CVs that might interest me than previously thought..thanks MacNoob.

so I come from the David Mancuso school of disco fidelity, i.e. make it sounds as good as possible. I don't have anywhere even remotely close to the sort of aspirations that he's had for the last 50 years, but something along that trajectory is what I'm hoping for...there's gotta be that winning combination of elements out there...I just know it lol
 
I've been experimenting with different home audio speaker pairs for my workshop which is about 600 s.f. with 12 ft. ceilings. So far I've tried, in chronological order,

Dynaco A25
Pioneer HPM 60
Pioneer CS 63DX
JBL Lancer 99
Pioneer HPM 100
Altec A7
Altec 890c

The JBL Lancer 99 and Pioneer HPM 100 had the punchiest bass but the Lancer has a cleaner sound. I wouldn't risk the Lancer 99 at a party though. For that I would suggest 2 pairs of Pioneer HPM 100's. They're relatively inexpensive and used replacement drivers are cheap and easy to come by.
 
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I strongly recommend KRK 13000B's,they can be loud as hell and still be articulate.They were discontinued many years ago(90's),primarily used in recording studios, but you will find a pair if properly motivated.
 
If you want the best Mid-range in the world go with Altec ! If you must go with Klipsch stick to the Cornwalls.. The LaScalas are bass shy IMHO,they are PA speakers and not so much HiFi. YMMV.
 
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Yeah,I would drag out my Hpm.100's 200w version pair out and let them rip.
cheap down and dirty.

Or if I had them a pair of Bose 901's
 
If you have the right amp I going to throw out Polk SDA's , 1B's or C's can be bought in the 250 to 400 dollar range and are a good sounding speaker and very room filling .
 
It'd be interesting to mod a pair of JBL 4699Bs.

Convert the E155-4 to a 2245H (the frames are identical, and therefore the cone kit is a drop-in), convert the E110 to a 2123H (same applies here), and mod the crossover appropriately (that would take test equipment)...

Heck, add a supertweeter (such as a 2405 or more modern equivalent), and you could have a "poor man's 4345"... the similarities between the 4699 and the 4345 studio monitor are pretty striking. I'd bet the 4345 crossover would work, with minor mods.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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