Need low-cost speakers for a church basement

[Wayward_Vagrant]

I've been asked to find a pair of bookshelf speakers for a church basement, about
30x20ft. My price range is up to $120ish. It's not set in stone but again, this is a church. They'll be getting wall-mounted and pressed into a corner. I don't need audiophile grade stuff, just something that'll be able to play loud with minimal distortion. But I also don't want bottom of the barrel junk. I'd feel guilty giving the church crap. Used is an option (the one I most likely will be going with) so feel free to suggest something higher up on the food chain, provided it's attainable via eBay or Audiogon. The first brands that come to mind are JBL, Polk, Klipsch, Fluance, and Athena. I've heard representatives from each but certainly not everything and not in every type of environment. I'm hoping to find someone that's been in a similar situation that came up with a good solution. I appreciate any advice

[RoadRunner6]

You won't get audiophile quality for anything remotely near to $120 for a pair of bookshelf speakers.

However, if you know how to shop you can find some great values. You didn't say what loud means. Is this for music or PA use? Do you have a reasonably good hi-fi amp to drive them?

I will list several links below for you to consider. These are all rather good sounding speakers. They are all new but are excellent to amazing prices. They will all play reasonably loud if there is not a lot of sound absorbing material like w/w carpets and heavy drapes. Even then they still might be acceptable for your purposes. These are all from reliable online dealers.

Only go the used route if you know what you are doing. Klispch and JBL are usually high in sensitivity meaning they play louder than the average speaker but finding them at your very low budget is questionable. Also know that putting speakers in the corner will tend to make them sound a little overemphasized on the bass frequencies. With a bookshelf speaker in the large room you might prefer that.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATLS100
(Athena is an excellent Canadian company that just got bought out by Klipsch. For $99/pr this is a steal!...This model LS-100 has 87dB sensitivity)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ay_6_1_2_.html
(This Infinity Primus 162 is fairly sensitive, 90dB sensitivity, and an excellent choice at $128.99)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...es_2_Way_.html
(This JBL Arena from the Venue series at $124.95 is another good choice and has a 88dB sensitivity)

Of these the Inifinity is probably slightly louder than the other two. The Athena might have a very slight edge on sound quality. However, all of them would be considered to have very good sound especially in this price range.

RR6

[markw]

If you've got the height, they might be better positioned overhead, about at the front of the stage, about 1/4 of the room's width from the corners, angled slightly down.

If you play it right, you might be able to get by with one larger speaker, only in the center. All other placement suggestions still apply.

PA or music? Big difference. In either case, look for pro gear, not consumer stuff.

[Gab]

for about 150 $ you can get the technics, search on ebay there is for sale , it has enought power and reasonable sound,
i recomment technics for being amongst the best good cheap speakers, i like them a lot

look on ebay there is ones for 100 $ : SB-G910'S 300 watts 4 channels, its not bookshelves but bookshelves speakers wont be able to
sound loud in a huge room unless you go for expensives ones in k $

[Wayward_Vagrant]

Thank you. Most likely, I'll be going with the JBL Arena speakers you've suggested. I got roped into this rrrrrrandomly. I don't even go to church but I went for Mother's Day and voila! I'm being asked to look at what they've got and make suggestions. Based upon the setup they had, I'm assuming the focus will be on music. Obviously they don't want/need audiophile grade components but that doesn't mean they should have to settle for cheapo Sony's. There is no carpeting in the room. Hard floors, hard walls, hard ceiling. The speakers will be placed high-up, right in the corner between the wall and ceiling (for now). That's where the current speakers are and I'd like to utilize the present wall mounts if possible. Either way, they'll be against the wall and high enough to prevent kids from grabbing at them. They're using all Technics gear (int. amp, 5 disc changer, tuner, and cassette deck). I think the JBLs will be good. I only saw them at Best Buy and they were twice the price, which is why I ruled them out. I can't believe I forgot about BH!

You won't get audiophile quality for anything remotely near to $120 for a pair of bookshelf speakers.

However, if you know how to shop you can find some great values. You didn't say what loud means. Is this for music or PA use? Do you have a reasonably good hi-fi amp to drive them?

I will list several links below for you to consider. These are all rather good sounding speakers. They are all new but are excellent to amazing prices. They will all play reasonably loud if there is not a lot of sound absorbing material like w/w carpets and heavy drapes. Even then they still might be acceptable for your purposes. These are all from reliable online dealers.

Only go the used route if you know what you are doing. Klispch and JBL are usually high in sensitivity meaning they play louder than the average speaker but finding them at your very low budget is questionable. Also know that putting speakers in the corner will tend to make them sound a little overemphasized on the bass frequencies. With a bookshelf speaker in the large room you might prefer that.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATLS100
(Athena is an excellent Canadian company that just got bought out by Klipsch. For $99/pr this is a steal!...This model LS-100 has 87dB sensitivity)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ay_6_1_2_.html
(This Infinity Primus 162 is fairly sensitive, 90dB sensitivity, and an excellent choice at $128.99)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...es_2_Way_.html
(This JBL Arena from the Venue series at $124.95 is another good choice and has a 88dB sensitivity)

Of these the Inifinity is probably slightly louder than the other two. The Athena might have a very slight edge on sound quality. However, all of them would be considered to have very good sound especially in this price range.

RR6

[Taterworks]

The JBL Arena speakers have plenty of grunt, thanks to a 6" midbass that's capable of long excursions, but be aware that they're vented to the rear, so you'll need to keep them at least an inch away from the wall on whatever shelves you mount them on.