Need help finding very loud and reliable

[jlcct]

I am looking for 2 tower speakers that can handle serious abuse. I will use them for parties and when the night goes on I tend to care less and less about how much I turn up the volume since my decision making usauly sucks by 11 or 12. I don't want to start ruining speakers and just replacing them constantly. I have about 1,200.00 that I can spend and am pretty much mainly worried about volume though a little sound quality is always helpful.

I have two DCM KX12 speakers that have stood the test of time but are starting to go. Time for something new. I appreciate your help and I love this site (just found it).

[Lord_Magnepan]

Well the Jamo Party speakers can go pretty darn loud. I have no real clue about the brands in that field. But how about some horns from Klipsch or JBL?

[bargainseeker]

This place seems to have a good selection and decent prices.

[jocko_nc]

How about some pro audio stuff? Some of it sounds o.k., yet is designed to be completely abused. At various points in my party career, I used to abuse some huge Peavy cabinets. They took anything I could ever do to them. Now I have a homebuilt cabinet with two 12-inch drivers and a massive horn. I think the the horn is a knock-off of an old Altec design, the sound levels that come out of it are insane. I built the crossover out of really heavy components. It is probably good for 1000W, who knows. I use the cabinet for my guitars and when I have a really LOUD party. 50 screaming people cannot begin to drown it out.

These guys are a good source for parts. It is nice to be able to abuse your stuff and be able to easily fix it again.

www.partsexpress.com

jocko

[jlcct]

o.k. these are good ideas but i have only got 110 watts per channel from my harmon kardon. I don't want to have to buy a new amp to power 250 watt speakers and if I use my amp on these speakers then I will likely ruin them from not supplying enough power (I think that is why my KX12's are on there way out). The Jammo idea seems good but I am having trouble finding a dealer near me (there site freezes up every time I search for a dealer). If anyone views this power application differently please explain. I want to learn!

[RGA]

First you need to learn about watts - a speaker can be driven with a 1 watt amp and with that 1 watt amp will meet the sensitivity rating at 1 meter away. Some speakers can HANDLE 100 watts and some can handle 200+.

If you want a truly loud speaker you need to look at the sensitivity rating first and then the watt number. For instance I can get the exact same volume you get with way less watts.

Say your speaker is 87db sensitive and you use a 100 watt amp
my speaker is 90db sensitive and I use 50 watts.

Both will generate the same maximum volume.
and if Joe Smirtz had 93db sensitive speakers he would get the same volume with 25 watts and if matry had 96db speakers she would get the same volume with 12.5 watts and so it goes. There are people running 3 watt amps that will crack plaster because they use big horn speakers.

Klipsh is a good suggestion but not any old Klipsch certainly none of their new RF series - you'd want K-Horns - but they need to be placed in corners plus they're over $4,000.00.

What you want to see if you want VERY LOUD is BOTH high sensitivity AND something that can handle a lot of watts. For each doubling of the watts you gain 3db in maximum volume. So if you have an 87db(The industry norm) speaker that can handle 100 watts maximum the max volume in SPL (Sopund pressure level) will be roughly as follows
87db - 1watt
90db - 2watts
93db - 4watts
96db - 8 watts
99db - 16 watts
102db - 32watts
105db - 64watts
108db - 128watts (as you can see though we've hit the max the speaker can handle at 100 watts so really you are getting about 106db). 90db is considered loud but that is at 1 meter away from the speaker. Also a lot fo standmounts claim these kinds of things but are laughable in real world listening when it comes to volume and the ability to produce credible bass.

Here is a speaker for you that is under your budget and is not as bad sounding as people say - they are a FUN party speaker - it is a very very high 102db sensitive speaker that can handle 400 watts.

102db - 1watt (already very loud) so most normal listening you will never go over 1 watt)
105db - 2 watts
108db - 4 watts (already louder than the above example with JUST 4 watts while the other one needs over 100 and still doesn't go as loud)
111db - 8watts
114db - 16watts
117db - 32 watts
120 db - 64watts (Pain levels concert levels)
123db - 128 watts (Your amp will limit this to about 124db)
126db - 256 watts
129db - 512watts (the speaker can't do this so probably expect 127db which is incredibly loud) My Wharfedale Vanguiard speakers will go to 119db and you would be more than happy with the as some cheaper DJ's used them for staff parties. They can go VERY VERY loud.

The CV speaker is pretty durable to boot - E715 from Cerwin Vega. It also has protection fuses http://www.cerwinvega.com/products/h...deo/index.html

You do not need a 400 watt amp to drive them - that is simply the maximum number the speaker can take. If you hear distortion turn it down because the distortion is what blows speakers not the power - and a speaker can just as easily one blown with a 50 att amp as a 500 watt amp. A lot of that stuff is mythos that you can only blow amps by underpowering them - it ain't true - You can but you can with a 400 watt amp too.

[jlcct]

RGA - You made my day. I have never realy gotten a knowlegable explanation from a salesman before. I've been told that sensativity is also part of the equation but never any explanation. This will make my search much easier. Again thank you

[jlcct]

realy quick.... why do you choose the e series

[kfalls]

Klipsch are a very good recommendation, but I'd go with a pair of commercial La Scalas. They are efficient (play loud on a few watts), have good sound and their commercial cabinets travel well. You should be able to find them in your price range.

[Worf101]

I've used my share of speakers over the years. The top of the line are EAW's out of Massachusettes who produce the best hardcore sound reproduction out there. You can't kill them. After that its JBL or Mackie; I've used both for years and you just can't phase em. JBL's a little cheaper but Mackie's not bad either.

Da Worfster