Party Speaker question.

[things]

Hi guys,
I am looking to buy some party speakers for my dj service, and was looking at these **broken link removed** I was wondering if 120W would be loud enough(if i use the right amp) to do a small gym or party. I don't need it deafening loud, i just need something that will get the job done. I am also interested in these because i can get them locally, so no need for shipping costs. I saw in the description, it said "Effiency: 94db/W" , does that mean if i put 1W into it, i will get 94db out?
Any help is appreciated

 

[things]

well i think i'm going to go to jaycar today and see if they can show me how loud they are, but a proffesional opinion would be nice.

 

[audioguru]

If it really handles 120W RMS then it is a good price for a big, lousy sounding speaker. The piezo tweeters and the piezo horn are just whistles. The woofer "responds" down to 45hz but might be flat down to only 120Hz. Then it might bot have any bass or it might sound boomy.

The sound pressure from a speaker spreads out so it drops 6dB for each doubling of distance. It is rated at 94dB at 1W and at 1m.

Music is not played at full blast, its peaks are 12dB higher than its average.
So if the amplifier is 120W RMS and the volume is turned up so the amplifier barely makes clipping on the peaks of the music then the average power is 7.5W. Then at 10m the average sound pressure is only 88dB.

Some PA speakers have a sensitivity of 104dB and will sound 10dB louder than this cheap one. They would also have better highs and lows. Um, they cost more.

 

[things]

Well actually i went in today, and saw they had some 200W ones aswell, would these suit me better? How do you determine if they will sound good or not? the cone size? Anyways here are the ones i'm talking about **broken link removed**
Thanks

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Don't worry about AudioGuru

For the price those speakers should be fine, by spending a LOT more you will get louder, and better sounding ones - but as you're not wanting anything monstrous, those will probably do the job for you.

As you can go and see them, why not ask to have a demonstration?.

 

[justDIY]

things i've learned shopping for speakers ... watts does not equal quality or performance. I'm not a sound engineer, and I don't know what really qualifies as "good" in a speaker.

when I went shopping for the six i use in my home theater, I took along music which I was familiar with and knew how it should sound. i could play that on the different sets of speakers, and picked those who reproduced the music the best. Price doesn't really determine quality in home audio either, brand determines price and does not represent quality.

the speakers you're looking at are going to be used for PA in terrible acoustic settings (big open square rooms). There's no sense in getting a "hi fi" sound system for a room like that.

you mention this is for your DJ service? How many gigs do you do a week/month? If it's only a few a month, buy yourself a nice pair of home audio speakers, and just use them to do the gigs. If you're not tossing them around and kicking them, they'll hold up just fine, and when you're not on a gig, you'll have a nice sounding set of speakers for using at home. if you're doing a several gigs a week, then buy an expensive pair - look for features like hand-holds built into the cabinets, and heavy duty speaker terminals. also consider smaller PA speakers that can be placed on tripods, useful if you're doing a large room or need to clear obstacles. sure a good set is expensive, but it's a cost of doing business. in the US, business expenses can be written off against your gross income, really reducing your net tax liability.

 

[audioguru]

How do you determine if they will sound good or not?

Said a deaf man.

I would never buy a speaker without hearing how it sounds:
1) It must have a smooth frequency response without boom-boom low frequency resonance and without high frequency shriek noises.
2) It must have deep powerful bass and crisp sizzling highs.
3) It must produce natural-sounding vocals (many speakers honk like a car's horn).
4) Its sound must not "break-up" when it is driven from an amplifier with its rated max power.

My best home speakers are 43 years old. I selected them because they sounded nearly identical to larger much more expensive good-sounding speakers. They still sound very good.

 

[things]

hmm ok. Well i am starting up my dj service, i have lights already, and my laptop. We are moving in about a week, and our furniture is allready being moved, so i will be buying speakers hopefully early next year. I will deffinately get them to give me a demonstration before i buy.