Need advice for an odd application

[Bekr]

First of all- hello all from Waterloo, Ontario. I've just been lurking a week or two, but I'm already hooked. Can't wait to move home and start building!

Before I start that, though, I just need a bit of advice. I'm unfortunately not in the DJ or music playing businesses, but am looking for a sound system. I know that anything here will be absolutely massive amounts of overkill for a dorm/apartment/home system, but when I was in high school I was in charge of the tech type stuff and got the bug. I don't have much in the way of experience but would absolutely love the flexibility to do more of that kind of thing in the future. So, to cut to the chase:

I'm looking for a system that can be built from the ground up for around $500 (including amp) and sounds at least half decent from 1m away at very quiet volumes. I'm not expecting audiophile quality under those conditions but the reality is that that is how they would be used most regularly. At this point I'm thinking that I'd go for 2 OmniTop 12s for the short term and build a Tuba once my wallet recovers. This is just my completely uninformed opinion, though- any other suggestions would be welcome. I've got access to a fairly well equipped wood shop (table saw, mitre saw, router, etc) and some experience, so a DR would be possible if a bit of a stretch.

So, any advice of any kind would be greatly appreciated. And even if it ends up not working out you can bet I'll be back once I get a few co-op paycheques under my belt .

[LelandCrooks]

Slah, t18. A pair of Davids would be the best bet, but they'd be a budget buster. Unless you're intending on doing PA work, I think they or slah's would be best.

[Bekr]

That's exactly my dilemma... I don't have any plans to do PA at the moment, and in that light an SLAH is clearly the best bet. But I just keep thinking about how great it would be to get back behind a sound board if the opportunity ever came up... some of the best times from high school involved sound and lighting, and I'd love the chance to give it another shot once I know what I'm doing. So I figured I'd go with a system that might not be the best suited to my current needs, but would be expandable to whatever situation I might realistically find myself in. Maybe I'm completely off my rocker, but that was my thought process. Thanks for the advice, in any case.

[DJPhatman]

I say "Go Balls Out!" A pair of DR200s and a pair of BP102 loaded T39s. Do the DRs 1st, the T39s after build/wallet recovery time. Once complete, get yourself a Crown XTi1000. Run the DRs from one side, the Titans on the other. Then replenish your wallet by DJing the dorm/frat/house parties. Be the human jukebox for your college mates, have great sound, and build a hobby that will turn you some cash.

[jcmbowman]

Slah, t18. A pair of Davids would be the best bet, but they'd be a budget buster. Unless you're intending on doing PA work, I think they or slah's would be best.

+1 for the SLAH and Tuba18 combo.

If you have the skills to build those, you certainly have the skills to come up with a creative way to pole-mount the SLAHs for more 'mobile' usage, if and when the opportunity presents itself. No, you won't have the capability to do sound for more than 100 people or so, but it will be small enough to fit in a dorm room, and even if you do start to get gigs that demand bigger speakers you'll almost definitely hold onto these for you home system.

When I was in college I saw more than a few small dances DJ'd on nothing more than someone's home stereo - and this home stereo will kick almost any other one in the dirt. This whole setup should be doable (including amplification, cables, etc) for well under your stated budget of $500. Besides, if and when you do decide to step up to bigger gear, there are plenty of other associated costs that come along with that. If you'll be DJing, you'll need a mixer, audio playback devices (CD players, turntables, MP3 playback, whatever flavor you decide on), possibly a microphone, etc. If you'll be doing sound for other people you'll want a different kind of mixer, audio processing gear, mics, cables, etc. And then there's lights....

My vote is go for what you know you need and can use right now, and can do within your budget. It will give you a little room to grow while you decide if and how you want to specialize down the road.

And for the record, ALL these designs sound as good at low levels as they do at high. I think it's a sign of poor design when audio gear doesn't sound good until you approach higher levels. The reason it sounds better louder is because the human ear tends to balance out badly eq'd sound better at higher levels than it does at lower levels.


Just my $.02

[Bekr]

Thinking about it a bit more I'm leaning towards the SLA + tuba 18 combo after all. I can't get started until January anyway so I'll wait a bit longer before ordering plans to see if anyone else has any other suggestions, though.

One question on the SLAs - a favourite trick in my dorm is to mount your bed over your desk to save floor space, which puts some restrictions on how tall it could be. Right now I've got 30" but I'd want to build to slightly less than that (say 24-26") just in case. Would that be enough room to fit enough drivers?

Also, what kind of amp would I need to power them? Are there any specific ones I should be watching out for during Boxing Day sales/post Christmas eBay overload? My preference would be one with 1/4" or Speakon outs for ease of movement vs speaker wire. And I'm assuming I'd want the 100W Dayton amp from PartsExpress (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=300-802) for the Tuba (or something similar) in addition to the one driving the SLAs. Is that right?

Thanks again for the helpful suggestions and quick responses, it really makes a difference to those of us who are fairly ignorant of the technical details involved here.

[jcmbowman]

One question on the SLAs - a favourite trick in my dorm is to mount your bed over your desk to save floor space, which puts some restrictions on how tall it could be. Right now I've got 30" but I'd want to build to slightly less than that (say 24-26") just in case. Would that be enough room to fit enough drivers?

The vertical version of the SLA is 26" tall.

Also, what kind of amp would I need to power them? Are there any specific ones I should be watching out for during Boxing Day sales/post Christmas eBay overload? My preference would be one with 1/4" or Speakon outs for ease of movement vs speaker wire. And I'm assuming I'd want the 100W Dayton amp from PartsExpress (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=300-802) for the Tuba (or something similar) in addition to the one driving the SLAs. Is that right?

If budget is your concern you might wish to check craigslist, or even local pawnshops, for amplifiers. If your local area isn't so good for that sort of thing, you're only an hour away from the burbs of Toronto - you might have much better luck in a bigger town if you travel that way somewhat regularly.

As far as which amp to get, you might actually be better served with a good home stereo amplifier. The key thing to look for is some means to crossover the signal to ensure that only lows are going to the sub, and only highs are going to the SLAs.

[Brew]

SLA's are about 26" tall. They are very power friendly, so a big amp is not necessary. A reasonable home unit ( 4ohm capable as an extra), would be fine. I do not believe it would be necessary to wire them with anything other than regular binding posts. I'm running a table tuba with the PE240 watt amp. It is more than ample.