Speakers, Big 'uns

[Austin.J]

Afternoon all,

I was wondering about speakers, they will be for a unit a few of us are going to rent.

All i want is for them to be loud and a decent quality sound, not fussed about make or anything like that.

As i dont have a clue about them i though this would be a good place to ask.

Firstly, what do i need for it to play music from a laptop via an AUX lead (headphone jack).
Is all i need an amp and some speakers? if so could you give me an idea of what wattage i'd be looking at? budget is around £5/700, would preferebly be 2nd hand as its all going in a unit.

Basicly what do i need to be able to plug the laptop in to something and have the music come out of speakers. what do i need for it to do this?

Would be hopefully buying them at then end of august.

Or if i'm completly wrong, ie budget, what would i be looking at for the money?

Cheers, Dan.

Edited by Austin.J on Wednesday 29th July 18:13

[DavidY]

Look at some studio active monitors, something like the Mackie HR824, they will go (very) loud and sound good too. S/H should be easily within your budget

davidy

[Teetertank]

All you need is an amp and a pair of speakers (plus some cable).

Seeing as you will be using aux output from laptop, you could get a power amp, as opposed to an integrated which would have a volume control (which you don't necessarily need - your laptop can perform volume control duties).

You basically need a cable to plug into the laptop 3.5mm jack (headphone style) and plug on the other end to suit the amplifier input - usually rca/xlr plug type. This will get the signal into the amp - then you just need speaker cable from amp to speakers - simple as that.

Or you could do as post above and get some active speakers which will have the amplifiers built in. Generally they will give a decent sound, but you're likely to have more choice going the conventional route of amp and speakers.

If your budget is £500+ and you're willing to go second hand then you should be able to get a nice set up for that.

There's loads of choice with your budget. You may want to go for something like Cerwin-Vega speakers if you have a big unit, but plenty out there to choose from. Seems like P.A. type equipment might meet your needs better if it's volume you're after? In my opinion, I'd spend a bit more on the speakers then the amp.

Don't worry too much about the watts just get something good quality - have a look on the bay, or Gum Tree etc. many a bargain out there. S/H is the way forward.

Edited by Teetertank on Wednesday 29th July 22:58

[Austin.J]

Thanks chaps.

[The_Burg]

Would look at using a USB DAC, sound quality via the aux output will be no way up good enough for better than a couple of hundred quid amp and speakers.

[Ecurie Ecosse]

I would go for a Beresford 7520 USB DAC (new) a Quad 405 power amp and Linn Keilidh speakers (both used).

You should be able to get all of this for £600 ish and it will sound excellent.

ETA. You should also use lossless music files on the computer, like FLAC. That makes a big difference.

Edited by Ecurie Ecosse on Thursday 30th July 23:14

[k-ink]

Loud?

Not hifi, but certainly the loudest for any budget: Cerwin Vega. Look out for the older 1515 model, with quad 15" bass drivers and immense sensitivity. Reminds me of being 17 - my first stereo

http://www.cerwinvega.com/

Modern 1515 is now this model... about £1200 over here

http://www.shopcerwinvega.com/detail/CER+CLS-215/C...

Edited by k-ink on Saturday 1st August 12:31

[WhoseGeneration]

Austin.J said:

Afternoon all,

I was wondering about speakers, they will be for a unit a few of us are going to rent.

All i want is for them to be loud and a decent quality sound, not fussed about make or anything like that.

As i dont have a clue about them i though this would be a good place to ask.

Firstly, what do i need for it to play music from a laptop via an AUX lead (headphone jack).
Is all i need an amp and some speakers? if so could you give me an idea of what wattage i'd be looking at? budget is around £5/700, would preferebly be 2nd hand as its all going in a unit.

Basicly what do i need to be able to plug the laptop in to something and have the music come out of speakers. what do i need for it to do this?

Would be hopefully buying them at then end of august.

Or if i'm completly wrong, ie budget, what would i be looking at for the money?

Cheers, Dan.

Edited by Austin.J on Wednesday 29th July 18:13

The size of this unit?
The nature of it's internals, office(s), warehouse and therefore, the acoustic environment.
The purpose of the music?, especially considering the "loud and decent quality".
You employing people, "loud" could be of concern.

[Austin.J]

WhoseGeneration said:

The size of this unit?
The nature of it's internals, office(s), warehouse and therefore, the acoustic environment.
The purpose of the music?, especially considering the "loud and decent quality".
You employing people, "loud" could be of concern.

1200 sq foot, old brick building, used to be an old ship engine building place, so very high ceiling. No neighbors to worry about.

The purpose of the music?
To relax/Chill out. The point of this unit is fixing cars/bikes, building random things (my 1st project is going to be a gsxr kart).But mainly a place were we can do what ever we want, like say build a gsxr go kart whilst listening to anything, very loudly.

I think you have gotten the wrong idea from my post initially, we're late teens/early 20's and we're renting a unit so we have somewere to go and do the things we want to do, like building gsxr karts/fixing cars/bikes.

But i have always wanted a 'proper' set up, now is my chance to buy one, but as i haven't got a clue about AV equipment then i though i'd better ask.

[k-ink]

Austin.J said:

we're late teens/early 20's

When I was your age I was running quad Vega's with two large amps. Have fun!

[shirt]

i'd consider a stack, made up of 70's pioneer sansui's or pioneers. e.g:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sansui-hi-fi-speakers_W0QQit...

or 4 - 6 bose 901's:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pair-of-Bose-901-series-4-sp...

hook these up to a fk off late 70's yamaha/marantz/sansui/pioneer amp and you have decent quality cheap tunage taht will easily fill the space.

[WhoseGeneration]

Austin.J said:

1200 sq foot, old brick building, used to be an old ship engine building place, so very high ceiling. No neighbors to worry about.

The purpose of the music?
To relax/Chill out. The point of this unit is fixing cars/bikes, building random things (my 1st project is going to be a gsxr kart).But mainly a place were we can do what ever we want, like say build a gsxr go kart whilst listening to anything, very loudly.

I think you have gotten the wrong idea from my post initially, we're late teens/early 20's and we're renting a unit so we have somewere to go and do the things we want to do, like building gsxr karts/fixing cars/bikes.

But i have always wanted a 'proper' set up, now is my chance to buy one, but as i haven't got a clue about AV equipment then i though i'd better ask.

I understand now, sounds a fun idea and considering this and the size of the unit, I think that domestic equipment isn't the way to go.
S/H pro equipment would, I feel, be better.
Do you know anyone associated with bands or DJs who may be able to point you in the right direction?
Failing that visit somewhere selling this type of equipment and pick brains, then look at the pro sound section on ebay.

ETA, sorry to others for basically repeating what they have already said. I should have read thread again.

Edited by WhoseGeneration on Sunday 9th August 20:10