Good speakers that you can get MAJOR SPL from? (1 Viewer)

[Kenneth Harden]

No, this is not a stupid 14 year old n00b question.

I have a pair of Klipsch Chorus II's downstairs in a BIG room. With the receiver (old, huge powerful Kenwood, it works!) I am driving them with, I can get the volume up to well over 110dB. and they just don't care at all. I don't listen like this, just playing around

Anyway, I am a Klipsch fan, and one small part of that is the ability to reproduce huge amounts of sound - cleanly.

What other speakers are able to give you MASSIVE, STUPID amounts of ***CLEAN*** sound, reguardless of power? I see lots of speakers with big/lots of 1" dome tweeters around - some will clip in a heartbeat, some can handle vast amounts of power and give you a lot of output. Which ones are they!?

Let's say no 'super speakers' - so a cap for $10,000/pr., but a lot less would be more realistic.

Just curious as to what your experiences are with speakers that blew you away (literally and figurativly) with great sound and massive output.

Thanks!

 

[RyanJE]

Um... What ever it was Metallica and Kid Rock were using on their set New Years Day '00 My ears are still ringing from that. And I had nose bleeds.

 

[Eric C D]

My brand-spankin' new Onix Rocket RS1000s seem able to play rather loud and clean. I've also heard the Klipsch Ref-7s do significant SPLs and still sound good.

enjoy,

 

[JimPeitersen]

Stay with Klipsch and get the K-horns. While they may not be considered "full range," especially in the low bass, they are one of the most sensitive speakers out there. They also sound surprising good for a 50+ year old design.
JP

 

[alan halvorson]

The first "high-end" speakers I owned were Klipshorns - at times, I wished I still had them. They are full-range enough for music but for todays rumbling soundtracks, they need a subwoofer. The easy efficiency of the Klipshorn is addicting but, on the downside, they couple into your walls like nothing else, so your neighbors had better be very understanding.

My current speakers, the Legacy Focus (the current version is in the $6,000 range), are quite efficient (but short of the Klipsch standard) and handle a lot of power. I've measured 116 dbs at my seating position 12 feet away, which is incredibly loud.

My dream speakers will be capable of 130 dbs at least, and more probably 140 dbs. No, I don't need or want that kind of output, I just like the idea of excess headroom.

 

[Robert Cowan]

for "high end" speakers that go really really loud, look at genelec. very impressive detail and sound quality, and they can go as loud as klipsch's and the like.

 

[stephanX]

being a 14 year old i took offence from your remark!

but ive heard good things about jbl and spl being very closely related. And i also had an "accident" (or at least thats what i told the employee that was 20feet from me) with some jbl floorstanders at bestbuy, which resulted in ALOT spl for a couple seconds, and for however many seconds it was playing, they sounded pretty darn clean.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

stephanX:

Bah, live with it , I got my first pair of real speakers at around 12 or 13 (JBL HLS 610's from CC while they were still on commission) - now I am 20 and if I walk into any audio store with the right attitude, I can have my way

I am sure as you know, it is hard to get taken seriously, or not be shunned unless you are over 30 or so.

Yes, some of the upper end JBL's feed off pro audio technologies (cooling, motor structures, materials, etc.) and can do some serious damage.

It's all good.

 

[Louis_Cipher]

The Servodrive SPL Runts are probably louder than anything has a right to be. They're also a horn loaded design but they will eat those Klipsch's for breakfast. They run around $2500 per speaker.

 

[John Garcia]

IMO, loud (high SPL), doesn't necessarily mean good. Loud is fun, but great sound doesn't have to come at retarded, ear damaging levels.

I've never been a fan of Klipsch, or many horn loaded speakers for that matter. The most ear blistering thing I think I've heard was a JBL HLS equiped THX theater in Michigan. At first I was thinking "OK, THX + JBL HLS it should sound decent". I was wrong, or it may have been the particular movie we saw there (I don't remember which movie), but it was nearly unbearable.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

John,

The disclaimer in my post was for comments like yours.

YES I KNOW LOUD IS NOT GOOD (so why am I shouting )

The idea is, dynamic range, effortless sound at moderate volumes, etc.

Let's say I am watching The Incredibles when the jet gets shot my the missil. There are a few moments in that scene, both bass and other sound, that are VERY loud. I hate little speakers that 'max out' and you loose that 1/10 second 'BAM' that gives you the full effect.

FOR ME, its all about dynamic range and the ability to produce VERY loud sound if I want to...or the director or artist wants to.

One of my favorite songs (Angle by Massive Attack on the Mezzanine album) has some quick, but very loud segments - and I enjoy having those produced accuratly.

JBL HLS stuff is cheaper comsumer speakers with 3/8" poly tweets (I own them) - you got something mixed up.

JBL can sound good or bad, depending on the speakers, source, setup, etc. You are more than experienced enough to know that.

 

[Dan Hine]

For some loud AND great sounding speakers I would suggest you listen to speakers by Nexo or Worx Audio. Yes, they are both designed for live sound but I've used both and would put either in my home in a heart beat!

 

[John Garcia]

The speakers in the theaters were probably not the HLS line, but they were a pro-version horn loaded JBL cinema or stadium speaker (using the "Horn Loaded Speaker" term too generically). They had the JBL logos all over the place, and it sounded obvious as soon as they started playing the previews to me that they were horn loaded, so HLS was the first thing that came to mind.

If you want things unclipped at extreme levels, you might want to consider powered monitors like Mackie, KRK, etc...

 

[Brian Bunge]

John,

Amps clip; speakers bottom out!

 

[stephanX]

Ive got some energy c-1s as my mains, but on my dads technics reciever they get pretty damn loud if your head is only 3' away.

i know only too well the lack of service if youre a young'n. the one place i got taken seriously was baybloor radio, a guy actually came to me (shocking, i know) and asked me if i wanted to test out some speakers.

this one time my old school had a dance, and our gym (dont laugh) has alot of the glass panes replaced with sheets of 1/2 ply, and when i was walking outside, the ply was actually rattling like crazy. i get inside and the dj has two ev(i think EV) towers with dual 12s or 15s playing at their limits, and man that was pretty loud, to bad he only played crap(what kind of dj doesnt keep any kennedys readily at hand? tsk tsk).

 

[John Garcia]

Hey Brian! Sorry, speakers are going to exhibit distortion as a result of clipping the amp is more likely what is happening than pushing the drivers to their physical limits. (I knew what I was saying, I just wasn't saying it right.. )

You can also get a similar effect when driving a speaker to it's limits while trying to reproduce frequencies outside of the low(er) frequency driver's capabilities.

I see people often think they can throw any average amp with Klipsch because they are so efficient, but while they are efficient, that doesn't mean they don't need a fair amount of current.

 

[Brian Bunge]

John,

That's more like it!

Well, you know...average amps for average speakers! Sorry guys, I couldn't resist!

 

[Kenneth Harden]

John:

I would blame the system designer/operator if the sound was not acceptable. JBL knows how to make good products, but the best product cannot help a *&^#^$y install/setup/useage.

Yes, My Klipsch's do like a lot of power, still need to move those woofers!

I listened to some Godsmack (concert DVD) on some Martin Logan Clarity's at work (their entry level electrostats) and while they sounded wonderful - there was a lack of punch ($4,000 Primare amp, not that!)

Not bad, just not my cup of tea - the speakers just sounded a bit 'laid back'

 

[RichardH]

This:

http://www.mackie.com/products/sa1232/index.html

will be plenty loud, but not necessarily "polite" like regular hifi speakers.

I would say, stick w/ Klipsch and get what you can afford. If you can afford more, look into other horn speakers.