Dorm Room Suggestions: MMG or Paradigm? (1 Viewer)

[AlanZ]

Craig, what do you mean by that? Is there a stigma with Gallos that I'm not aware of? lol I'm telling you, they were good! I'm not crazy about the micro by itself, but you put a CDT tweeter in there and you have some pretty good sound. But trust me, I don't want to see Ian shaving with pink razors either lol. I just don't understand your objection to the Gallos

 

[ian_u]

Hey Craig,

I checked it out over there, and the only thing I was able to pick up was that the pro monitors are powered, balanced, and have a very flat response curve with the high and low ends rolled off.

What would be the benefit to buying pro monitors vs. regular speakers, aside from being able to say "I have mackies that you would give your left nut for." ?

 

[Craig Chase]

Ian ... The actual advantages are 1. You just say "pro audio monitors like they use when they make new CD's" and 2. You mentioned 6 inches from your listening position .. most studio monitors are within a few feet of the tech...

Alan ... I am mostly having fun here ...

 

[ian_u]

I think I need to determine whether it's myself of others I want to entertain with the speakers. I also have space constraints to take into account, and am not sure the exact layout of the room.

If the focal point ends up being in front of my computer, I'll most certainly go with a pair of shielded near field pro monitors like the Tannoy 800's. If the focal point is a sofa or bed, then I'll def. go with the Veritas 2.2's, which were exactly what I was looking for in that field: relatively affordable, elegant, somewhat exotic, and very clear.

 

[AlanZ]

If I was going to go back to a dynamic speaker, those Veritas would definitely be on my short list. My dealer has both Energy and Paradigm, and the Vertias just did it for me more than the studios. Everyone has different tastes, obviously, but I would bet you'd be very happy with those. Especially if you match them to a PC Ultra......

 

[Craig Chase]

Ian .... Cool stuff, and with the Tannoys, you may get everything you want .. they are crystal clear, image like champs, and are bulletproof ... enjoy, and consider me envious ... College is FUN !!!!

 

[Stephen_Ponte]

I would steer clear of the Maggies. They are by no stretch of the imagination, 'rock and roll' speakers. They are very inefficient, very directional, and very picky.

I would most definitely pick up something like a pair of Klipsch, or JBL speakers - something that is notorious for high SPLs and efficiency.


-SDP

 

[AlanZ]

Yeah, Maggies aren't really dorm speakers.....buy Maggies after you graduate and have more space for them. They'll still be around

 

[Jon Sciabica]

"already got the pc-ultra, what about gallo dues?"

pc-ultra in a dorm room. My God!!!

 

[ian_u]

be afraid. be very afraid.

 

[Craig Chase]

Ian, For perspective ... The Electrovoice speakers we had in a 10 by 14 foot dorm room were Dual 15 inch bass drivers in a roughly 8 cubic foot cabinet with dual 6 inch ports ... this was for each side.

The speakers were Bi-amped with a BGW 750B, 400 WPC/4 ohm amplifier for for the bass drivers, and an SAE 100 WPC amp for the VERY large horn tweeter ...

They weren't much in the imaging department, but they sure were fun ... , and yes, I got to know the Dean rather ... well

 

[Raj_asaurus]

what about the Polk LSi9s? Those may fit the bill as they handle pop music decently well.

 

[Raj_asaurus]

I guess I should add that I'm in a frathouse and right now I use a pair of 9s, a dayton sub, and Audire separates. Couldnt be happier. I can thrash the hell out of anyone that walks in but still play some classical or acoustic for some really smooth, clear music. :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Mark gas]

Why not go for some over kill.

http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl?...04122101084468

 

[Craig Chase]

Mark ... THAT is a good idea. Too bad Ian is not closer, I would have my brother whip him up a pair of killer monitors based on some high output 15 inch Eminence drivers ... 23 mm X-Max, 96 dB efficiency, and mated with the right mid and tweeter, some SERIOUS fun ... and bass flat to about 32 Hz ...

 

[Chris Quinn]

No one is giving you the warning of do you really want that expensive of speakers in a dorm room? You may have a great roommate or a careless lout.

You also need to find out what the policy is on attaching things to the walls. Many colleges aren't going to allow you to drill holes for speaker brackets. You're most likely going to have cinder block walls.

You've got an good sub. I'd buy some less expensive speakers that you're not going to be to upset about if they get thrashed or stolen.

Talk to Dave Fabrikant at Ascend Acoustics. He sells a lot of 170s for use as studio monitors. A pair of 340s and that sub and you'd need some Studio 100s to make a fair comparison. The 170s and a good sub you're in Studio 20s or 40s territory.

You can find more info and ask questions at the Ascend Forum.

 

[Carl Johnson]

The last time I stayed in a dorm my ht, which consisted of a 13" tv, a mono vcr and a boom box was the nicest system in the building
Honestly I wouldn't be comfortable taking anything more than an ultracheap home theater in a box and a no frills 20" tv into a dorm for a couple of reasons. First off you shouldn't take anything too expensive for fear of attracting thieves, and secondly you don't want anything so nice that it tempts you to spend more time watching movies than in the library. Otherwise your trip to UCLA could be short lived.

 

[Raj_asaurus]

In my opinion, (I'm a Northwestern undergraduate student) having something nice back in my room is the only thing that keeps me sane on my walks back from the library.

 

[mackie]

Congrats on getting into UCLA - good school.

I second the opinion on pro-monitors. They will play loud as hell in a dorm room and are very rugged.

I shudder to think of what could happen to a pair of paradigm studios or energy veritas speakers. I can't help thinking of the time a beer got dropped on my tv. It was funny as hell until the thing started smoking and flames shot out the back of it. I also remember a friend with Boston speakers...inquisitive fingers aren't good for speakers.

The one positive thing about having speakers in your room is that they make great drink coasters. It won't hurt the speakers too bad if you put folded up towels on top of them.

Can you still smoke in college dorms? Watch out for ash trays...

 

[ian_u]

Loud, durable, and clear. Sounds perfect.

Well, leaning towards pro monitors now, should I go active and stay with my rotel preamp for processig w/ the pc ultra, and connect to computer via coax?

Any particulars in monitors? I've looked at the mackie hr824's (~$1200 ebay), the event 20/20 bas's (~$400 ebay), and the tannoy 800's (~$250 ebay).

By the way, my parents didn't buy any of this stuff. I've owned a web development firm since summer of 8th grade, which really took off. It's the only reason I got into UCLA, for that matter.