Live Sound Speaker For HT (1 Viewer)

[Foster_G]

I was asked this question the other day and I didn't have the answer, so I thought I run it by all those that know way more than I do about this stuff.

The question is: Can you use live sound or stage speakers in a home theater application? If not, why?

 

[John S]

You can, but those speakers are not at all made for Studio or Home environments.

The throw, and just about every other characteristic is wrong, so while it will certainly work, it won't sound very good at all by any sort of audiophile standards.

 

[SteveMetcalf]

I agree. Also depending on the speaker, you'll probably find about a 4 or 5 db/octave drop in frequency above 15khz. Typically the respnse pattern is 60* x40* or 90* x 40*, so dispersion for the home is poor. These speakers are designed with live sound reproduction in mind and the requirements of this type of application are very different. Compression drivers are used quite frequently and without proper setup they can sound honky and harsh. Also impedance is typically 4ohms. Quite often frequency response is also poor below 90hz, even with a 15" woofer. There may be additional problems with your reciever dampening the speaker and on top of that, the impedance drop will further reduce high frequency response due to the change in slew rate.
Overall, using these is a bad idea.

 

[Foster_G]

Thanks for the input guys. Its always a relief to know that the answers to my questions can be found here.

 

[ColinM]

Pros = Dynamic slam, ultra fine resolution in detail at low levels, very high efficiency....but you get what you pay for.

 

[Mark--M]

I wouldnt reccomend it. And defenatly not unless you have a huge room. Many higher end PA speakers do sound very decent but they still cant really compare to home based stuff. Home speakers have better response at high and low frequencys as people have said.

A local theater here uses Electrovoice 12" monitors and they sound ok, but the quality really isnt close to a decent home setup.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

Depends on what you use and how it is setup.

JBL Synthesis and some of the Klipsch stuff (hi-end) use pro compoents that are modified for home use (better horn dispersion patterns, better frequency responce, etc.) - they are very expensive, and very dynamic and loud (I know, I own some!)

Basically, it gets down to exicution, pro stuff right off the shelf will sound awful. Tweaked and refined, it can be wonderful (isn't that the case with anything in audio!?)