Loudspeakers that play loud? (1 Viewer)

[John Royster]

So I've been wanting some new speakers. Still looking at B&W 603, CDMNT, paradigm reference 60/80/100, polk LSi, and maybe Diva 6.1 package. I'm not going to hide the fact - I like my stereo to play loud and very dynamic but still remain very clear. I frequently push my receiver and HK amp to its limits now.
Efficiency aside (I think they are all 88-90 db) out of the above which ones are most likely to take the abuse of a rotel 200x2 amp? Trying to keep from overdriving the mids or melting the tweeter. music/HT=80/20
thanks in advanced!
ps - I still can't make up my mind which ones I like best. must do in home demo. Or maybe just get klipsch RF series, that'll play loud

 

[Ned]

How big is your room? Using a subwoofer?

 

[John Royster]

15x18, sub is only used for movies but I'd use one with music if I found one I like.

Currently I have 12 year old polk rta11tl. they can play pretty loud but the two 6.5 mids in each start to over extend.

 

[James W. Johnson]

The Kit281s go very loud with little distortion but you'll be doing a little work since they are a kit. They are sensitive @92dbs and rated at 150watts rms and this is conservative, capable of a clean 105dbs from 25hz-20Khz, set them on small and use a good sub and they will go even louder..110db+.
2-8" midbasses 1-1" tweeter, 48"H x 9"W x 14"D, weight is around 80lbs per cabinet when finished.
http://www.adireaudio.com/diy/monitors/kit281.htm
You can see several of them here:
http://adireaudio.com/diy/gallery/monitor_mall.htm
You won't find a speaker that will go as loud and clean for less money. They are also excellent at low volumes.

 

[James W. Johnson]

which ones are most likely to take the abuse of a rotel 200x2 amp
>>>>>>>>>>
Ha ha ha , that Rotel won't even begin to hurt the Kit281s!
I use a QSC USA 900 thats rated at 450x2@4ohms (Kit281s are 4ohms BTW)
Yes I have blown a few tweeters but its been a long time since the last one. The good news is replacment tweeters are only $20 ea, I keep a few on hand.
I have never blown one of the 8" drivers , hell I hav'nt even bottomed one yet. My system gets loud enough that I just crack a window in my house and I can fill the yard up with loud clear music.

 

[James W. Johnson]

which ones are most likely to take the abuse of a rotel 200x2 amp
>>>>>>>>>>
Ha ha ha , that Rotel won't even begin to hurt the Kit281s!
I use a QSC USA 900 thats rated at 450x2@4ohms (Kit281s are 4ohms BTW)
Yes I have blown a few tweeters but its been a long time since the last one. The good news is replacment tweeters are only $20 ea, I keep a few on hand.

 

[Tom Brennan]

James---I heard a pair of kit281s at a Chicago Horn Club meeting, of all places. While they sounded nice, in terms of going loud with little distortion they were badly overmatched by the host's JBL 4560-2427 horn rig and the JBLs only needed 8 watts. An intersting Adire speaker is the HE-10 with it's 10" Eminence co-ax driver with compression horn tweeter. I heard these driven by 300B SET amps at the Midwest Audio Fest (a horn speaker oriented event) last month and they sounded very nice and created quite a stir among the fanatical hornies there. These little buggers were dynamic and reached pretty loud levels with amps of only, what, 8-9 watts? Kevin from DIY Cables brought the rig.

 

[Michael R Price]

The HE10.1 is more efficient than the 281 but that has nothing to do with how loud it will play. Maybe something with horn midbass would outdo the 281s, but I think they're still way up there in the output department compared to most other usual [cone/dome] speakers.

 

[Manuel Delaflor]

Speakers that play loud?

Those which use Horns

 

[Thomas_Berg]

Those which use Horns

(Klipsch comes to mind) i think this is mainly due to the fact that they are very efficient speakers. i think their sensitivity is ~92dB if not higher.

don't count out any other speakers just because they aren't as efficient as the Klipsch are. any well-designed speaker backed by a good amp will play just about as loud as you need it. here, i would go with the B&W CDMNT line. i have done extensive listening to them at high volume levels; they remain clear and precise just about regardless how hard i pushed them.

i think what it comes down to is finding a pair of speakers that you really like and matching them with a powerful amp. try stuff out at the store and find something that makes you happy. good luck!

 

[Tom Brennan]

Thomas---Well horns get louder not only because of their efficiency (higher than 110db 1w1m with some) but they are also capable of simply moving alot more air than direct-radiators are (unless large arrays of DRs are used). They're better pumps.

 

[Tom Brennan]

Michael Price---Agreed, the twin 8s of the 281, given sufficient power, should move more air than the single 10" short-stroker of the HE-10, provided compression doesn't set-in too early on the 281. But on the top end that horn tweeter of the HE-10 will get louder than the 281's dome. So one speaker goes flat high and the other goes flat low. Niether is what this old Altec-JBL freak would call dynamic champions. But very nice speakers, nice indeed.

 

[Kerry Hackney]

BTW, the tweeter on the 281 is slightly horn loaded by the shape of the housing. That is why it is capable of the output that it reaches. As for loud, when you get right down to it, nothing can keep up with a true horn system. LaScalla's anyone? Altecs, VOTs a little Purple Haze and ooohhhh baby.

 

[James W. Johnson]

Yeah guys , I cannot argue that a JBL or Altec horn system is the way to a really loud speaker.
In fact I was 20% into building a pair of 4 Pis from http://pispeakers.com and I decided to back out of it
because they were costing me too much..would have been nearly $1300 for a pair and I needed 5 of them for an HT.
Plus my current room is really too small for such a
large speaker.
If I ever find an old pair of Klipsch or VOTs at a good price I will probably pick them up.
I have though of one way I could work a horn speaker into my system,
buy 5 decent bookshelf speakers for HT use and set the front L/R bookshelves on-top of my 2 channel only horn speakers.

 

[kevin_tomb]

JOHN....how loud are you talking??.....Ive had the polk audio rta11-t speakers for years and have a slightly larger room than you and mine with my 60 watt Harman Kardon will play VERY LOUD.HK is rated conservatively.. Mind you im not playing RAP or at actual ROCK CONCERT levels, but they will play fairly clean to about 102-106 decibels as long as their isnt loud deep bass. Now that output if at a fairly close range. The polks if I remember are rated at about 90-91 DB. I used to use a 250 watt stereo DBX amp and It would really rock...almost overkill in that size or room. Now I use the 50 watt HK with a velodyne CT-120 sub. The polks receive no deep bass now and will still play amazingly loud. Im just saying all of this because you may not find speakers that are "much" louder without going to a "high efficiency" model which may not be what you want as far as size and sound go.

 

[kevin_tomb]

JOHN....Are you thinking about getting rid of the polks...??? If so id be interested in buying the drivers out of them....Ive got a speaker idea in mind they would work great for
Kevin

 

[John Royster]

Kevin,

No way would I get rid of these old beauties. I still love them. You are correct that the 11tl can drive pretty loud and take some punishment. When using my SPL meter at listening position I get around 105 db but I'm starting to run out of amp juice at that level.

On the drivers, you can contact Polk customer service and purchase some. Their service really is impressive.

Thanks for the replies fellas.

 

[jeff morris]

Try finding a pair of Klipsch Horns if you want really loud. All horn loaded 3 way corner mounted speakers.

Or maybe a pair of Voice of the Theatres.

Possibly, if you could find them, Electrovoice Eliminators.

All three types will make your ears BLEED (and your neighbors will hate you) with very little power-like 60watts. 200 should be killer!!

 

[James W. Johnson]

As soon as I find a pair of these bad boys locally at a decent price I will for sure snatch them up.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1347950297

 

[Mike Strassburg]

I'll also suggest giving Klipsch a listen; either some of the current models, or my favorite, the Legend series. I've recently picked up a pair of KLF-30's, 20's, and 10's on e-bay plus a single KLF-10 that I'm converting into a center channel for a KILLER 7.1 system.
Playing the 30's in Stereo mode when sitting on the couch about 12' feet away I can play it loud/clean enough that you can NOT hear someone yelling in your ear from 1' away. Yes that's not good on the old eardrums, but cool for demonstration purposes