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[Nick Martini]

Hello everyone, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to audio. With that being said I made the mistake of purchasing this system.

2) Rockville RSG12.28 Dual 12 2000W PA Speakers+Rockville RPA9 DJ Amplifier Amp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XFRNRS2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_VxAIBbGY7WE26

The system is trash and through testing I found that on the loudest setting it reached a max dB of 85 and an average of 70dB. I'm going to return this system.

I need help choosing something else. I'm looking to spend around $500 and am looking for loudness more than sound quality. Preferably something that can easily hit 100dB and averages around 85dB or even louder is fine. You can always turn down the music. As I said I'm a complete newbie and know little to nothing. I am open to all suggestions.

Thank you in advance,
Nick

[Roland Clarke]

Usual message, you need to go back and change your user name to your real name.

Quick helper, you need a little more budget.  A couple of Altos are the cheapest, decent gear in speakers that I would recommend and $500 won’t stretch to those.

[Nick Martini]

Usual message, you need to go back and change your user name to your real name.

Quick helper, you need a little more budget.  A couple of Altos are the cheapest, decent gear in speakers that I would recommend and $500 won’t stretch to those.

Hi Ronald, sorry about that; wasn't aware of the name rules. I should be able to get something louder than that for $500, no?  I mean heck my Aiwa exos 9 is louder than that dang system and that's portable and only $300.

Nick

[Jeremy Young]

Hi Nick, what is your intended use for the speakers?  Home theatre?  Live music?  Recorded music playback?  Stage Monitors?  Studio Monitors?  Rehearsal spaces?  Tailgate parties?  What sort of spaces are you using them in?  Is this part of a staged purchase for a larger system or a one-off solution?  Do you own any other related gear?

Other than loud and <$500, anything else on the wish-list (like they need to be able to be lifted on a tripod by one person, need to be powered, etc)?  Give us a little more info on what you're trying to achieve, and you might get some more help from the vast experience on these forums.

For what it's worth, a decibel rating (single number like "100dB") without any other information isn't very specific.  At what distance?  At what frequency?  At what speed and weighting?  What did you use to verify the performance of your original purchase? 

[Nick Martini]

Hi Nick, what is your intended use for the speakers?  Home theatre?  Live music?  Recorded music playback?  Stage Monitors?  Studio Monitors?  Rehearsal spaces?  Tailgate parties?  What sort of spaces are you using them in?  Is this part of a staged purchase for a larger system or a one-off solution?  Do you own any other related gear?

Other than loud and <$500, anything else on the wish-list (like they need to be able to be lifted on a tripod by one person, need to be powered, etc)?  Give us a little more info on what you're trying to achieve, and you might get some more help from the vast experience on these forums.

For what it's worth, a decibel rating (single number like "100dB") without any other information isn't very specific.  At what distance?  At what frequency?  At what speed and weighting?  What did you use to verify the performance of your original purchase?

Hi Jeremy, thanks for the detailed reply. I will be using this system for a fairly large gym around 30x30 I plan on putting the speaker(s) in the corner(s) and leaving them there basically permanently. Once or twice a year may move them for an outside party. It could be a one-off system or an upgradable system whatever people think would be best.

I don't have too many requests beside I want it to be loud. There's times where 10 people are in the gym being loud. I would like to stick around $500 for now. Sorry but I really don't know much about what's a "good" frequency, spped or weight. I used a generic dB meter. Had it about 24 inches from the system and averaged 70dB with multiple tests.

Thank you,
 Nick

[Jeremy Young]

Thanks Nick. 


Your dB meter should have different settings for dB(A) or dB(C) weightings, at the very least.  That's what I was referring to. 


For speed, I meant whether that was a peak measurement or a "slow" (averaged) measurement.  Peak readings will be much higher than slow readings even in the same environment.  These should be switches or buttons on your decibel meter.


Just trying to wrap my head around how loud that box actually is and what you need.  The inverse square law dictates that in a space without acoustic reflections, your dB level will drop by 6dB per doubling of distance.  Most manufacturers rate their products based on a "peak" rating at 1-meter so that prospective users can extrapolate that information into usable information for their application.  So if you need something that's 80dB at 8 meters, it would need to be 98dB at 1 meter or greater.

This gym... is measures 30x30 of what unit of measure?  I don't know where you are, so I don't know whether that's feet or meters or...  "fairly large" could mean different things to different folks here.  There are people here who design and install speaker systems for some of the largest stadiums in the world.

Is this the type of gym where people exercise, or is it a dance class or a gym in a school?  I'm still unclear about what you'er using it for.  Spoken word with a microphone?  Background music?  Music for a dance class?   


The best way to treat these forums is to be as specific as possible.  Assume your reader knows absolutely nothing about who you are, where you're from, and what you call a "gym".  There are members here from every corner of the earth with a huge variety of experience present; terminology can get confusing very quickly. 


If it's for music, you probably want something with some low-end response if it's intended to pump up a sports team during a break.  If it's for spoken word announcements, that would be less of a requirement but in a highly reflective space you might want something with better pattern control. As I'm sure you've noticed there are a huge range of products on the market that we need to start scaling down to find one for your application and budget.


I'd stick to a powered speaker.  It'll make for a more "plug-and-play" experience given your level of understanding.

Off the top of my head, within their price point the EV ZLX series speakers offer a pretty good performance/price ratio in your budget range.  The ZLX-12P goes for $499 CAD new in most music stores, but I'm assuming your $500 budget is in Canadian Dollars (because I'm from Canada).  EV is a reputable company in the audio world, more so than whoever the heck "Rockville" is.

[Nick Martini]

Thanks Nick. 


Your dB meter should have different settings for dB(A) or dB(C) weightings, at the very least.  That's what I was referring to. 


For speed, I meant whether that was a peak measurement or a "slow" (averaged) measurement.  Peak readings will be much higher than slow readings even in the same environment.  These should be switches or buttons on your decibel meter.


Just trying to wrap my head around how loud that box actually is and what you need.  The inverse square law dictates that in a space without acoustic reflections, your dB level will drop by 6dB per doubling of distance.  Most manufacturers rate their products based on a "peak" rating at 1-meter so that prospective users can extrapolate that information into usable information for their application.  So if you need something that's 80dB at 8 meters, it would need to be 98dB at 1 meter or greater.

This gym... is measures 30x30 of what unit of measure?  I don't know where you are, so I don't know whether that's feet or meters or...  "fairly large" could mean different things to different folks here.  There are people here who design and install speaker systems for some of the largest stadiums in the world.

Is this the type of gym where people exercise, or is it a dance class or a gym in a school?  I'm still unclear about what you'er using it for.  Spoken word with a microphone?  Background music?  Music for a dance class?   


The best way to treat these forums is to be as specific as possible.  Assume your reader knows absolutely nothing about who you are, where you're from, and what you call a "gym".  There are members here from every corner of the earth with a huge variety of experience present; terminology can get confusing very quickly. 


If it's for music, you probably want something with some low-end response if it's intended to pump up a sports team during a break.  If it's for spoken word announcements, that would be less of a requirement but in a highly reflective space you might want something with better pattern control. As I'm sure you've noticed there are a huge range of products on the market that we need to start scaling down to find one for your application and budget.


I'd stick to a powered speaker.  It'll make for a more "plug-and-play" experience given your level of understanding.

Off the top of my head, within their price point the EV ZLX series speakers offer a pretty good performance/price ratio in your budget range.  The ZLX-12P goes for $499 CAD new in most music stores, but I'm assuming your $500 budget is in Canadian Dollars (because I'm from Canada).  EV is a reputable company in the audio world, more so than whoever the heck "Rockville" is.

Hi Jeremy, thanks again for the response. The measurement I gathered was based off of dB(A) and a slow or average measurement. Idk if you ever have used a JBL charge 3, but their max volumes are similar.

Sorry should of explained better it is around 30feet x 30feet. It is a weight lifting gym, the people that workout here love to have the music blasting. We all used to workout at a gym that had a $10,000 Bose system that would literally shake things off the wall.

I'd love to be able to hook my phone or tablet up to the speaker and blast music to keep people pumped up during their workout. Everyone that comes here typically listens to rap so some bass would be nice, but isn't a requirement.

I'm located in Massachusetts so I will be US currency. Sorry I haven't been more specific I'm fairly ignorant around this subject.

Thanks ,
Nick

[Jeremy Young]

Hi Nick.  Thanks for all the clarifications.  Fortunately for you, given the currency your budget just increased by about 30%, haha.

Most of my experience is with products that are outside your budget (sorry) but also have much stricter requirements for sound quality or projection over distance. 

I'll echo what I said before and suggest looking to one of the more "pro" brands (JBL, Yamaha, EV, Yorkville, QSC, etc) and consider one of their entry level active speakers.  The ZLX-12P from EV that I mentioned earlier would be right at home in the application you describe, but they are around $400 USD each from what I can find online.  That said, even without a subwoofer I think you'd be pretty pleased with the low-end. They also make a version with a 15" woofer which extends a little lower in response, but just one of them would eat up your budget.  These are relatively light weight so hauling them out to a party will still be possible. They make wall-brackets for them, or you can just put it on a speaker tripod.  They have a 90-degree nominal horizontal coverage pattern which would work well in your corner application. Plus having the speaker in the corner will help increase the low-frequency performance.  If you like it and decide you need some more low-end later down the road, you could add a subwoofer from that lineup easily enough.


In such a small space, you may not need two speakers.  One might give you enough coverage, and enable you to get something that lasts a little longer and takes up less floor space (tripod legs) than two speakers for your budget.

Is there anywhere in your area that will let you rent something for a day and try it out in the space?  It's a cheap way to find out if it'll work for you, and what it's like to move it into place etc.  That is, cheaper than spending money on something that you now can't use.

There's no free lunch, so expecting $10k system performance from a $500 rig just won't happen.  Hopefully some others with more experience in this end of the pool can chime in now that we've got a better idea of your needs.

[Scott Bolt]

One of these would be best:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-DXR15-15-Active-Speaker/202418893678?epid=593001743&hash=item2f211b336e:g:O3IAAOSwumFbhleZ:sc:ShippingMethodExpress!48165!US!-1

A little less bass and smaller:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-DXR12-12-Active-Loud-Speaker/173461590216?epid=2254427161&hash=item28631dd0c8:g:NmMAAOSwsndbbM5m:sc:ShippingMethodExpress!48165!US!-1

You won't need 2 for that room.

These will get WAY louder than 10 of the ones you had, and will sound better doing it.

[Nick Martini]

Hi Nick.  Thanks for all the clarifications.  Fortunately for you, given the currency your budget just increased by about 30%, haha.

Most of my experience is with products that are outside your budget (sorry) but also have much stricter requirements for sound quality or projection over distance. 

I'll echo what I said before and suggest looking to one of the more "pro" brands (JBL, Yamaha, EV, Yorkville, QSC, etc) and consider one of their entry level active speakers.  The ZLX-12P from EV that I mentioned earlier would be right at home in the application you describe, but they are around $400 USD each from what I can find online.  That said, even without a subwoofer I think you'd be pretty pleased with the low-end. They also make a version with a 15" woofer which extends a little lower in response, but just one of them would eat up your budget.  These are relatively light weight so hauling them out to a party will still be possible. They make wall-brackets for them, or you can just put it on a speaker tripod.  They have a 90-degree nominal horizontal coverage pattern which would work well in your corner application. Plus having the speaker in the corner will help increase the low-frequency performance.  If you like it and decide you need some more low-end later down the road, you could add a subwoofer from that lineup easily enough.


In such a small space, you may not need two speakers.  One might give you enough coverage, and enable you to get something that lasts a little longer and takes up less floor space (tripod legs) than two speakers for your budget.

Is there anywhere in your area that will let you rent something for a day and try it out in the space?  It's a cheap way to find out if it'll work for you, and what it's like to move it into place etc.  That is, cheaper than spending money on something that you now can't use.

There's no free lunch, so expecting $10k system performance from a $500 rig just won't happen.  Hopefully some others with more experience in this end of the pool can chime in now that we've got a better idea of your needs.

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for the detail responses; I truly appreciate the time you've taken to help me out. I wish I had more to spend , but I think something around $500 will do for now. Maybe I'll start out with one of EV 15" speakers and get another one a little further down the line.

Are you talking about the ZLX-15p? I have a guitar center near me. Not sure if they have have some sort of renting option or not. Would love to get my hands on one of these to see how they perform. Maybe some day I'll have $10k to throw into a Bose system haha.

With my price point and the specs I'm looking for you'd say a stand alone pa speaking from a high rep company would be my best bet?

Thank you,
Nick

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