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Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => DJ Forum => Topic started by: Ryan Chin on March 28, 2022, 07:10:49 PM

Title: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Ryan Chin on March 28, 2022, 07:10:49 PM
Hello everyone, just looking for some info from the community on some DJ speakers for some of my rigs. A few years ago I helped a friend with a buy in and picked up 4prs of 12” Rockville powered tops and 6 15” powered subs. For the past few years i have been sending these out with my DJ’s for mobile rigs for small to mid size events. (150-250people), school dances and some outdoor events. The although they are no JBL or EV systems, they have performed well over the years. The sound is rather…… HARSH until you eq them down…. The highs are so sharp they’ll make your ears bleed if you’re not careful. :P  But like i said, they did their job and have not failed or blown up once with Reasonable use and running them hard. Like i said, i am pretty impressed by them being a budget set up.

At this time I am looking to “upgrade” the speaker fleet and get a few new rigs as i sell off the Rockville sets. I have been looking at some entry and mid level stuff again… budget in mind. Does anyone here have any input on how the ALTO TS312 tops are?  I would match them with the 15” subs.

Another question I have is since i have been running 12” tops with a 15”” sub/bin and i am looking to upgrade the fleet, should I migrate to 15” tops and pick up a few 18” subs/bins?

The brands i have been looking at are the ALTO TS series or Harbinger’s with Matching subs. I am leaning more towards the ALTO line since the subs have settings to match the tops and optimize sound.

Anyway, what do you all have to say, or recommend? Looking to stay around $250-$300 per top and around $500-$700 for the sub.

Any recommendations or info is appreciated!!
Title: Re: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Jeff Lelko on March 28, 2022, 07:13:59 PM
Any recommendations or info is appreciated!!

Hi djryan732, welcome to PSW.  Before anyone can offer advice you'll need to change your username to your actual full name per the forum rules you agreed to when signing up.
Title: Re: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Doug Fowler on March 28, 2022, 09:37:54 PM
Hi djryan732, welcome to PSW.  Before anyone can offer advice you'll need to change your username to your actual full name per the forum rules you agreed to when signing up.

No, not user name. 

Change DISPLAY name. 

Please, let’s not give wrong information about how to fix this.
Title: Re: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Brian Jojade on March 29, 2022, 09:27:41 AM
The only reason to use 15" tops is if you don't have subs. The general consensus is a 12 and 18 combo is usually the ideal pairing with minimal overlap of coverage.

That being said $250/300 per top is what people are spending these days for portable Bluetooth speakers... , For professional use, upping your budget would put you into a MUCH higher class of speaker.  Spread over a few years, that's only a few bucks per show. 
Title: Re: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Thomas Le on March 29, 2022, 09:33:12 AM
Alto's are a lateral move, you're not getting better quality. Harbinger is worse. Start looking at JBL PRX, Yamaha DXR, QSC K, EV EKX, etc... 
Title: Re: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Tim Weaver on March 29, 2022, 10:50:53 AM
Alto's are a lateral move, you're not getting better quality. Harbinger is worse. Start looking at JBL PRX, Yamaha DXR, QSC K, EV EKX, etc...


This.

I have been very impressed with the Yamaha DXR8. I bought four of them to replace some ageing QSC K10's and they do that job and more. They are extremely impressive for a tiny speaker. I think for typical wedding dj use you could easily use 2 dxr8's and a single 18 for a couple hundred people with no problems at all.

they may not replace what you use for a bigger event, but it does give you options. Plus this rig would fit in a hatchback.

Modern advances in power and processing are giving us better sounding, louder, and lighter options every year.
Title: Re: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Dave Garoutte on June 03, 2022, 01:51:00 AM
You might find Yamaha DXR or QSC k-series used for closer to your hopeful price.  We will always suggest that you buy better quality, because you will end up spending the money later when you are unhappy with the cheap speakers.  Buy once, cry once.  That said, the 10" tops from Yamaha and QSC are worlds better than what you have.  They both have decent 15" subs too.
Title: Re: DJ speakers… what to buy … WHAT TO BUY.
Post by: Tim Hite on June 04, 2022, 02:34:18 AM
Hello everyone, just looking for some info from the community on some DJ speakers for some of my rigs. A few years ago I helped a friend with a buy in and picked up 4prs of 12” Rockville powered tops and 6 15” powered subs. For the past few years i have been sending these out with my DJ’s for mobile rigs for small to mid size events. (150-250people), school dances and some outdoor events.

. . .snip. . .

Anyway, what do you all have to say, or recommend? Looking to stay around $250-$300 per top and around $500-$700 for the sub.

Any recommendations or info is appreciated!!

I get loads of mileage out of my EV EVOLVE 50 rigs, 25-30 events per year. Wedding planners love that they don't look like speakers on sticks, easy setup and plenty of sound for DJ's for the gig sizes you mention. I can throw out a pair of subs with them to get good coverage for 500-ish people at a dance recital I do a couple times a year.

Someone on eBay is selling top hats that let me mound a GIGBAR on top, too. pretty flexible bit of kit. I have some that have been going 5+ years now.