Maybe start a stickie for speakers and number of people it can handle?

[tonyguitarguy]

Seen a lot of threads about which specific speaker systems can handle up to specific number of people. I was thinking maybe start a stickie for for us newbies and future inquirers.
Something like
Behringer setup (2 tops, 2 subs) = xxx people
Yamaha DXR 12 (2 tops,2 subs)= xxx people
Electro Voice ELXp12 (2 tops, 2 subs) = xxx people
QSC K12 (2 tops, 2 subs) = xxx people
JBL actives (2 tops, 2 subs) = xxx people

Im missing tons of others, but maybe they can be added by us users with experience as well.

Don't be so quick to shoot me down. haha

[jayhwk]

The issue here is that everyone has vastly different expectations for max SPL. The placement of the system and shape and size of the room also matter. Also, some of the loudspeakers that you listed have totally BS spec sheets, making it difficult to estimate SPL.

For instance, rather than coming up with a number of people, here's how I would specify a sound system for a wedding:

95dB, A-Weighted is the target SPL with 10dB of headroom. Therefore, the system shall be produce a uniform level of 105 dB A-Weighted from 50Hz to 16kHz with no more than a 3dB variation in sound level from the highest level to the lowest level.

[Incognito]

Different genre of music would also have to be taken into account because a genre of music that contains heavy bass would eat up the speakers headroom a lot faster then speakers playing easier to handle content (more so true with systems not using subs or are using subs that aren't efficient). Jay brings up many other valid points as well so really it's a hard thing to put a fair number on but I guess a ball park varied range of a figure can be attained but it would best to go modest on the figures to save any possible damaged gear or disappointment). It's the same as when I hear people say you require x-amount of whats for x-amount of people when in fact there are many variables not being taken into account to even start to make that an accurate method of sizing a system for a given venue.

[tonyguitarguy]

ahhh very valid points!

[ampnation]

If anything, it would have to be just a ranking.. speaker A is louder than speaker B, but I don't see it happening in a meaningful way.

If you're a beginner, I think the smartest thing to do is, pick from the most popular options.

Assuming your largest crowd will be 250 or less, I think the top contenders would be Yamaha DXR/DSR/DXS, RCF ART310/312+RCF sub, JBL PRX, QSC K/KW, and EV Live-X. Pair subwoofers from the same lineup so you don't have to worry about a crossover or DSP unit and you know they're engineered to work well together. Depending on what you play, these systems could provide good sound for more than 250 but I think with 2 tops and 2 subs, all of these could provide dance music in a small to medium venue to satisfy all but the most SPL crazy expectations. There are other options for sure, but these model lines are a very well known quantity and sell a lot of units. There's a reason they're popular. They do the job at a reasonable price.

For more modest expectations while maintaining very good bass (i.e. a subwoofer is a must) on a budget, the go to fave is the B52 Matrix 1000 v2.

For a physically less imposing presence -- small, lightweight and good looking -- QSC K8-K10 + KSub, EV ZXA1 + ZXA1-Sub, (or substitute the RCF ART408 for the ZXA1), or substitute a Yorkville LS700 series or NX200 for the above subs.

I'm probably forgetting one or two, but many that might be brought up I've left off on purpose because they're touted by a fanboy here or there but don't have a huge following.

Also, don't forget to think about where you buy from as well. Guitar Center offers Pro Coverage which is pretty good, but buying from a personal service dealer like Mike Pyle at Audiopyle is good because they have a lot of knowledge and a reputation to be concerned about. You can find Mike in the Vendor Classified section of the forum. The personal service types I feel are better at spotting problems like a missing piece to the puzzle. Hypothetically they might notice you mentioned you have a mixer/controller with RCA outs and need something to convert that output to a balanced signal before running 20 feet to speakers. Their in depth knowledge can save your bacon.

[light-o-matic]

DJ's are the laughingstock of the whole pro sound industry. And threads like this are the reason.

If you are going to charge people money to provide sound systems for their events then you should be somewhat of an expert as to how the systems work, the differences between various types of speakers, types of amps, processing etc, how to read the specs.. etc.

You would not expect a guitarist about to play a major gig in front of a paying crowd to come onto some forum asking for a list of guitars and amps they should buy to play for 200 people. That would be pretty lame wouldn't it? Sure, they might want to trade up their old guitar in honor of their new status in a bigger band paying more money or whatever, and they could ask for some advice.. but they wouldn't just come in with "duh, I need a guitar.. I know nothing.. just tell me what to buy.. and oh yea, can you teach me how to tune it and what strings to buy? Cause I have a gig next week"... You expect a guitarist to thoroughly understand their guitar and amp. Saxaphonists master their sax. Yet DJ's are out there just starting out, charging for gigs in which reliable and good sound is a key part of the product they are selling, yet they know next to nothing. They buy these systems and just hope it all works out. And a lot of the time it doesn't and the product delivered is just crap.

[thehadgi]

Whew someone is havin a grumpy Friday

[DJ Nada]

Isn't there a rule of thumb like X watts per person?

[Incognito]

DJ's are the laughingstock of the whole pro sound industry. And threads like this are the reason.

If you are going to charge people money to provide sound systems for their events then you should be somewhat of an expert as to how the systems work, the differences between various types of speakers, types of amps, processing etc, how to read the specs.. etc.

You would not expect a guitarist about to play a major gig in front of a paying crowd to come onto some forum asking for a list of guitars and amps they should buy to play for 200 people. That would be pretty lame wouldn't it? Sure, they might want to trade up their old guitar in honor of their new status in a bigger band paying more money or whatever, but they wouldn't just come in with "duh, I need a guitar.. I know nothing.. just tell me what to buy.. and oh yea, can you teach me how to tune it and what strings to buy? Cause I have a gig next week"... You expect a guitarist to thoroughly understand their guitar and amp. Saxaphonists master their sax. Yet DJ's are out there just starting out, charging for gigs in which reliable and good sound is a key part of the product they are selling, yet they know next to nothing. They buy these systems and just hope it all works out. And a lot of the time it doesn't and the product delivered is just crap.

You know, your first statement was 100% of my reasoning of joining this forum in the first place, to try & do something to fix that however small of a dent into that perception it may of ended up being. I also 100% stand behind the rest of your statement & is why I make certain statements on here when I hear certain advice that just isn't all that good being tossed around. The over all standard of the DJ world needs to be risen & that can be easily seen just by doing a Google search for the term DJ speakers & see the junk that shows up. This is because many Djs hold onto the bare minimum standard as being OK to just get the job done while others feel as long as they're getting paid & people are too drunk to complain then why bother step up their game. I see speakers getting mentioned on nothing more then a hyped up spec sheet on the basis of nothing more then the given speaker gets loud, never mind how it destroys the original content of the music it's reproducing in the process or the facts shown how the figures mentioned in the spec not achievable under real world conditions.....

Honestly, with the companies making it easier & easier for anybody out there with a laptop, a pirate copy of Virtual DJ & a hard drive full of low quality boot leg MP3's to call themselves a DJ then I don't see the situation getting better anytime soon.

[Incognito]

Isn't there a rule of thumb like X watts per person?

It's a bad rule with too many variables to also factor in to be considered accurate.

[jayhwk]

Isn't there a rule of thumb like X watts per person?

There's a "rule", but since watts by themselves have nothing to do with how loud a loudspeaker gets it doesn't work too well.

[tonyguitarguy]

K so never mind the spec sheets. How about just posting what system you have and the estimated number of people in the crowd that you've done? Of course, with the speaker quality of sound not being distorted or anything.

[jayhwk]

My main rig (that I own personally) is an Electro-Voice X-Array rig with a pair of Xi-1122s and a three EV dual 15 subs. I'm comfortable doing 250-350 indoors, maybe 400 if I fly the rig. I wish I had a bit more low end firepower for DJ work - I bought the subs because they go down to 30Hz and sound good, but they're not the loudest in the world. I would like to buy a couple of EV Xsubs or three Danley Th118s, but I don't do enough DJ stuff to justify the purchase.

[djteknovibe74]

A much, much better idea would be for someone to measure the maximum spl output with a class 1 spl meter, of all the speaker cabs at the onset of clipping of the amplifiers powering the speaker or the speakers themself if they're powered, but that'd be fairly hard because I doubt shops are gonna let you test out all their speaker cab's spl output one by one.