Good Speakers for House Parties

I would say a huge NO to those speakers.  You need to up your budget. Get powered speakers with prices starting at minimum $300 each for the mids and highs , and a powered sub starting at $500. Anything cheaper and you will be in for a world of disappointment. For this you will get at minimum 250w for the tops each and 800w for the sub. Note I haven’t used any brand names. This is deliberate as the prices I have mentioned really should get you a PA you will be happy with regardless of brand.

I’m gonna share my storey as I’ve just finishing addressing the same question you have.

I have my first house party in a couple of weeks and I kept asking everyone the same question you’ve just asked.

It wasn’t until I spoke to good friend of mine recently when I made my decision.

I was talking to my friend who is a bit of an audiophile and has a couple of really nice floor speakers – a bit bigger than the ones you just linked.

I was explaining to him I need some speakers for the upcoming party (of which he is coming). He said hey no problem mate you can borrow mine there back from the repair shop now. I said ‘Oh! Why is that’  He said ‘Dunno what happened but after the last house party I had they’d blown’ He had a DJ and usual mixer setup running.

Then a voice in the back of my head reminded me of the countless times I’ve listened to Phil in one of his videos and read in these forums NEVER to use HiFi speakers with DJ equipment coz they shred the speakers.

I pop onto Ebay and snagged a sweet pair of hardly used 15″ Mackie Thumps. Tested them last week at my mates yard and no matter how much drink we had they ‘Just Kept Going’

Anyhoo – just thought I’d share – it’s your call mate………………

For a ‘not to bad for the price’ speaker have a look at Skytec SPJ-1500A. On ebay here in Australia, new, they are $AU250(160 euro, $224 US, 150 eng pound). These are not top of the line by any means but are pretty damn fine entry level.

Just wondering if you’d narrowed down a short list of active speakers… I’m looking into active as it just seems a better fit to me than passive speakers and an amp…    I have narrowed down my choice and decided upon EV ZLX 12″ tops.   I will be starting out with a small sub, and for the music types you listed, be careful with the speakers until you can add a sub.   I am choosing the 12″ tops after a couple trips to Guitar Center to listen to speakers, and if at all possible I would do just that, go to a store that will let you listen to a few different speakers.   I have not been taking this purchase lightly, and doing lots of research, and in my 2 A/B/C comparison sessions, I liked the Behringer B212D, the Mackie Thumps sounded muddy, the Alto seemed to lack bass, but I never played around with nor cranked up the alto,  the more expensive Mackies, JBLs, and QSCs all sounded great and I am sure they’re all good product.  For me, the bang for the buck, with the presentation I’m looking for, etc…. the answer was the EV ZLX speakers, the Behringer was close but don’t have the classy looks like the EV for weddings and such, and EV seemed a little better sound when up close to clipping.   Also, hoping to have better long term results with the not so low end speakers. (still plan to buy a 3rd for backup before long)  I second the advice to not use HiFi speakers, I have been using 4 12″ “floor speakers” and a Sansui 6060 for my small parties and gigs so far, and although they get loud, they’re not as portable and I wouldn’t expect them to last many more gigs pushing them that hard, as the actual PA are made to play loud I’d expect them to be fine for years of gigs to come.    once again, just my $.02 as a noob, hope my rambling is more help than hindrance….    moonshadow