Portable 2.1 Speaker advice

Hi Slimboyfat,

Last year at the Frankfurt show I had a chance to listen to the LD Systems Dave and the HK Audio Lucas Nano (600). While both are impressive for their size, I think the HK Audio systems takes the prize. Highly portable, good spl, a set of these should do 100-150 people relatively easy, with 200 maybe pushing it but certainly willing to give it an honest try.

As a mobile DJ at like events, I play with a single 18″ sub (only because it sounded better than the 15″ not for volume considerations) with two 12″ tops from the Mackie HD-series. It’s plenty loud and with (imho) great sounding musical qualities to do a 200-300 people gig. When it gets beyond 150-200 I do usually decide to create a dance “area” by sticking my speakers on the virtual front corners and adding two back fills (Mackie SRM-450s) on the back corners. This allows for a lower “at speaker” volume, a more even volume over the dance area and somewhat of a containment of sound in that area, making for lesser volumes in the non-dancing areas. Clearly this setup does not match the portability of a 2.1 system.

Having said that, getting a 2.1 system with two 10″ subs and tops and just adding two small tops at the far corners would suddenly make for a near invisible, highly portable solution with plenty of oomph for a private event of the size you are talking about.

A third brand, if available in your area, to look at that is less known but that I have some personal experience with is Proel. Italian company. They have a set called the LT812a that I have tested and that sound good with high spl. It’s 12″ sub drives a good low and the tops are well capable of filling in the rest.
http://www.proel.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=15826

The Nano’s pack a punch that is bigger than the looks would make you suspect. That said, at the end of the day it’s cubic inches of air displacement that works here. I think with these 2.1 systems it’s not so much subs + tops (where normally tops have speakers capable of handling the above 75-125Hz cut-off point material), but more of a lows in a separate enclosure (perhaps with extended lows down to 50Hz or thereabouts, but not the real below 45Hz sub bass), with a way higher cross-over frequency as those 5-8″ tops will struggle with anything too low.

Effectively it’s more like a 2-way system with a sub-low/low unit with the emphasis on the low not the sub-low and a low-mid and higher tops. The Nano’s by the way are highly recommended two each, i.e. two low ends and 4 tops. For a small party you can then use one set as a single low + two tops stereo setup and for the filling out you can just run the lows with a single top and the extra tops on lightweight stands on the other corners.

Very nice, glad to hear it worked out. I tested some LD 12s for a small gig as they were cheap to rent and I have to say I was impressed. Those things really pack a lot of woof.