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Types of speakers to create nightclub style sound?

Admittedly, this may come off as an unsophisticated post for audiophiles, but I'm seeking advice nonetheless. 

I have a house with an open floorplan and love entertaining. I'm looking to create the auditory feeling of a high-end nightclub at home, as opposed to having a setup with the goal of creating a single ideal listening point. After traveling to Ibiza and hearing some of the world's best nightclub sound systems I fell in love with how they bathe you in sound. Since I can't fit a Funktion One Dance Stack in my home, I'm curious as to what I should look for in the home audio realm to recreate that feeling of filling a room with powerful sound that isn't super directional. 

With a total initial budget of about 4-6k (1k - 3k for a pair of speakers), what qualities should I begin looking for to create this sort of system? I'm thinking used higher-end speakers might be a better solution. 

I've noticed a few different categories of sorts: some speakers have a single driver with a wide-range, like the Zu Audio Soul, while others have several for different drivers, like B&W 603. I absolutely loved the line-source sound from Martin Logan ESL speakers, but their directionality is exactly the opposite of what I want. Moving 2 feet to the left or right of their line of fire made it sound like the music was coming from the next room over. I live in Los Angeles, so there are plenty of used, good quality, higher-end speakers circulating in the marketplace. Can anybody offer a little guidance to narrow my search for what sort of speakers/amp combination might best accomplish this? 
perplexy
asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,769 posts
 
Well, there's always This...

https://www.ebay.com/i/173923619637?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=173923619637&targetid=475515166461&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9010328&poi=&campaignid=6469750693&mkgroupid=79220282802&rlsatarget=aud-762207186714:pla-475515166461&abcId=1141176&merchantid=8448544&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrtDxtpLu5QIVDisMCh3srg3iEAkYECABEgLw0_D_BwE

It will be memorable...whoever survives having their drink mixed In Their Hand.....;)
russbutton's avatar
russbutton
443 posts
 
Night club systems are PA systems, not audiophile systems.  That being said, the most musical sounding PA gear I've ever heard come from Bag End.  Buy their stuff.  Will easily fit your budget.
gera
40 posts
 
"Night club systems are PA systems, not audiophile systems"

Yes. But I find that good PA systems sound closer to live sound than almost any Audiophfile systems.  One exception that comes to mind would be Avangarde trio -- that one was good. 

OP wanted to have music parties. This is PA sound territory -- one needs to move some air!
audiorusty
287 posts
 
My thought would be that if you want to bathe the room in sound you need to understand the dispersion pattern of your speakers and then place the speakers strategically through out the room to achieve the amount of coverage that is desired. The advantage of pro audio speakers is that they are designed to cover large areas and not a single listening position so they should make the task easier to achieve, assuming that you are using the correct speaker for your application. Some are designed to work alone and others are designed to work configured in arrays. Another plus for the pro gear is that the cabinets are designed to be suspended and the electronics are fully balanced.

Without knowing anything about your space I would start with some type of 4 sub system on the floor such as an inline configuration that mijostyn uses or a DBA arrangement. You may need more depending on desired volume level and room size. I would then go with either a front fill type of cabinet (i.e. the small speakers that are placed on the front edge of a stage in large venues to cover the front rows) or an under balcony speaker suspended from the ceiling firing straight down. The quantity being determined by the area needing to be covered. You could use any sub that you like, I would not use anything smaller than a 12" and I would highly recommend balanced in's and out's and a sealed cabinet would be a must.

Integrating the system to your room will probably be your biggest challenge. You will need some type of speaker management tool like an XTA DP424 or maybe a dbx unit if they still make something, which is how you will connect your source to the speakers system, and some type of room correction either passive or electronic.
wolf_garcia
6,734 posts
 
The best PA speakers generally have fairly wide high frequency dispersion these days, and if you're using something small-ish like little powered "phased array" type boxes (common in newer installations as the lower profile makes them easier to fly above the crowd, stacked or otherwise), and a couple of good powered subs on the floor someplace, you're in there...all controlled by an iPad from anywhere in the room...you're likely to be surprised at the overall sound quality of this stuff.
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