Another HiFi Listening Room help request


I learned about Audiogon from someone on reddit and have been reading through the forums and am really impressed by the community (tangential, but I really thought forums outside of reddit were dying off). 

Anyways, I'm moving into a new place that has a large "bonus room" that I will be using for music. It's huge. 21' x 37' with ~15' ceilings. I have a few questions I'd like help with. 

1. My primary goal is to build a great HiFi system for 15K or less (including room acoustic treatment). However, I have gotten into vinyl DJing in the past couple years and want to have the ability to DJ dance (house, disco, modern funk) and hip hop music for small parties (e.g. <10 people). I will probably spend most of my music listening time, spinning vinyl albums front-to-back, and a smaller amount of time DJing. Is a HiFi system really appropriate for DJing dance music and dancing around the room a bit (staying somewhat in the listening zone), or should I be investing in a high quality PA system instead? I'm hoping there is a HiFi system I can build that can also play fairly loud (i'm thinking two tower speakers, two subs, powerful amp) without being too directional, in that it sounds bad if you aren't in the sweet spot. 

 

2. If based on my described needs, are there any particular speakers you call can recommend? Open to recommendations for full setup. 

 

3. I met a guy at my local HiFi audio shop and am interested in having him come to my place and help me set things up. However, This stuff is very expenseive, I can afford it, but I don't want to get ripped off. Is it really that challenging to pick out a system and set it up myself? I worry that if I go through this shop I'm going to end up with brand new, overpriced gear when I could have just bought something used for a few thousand less and done a fine job setting it up myself. 

 

Thank you all for any thoughts and advice you can share. So excited to be getting my first house and building a proper sound system, been dreaming about this for years. 

Cheers!

 

bionicgiblets33

I believe a home audio will provide what your want, dance studio and private listening. Seems private listening is greater priority. 

Some thoughts:

Likely taller speakers that are not difficult to drive and can play loud are in order. 

I would think DJing is hard on a turntable/cartridge. Possibly will need one for that purpose only. Another for private listening. 

Possibly consider a SCHIIT Loki  inserted into a tape monitor loop for DJing. Could provide  greater 'drive' for those occasions. 

Find the speakers 1st then the appropriate amp to drive them. 

Check out GIK Acoustics regarding room treatment. 

 

Find the speakers 1st then the appropriate amp to drive them. 

Alternatively find powered speakers.
Genelecs are one example that comes to mind and they also play loud.

But they would eat up the majority of the budget… But you do not need amps then.

The Dutch-n-Dutch is likley not enough in that room.
https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/dutch_dutch_8c/

And with either you want some subwoofers, just like with passive speakers.

Very interesting set of requirements! Prosound ruggedness and functionality and value combined with high-end audio sound quality... imo that can be done with high quality prosound drivers and attention to system design, especially regarding the radiation patterns.

Most high-end home audio systems have wide radiation patterns but they are not even up and down the spectrum, such that the tonal balance is considerably worse at longer distances where the reverberant field dominates the spectral balance. Prosound drivers tend to have better radiation pattern control because focusing the sound where it’s wanted is cost-effective for PA systems, but their sound quality in the ’sweet spot" is usually poor compared to high-end home audio. And of course output capability and ruggedness and portability favor prosound speakers.

Ime it is more cost-effective to start with high-quality prosound drivers and get them to sound like high-end home audio, than it is to start with high-end home audio drivers and get them to have the radiation pattern characteristics and output capability and durability of good prosound gear.

Imo what you want can be done, but offhand I do not know of an off-the-shelf product which targets your specific application. Even home audio speakers with prosound drivers (which is what I do) have a lot of money going into the cabinet finish which is probably not cost-effective for your application.

Some years back I made a speaker called the "Multi-Role Loudspeaker", or MRL (pronounced "Merle"), which was aimed at situations similar to yours, though not as high-output as what you need. I ended up only selling a few pairs, but they are at work in applications like home and commercial recording studios, providing support for a touring choir, and amplification for an electric piano, with some of them also serving as home audio speakers in between gigs. Some of my bass guitar cabs are also used for home audio, but would fall short of your DJ-ing requirement. So imo it can theoretically be done.

Duke

manufacturer

 

First, congrats on getting here and off Reddit. Second, Duke is being way too modest here so I’m gonna step in and recommend his “Swarm” subwoofer system that your needs/tastes are just crying out for. Next, Spatial Audio speakers are dipole speakers that use pro audio drivers so it’s both an audiophile and pro speaker that’d give you the best of both worlds. To reduce complexity and expense I’d recommend a Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 integrated amp that includes their excellent room correction software that’ll help make the whole shebang sound its best with very little work/effort on your part (between the Swarm and room correction you may find much less need for room treatments). All the gear is linked below and comes in right around $15k and I have no doubt will blow you (and your guests) away. Anyway, that’s what I’d do given your room, needs, and tastes FWIW. Best of luck, and congrats on your new place and what I’m sure will be a fantastic listening room.

https://www.audiokinesis.com/the-swarm-subwoofer-system-1.html


https://www.spatialaudiolab.com/mseries

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1417

Thank you for the mention @soix but my Swarm subwoofer system would be inadequate for this application.  IF home audio subwoofers are going to be used, Hsu Research comes to mind as offering a LOT of SPL-per-dollar. The room size AND DJ-ing use both put a premium on output capability.

However IF portability for DJ-ing in other locations is also a requirement, that complicates things. Vehicle size and load-in/load-out practicality would also be considerations.

Imo.

Duke