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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
soix
9,456 posts
 

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

audiokinesis
2,737 posts
 

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

ditusa's avatar
ditusa
1,883 posts
 

Look for a good used pair of JBL 4435’s they have been in my two channel home audio system since 1983. You can also actively bi-amp them if you choose to do so. With that said I have no experience with DJ-ing. Hope that helps. See the review below:

Mike

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-4435-finally-in-the-house.584523/

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/specs/pro-speakers/1984-4430-35.htm

hleeid
219 posts
 

@audiokinesis Hi Duke! Been a long time!

I thought you had a larger (magnum?) version of the Swarm coming out for larger rooms.
 

Meanwhile, I am happily enjoying the Swarm in my system!!

northman
251 posts
 

Great thread, a pleasure to read, just what this forum is good at.

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