Using PA Speakers In A Home "Audiophile" Application!


Hi guys,

I am a bit inspired to explore/trial usage of a pair of PA speakers at home after i attended a live event recently. 

I looked at some Yamaha PA models and zoomed in on one that isn't too huge/heavy, relatively easy to move around perhaps. 

Are there any audiophiles here who had relative satisfaction trying such speakers at home? I am also thinking that this may not be a great idea, but, just curious at the moment.

 

deep_333

When Paul Klipsch designed / introduced the Lascala, it was for PA use. I was the 1st in Brooklyn to have a pair for home use...going back a ways.

I’m a pro concert sound "person" (!), and a long time pro musician. Most home listening areas won’t abide Clair Brothers boxes or even La Scalas, but I use a pair of original series Mackie 350s (10" woofer) with a 92 lb Mackie woofer in my music studio (along with other small near field things) and they’re great. Titanium horn loaded tweeters and a very strong woofer. Note that most well designed pro stuff is far more efficient and tougher than nearly any home audio items. Put an uncompressed kick drum through a PA speaker and it works...put it through some home audio speakers and they’ll explode. The pro stuff is generally far less expensive also. I run clean stereo recordings through live show systems before soundcheck and just sit in the middle and note how great it sounds.

Not many speakers can output ’ what I want, and expect ’, out of a speaker. Every time I listen, I am truly blown away by the " experience ". Listening through my Lascalas, at the decibels I enjoy, it IS an experience. Let me just say....I use an AL crossover, because it suits me best, and I have tried several. I have spent time on damping everything within the Lascala, which ime, are some of the most vibrational and resonant designs ever. I have damped many things, and colorations of that nature, really bother me. Last but not least, is the ability to ’ let go ’ of any compression in our recordings. My Signet 280 EX floor standers, are amazing, dynamically.......to a point......as most. I played " Rockin Gypsies " from ’Willie and Lobo’, and no system I have heard, expresses this recording the way my system does. Give it a whirl, and turn it up. If you get to a point the spls are hurting your ears....think about this. Is it the volume itself, or are you hearing nasties based on your system ( speakers ) giving up ? Part of any music is the ’ dynamic shadings ’ ( usually spoken about by reviewers as micro and macro ). As pointed out by wolf, other speakers can / will fall apart. Sorry for my attitude, as my gummy kicked in. Go ahead...play that Rockin Gypsies. OH ! and they are so amplifier friendly. Enjoy ! My best, MrD.

@toddalin ...Mho, the 18" JBLs' 'do' sub substitutes nicely....all in the xovers....and, of course, the power behind them...;)

It still amuses me that Mazda used That song behind a commercial....either wry sly humor or 'questionable taste' in that....*L*

As for PA amps for sheer power...as long as the drivers are up to the task, rock on.

Shatter plaster, split the sheetrock, splinter the woodwork, and bust that annoying lease....*G*

Home theater, absolutely.  "Audiophile" stereo/surround?  Not so much. (Using JBL 212, 215, 225 and 18" sub w/about 3000 watts of power.  Hard to beat for home theater.