Help!!! Building Rockin Dorm Room System

[leroi.edwards]

Im new to audio, and speaker technology in general. I'm in college and want to either build, or purchase a reasonably priced set up that can fit on 4'x14"x12". I want it to be loud and obnoxious but really dont know what to do, or even what is available as options. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. If building is my best option then if you could suggest types of speakers i need and possible kits that'd be amazing.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

"I want it to be loud and obnoxious...." I already feel sorry for your neighbors.

When shopping for speakers, it's best to go out and listen if you can. I think that one of the specs that you'll be interested in is the sensitivity (rated in dB) of a speaker. The higher the sensitivity, the louder a speaker will play given the same power input (from an amp or receiver). Klipsch, I think, generally have high sensitivities.

The sensitivity is often the sound level that a speaker will produce one meter away from the speaker when one watt of power is input. Depending on who you talk to, twice as loud equates to an increase of between 3dB and 10db. So, a speaker with a sensitivity of 95dB will be able to play about twice as loud as a speaker with a sensitivity of 85dB when supplied the same amount of power.

One other thing to keep in mind is the impedance of the speakers. The lower the impedance (rated in Ohms), the higher the amount of current that your amp or receiver will need to supply to the speaker. Some receivers or amps struggle or fail to power low impedance (4 Ohms or lower) speakers.

Adam

 

[jostenmeat]

Yeah, sensitivity + power handling + pro amps = my guess.

Maybe Jamie will see this and having something good to add.

 

[Adam]

Pro gear - an excellent suggestion, jostenmeat!

 

[cbraver]

How much do you want to spend? Do you want quality or quantity? (Both answers are okay!)

If you want super loud, I'd get some pro equipment. The lower end JBL Pro speakers are good quality widebands for the money and would be extremely loud when powered properly.

JBL Pro JRX 15"
http://www.pssl.com/JBL-JRX115-Portable-15Inch-2-Way-Speaker-

Behringer 1500:
http://www.pssl.com/Behringer-EP1500-Power-Amplifier

Behringer gives you a lot of watts/$. I like Crown and QSC as well, but they are more expensive.

You can get a powered subwoofer also, like the JRX 18" P. Most people pair the mid boxes with a subwoofer or two, but you might be running out of space for the rest of your stuff. If you did that, you'll need a crossover, Behringer CX line is sufficient for that and some sort of preamplifier (a cheap mixer will work too). Computers make great dorm room sources.

PSSL.com is a pretty good place to shop for pro gear and they price match too. bhphotovideo.com is also great to deal with.

Please be careful with your ears with the that combination.

 

[MinusTheBear]

How long are you going to be living in a dorm for? I lived in a dorm my first year of university and IMO it would be a waste to build a music system in these surroundings. You will make more enemies than friends. I am sure there is some sort of regulations that are inforced too which will restrict your ability to play music "abnoxiously loud". If you are going to be living in a house with some buddies in any period of your studies I would scrap the system for now, save money and get a killer home theatre system if/when you move into a house.

 

[mazersteven]

Just hire Van Halen to play your dorm.

 

[bandphan]

5 of these

5 of these

and an IPOD

 

[zumbo]

http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-HK-3490-Receiver/dp/B00198F89A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1222487813&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Cerwin-Vega-CLS-12-3-Way-Speakers/dp/B0009Y4T5Y/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1222487653&sr=8-5

 

[Adam]

http://www.amazon.com/Cerwin-Vega-CLS-12-3-Way-Speakers/dp/B0009Y4T5Y/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1222487653&sr=8-5

Might be out of his price range, but what an excellent suggestion. Cerwins - the king of college party speakers (at least in my day).

 

[zumbo]

Might be out of his price range, but what an excellent suggestion. Cerwins - the king of college party speakers (at least in my day).

$600 shipped is not bad. I paid $500 for mine in 1985. Van Halen II never sounded so good.

 

[Adam]

Van Halen on Cerwins. I can almost taste the day-old beer from the keg right now. Ah, memories.

 

[zumbo]

$500 for a pair of these shipped.

http://www.amazon.com/Cerwin-Vega-CLSC-15-Classic-15-Inch-Speaker/dp/B0001H6DL2/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1222488713&sr=1-29

 

[zumbo]

Van Halen on Cerwins. I can almost taste the day-old beer from the keg right now. Ah, memories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeSTYyqZAPQ

 

[Adam]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeSTYyqZAPQ

Thanks! I think that I have all (or almost all) of their albums on CD. It's been a while since I've cracked those out. Might be time to dig them out, though...

 

[adwilk]

Behringer E1520 X2... pretty good speaker really.. great bang for the buck...
Behringer EP1500 Good pro amp...
Cheap AVR as prepro
Hook it to computer, ipod, the les paul that i'm sure somebody in the dorms will have....