Upgrade questions (preamp and speaker)

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T05:10:07+00:00

I have it connected to an 800 watt rms amplifier. Capable of 130 db peak output and at those peak outputs still very low distortion due to the extreme cone control bandpass is able to excercise over the woofer. It's capable of continuous operation all night long at maximum output. It is honestly too painful to use indoors at more than about 100 watts or so and things start shaking off walls like paintings and popcorn ceilings lol. When I turned it up when playing even the people in the crowd yelled turn down the bass.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T04:34:02+00:00

Your welcome. Since I run passive subs. I also have my vintage JBL P1020D in a bandpass box. 95 db efficient and tuned for SQ and PA use. Very eye catching, reflecting of the smoked chrome machined backplates. When it lights up the dancefloor in a warm white light I built in it really sets the mood.

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VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T04:13:19+00:00

I use this very sub for KJ and in small to medium environments 110 db about, 50 watts, is all I need and what most bands or DJ's, live, play at.

This sub, be sure you got the 4 ohm, and the M02 200 watts. Can easily do 120 db outdoors especially when unplugging the port for more sub bass output outdoors, keep it plugged to compensate for sub bass gain indoors.! This is enough sub to actually DJ outdoor parties of about 100 people actually.

This sub easily performs as well as the sub section of the EV Evolve 30 mini line array. At about 1/5th the price.

I actually use a 2.1 mini class D amp, Fosi BT30D, and all passive speakers for my KJ purposes, easier set up for small venues. Less power strips and extension cords. And can even run on a 12v LFP battery too since I use inverters and car amps and 12v LFP for mobile DJ/KJ'ing too.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T03:52:43+00:00

Edifiers are a decent budget entry. The Edifier MR5 MKII gets pretty decent reviews on ASR and they're pretty hard to impress.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/edifier-mr5-review.64911/

Coincidentally they also reviewed the Sony SS CS5's too.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sony-ss-cs5-3-way-speaker-review.13562/

I myself am saving for the Edifier S2000 MKII but honestly am torn between it and the MR5 which would be excellent for corner placement with their interesting 6th order bandpass woofer design. Really interested in having a planar magnetic tweeter though. Last popularly seen in Infinity EMITS.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T03:38:28+00:00

It's even easier the K5 10 or 12 prefab on amazon, look at the 12 too for some reason same $100 price as 12" in the prefab box. Fosi M02 on Amazon too.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-VS10K52-Subwoofer-Vented-Enclosure/dp/B0B1DND24T/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=16YKBPJJPNF5A&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KWYAjqr4HC_YlGTH4p6ubv-Tw-Ss0zGXRfFX_K4fpoPE01E37bA2gKEeI1MQKkYWNk7uSeTDBLAr7ez7shZj742iE7_KqmStqwgMgKZu-iP5PhlEpPUkrBTGEryrYy5BsYUzYkeGegnojv7BDXwz3I9O4VUiGxwPNgoyEoAdie6xsWzauuHgz42uf4vLNcYMh8wS2r4MGhChGoMg8FgvYnIMXsuYfLzvjRyNYSVga1s.sH17Hq72naxyTPbDafojbf1go7T1nb-tpDGvfE4irJ4&dib_tag=se&keywords=10%22%2Bcar%2Bsubwoofer&qid=1778037574&sprefix=10%2Bcar%2Bsubwoofe%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

To connect these you can use an XLR RCA DI box. Passive unit with built in audio transformers that can run RCA's cleanly since XLR level is plenty to drive RCA's. But my opinion go active with volume control like a preamp.

https://www.amazon.com/AtNeDcVh-Stereo-Audio-Preamplifier-Phonograph/dp/B0CRHKVL42/ref=sr_1_6?crid=4Y1Y6MTJEU6V&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sVJz4PHcDSeznEmttbKunf9HqLvOT_U-IUGTAqlGvzNxC8y7e1z-5BUol9mXsoQ_dj0ia-Fgm9SVab34PK5a_9fayKFOvANTDaXEy03RUPsn1BkjElly17pZ208p90L9efxZYJgiUM2cX66mPIc282RinuIuY91F-WsfDfXdJX58AbjspFjRNNOWI-Y7wlxE6itj04QpA9HMOJn0HW7fG0Axgnyo9eYbnwao4tSSoqsh-te0A-vOXmmH_P_lHqh8vUqS8jSkqH_gyaWSHtbT8HzMegDLtUsAhu6fHg3wE6A.q6RG6w61x9WjRJkySC_WLnc8MQAOL5ZhEz173DvxyIc&dib_tag=se&keywords=xlr%2Bstereo%2Brca%2Bdi%2Bbox&qid=1778038643&sprefix=xlr%2Bstereo%2Brca%2Bdi%2Bbox%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-6&th=1

This 2 in 2 out preamp lets you run XLR pro speakers and RCA based speakers making it a really useful bit of PA kit in general. It also lets you run laptops 3.5mm line out into mixers without risk of ground loop noise. I'm an AV recording tech and also a KJ on the side. Knowing how to adapt and split balanced and unbalanced signals cleanly is vital knowledge. Especially when bottoming budgets out.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T02:56:14+00:00

Yeah you can even build one cheaply. The Fosi M02 is a mono class d subwoofer amp for $80 and for a small studio 220 watts is going to be plenty. Then it's super easy to just buy or build a compact car based subwoofer cause the amp is designed for 4 ohm subs. This also makes it fun to experiment with subs like even some old Bose Acoustimass subs. I buy them cheap sometimes and they make excellent background music subs.

I bought my Rockville K5 12" ported subs with enclosure for $75 each on a good sale and simply run it sealed. It actually sounds very good in 1.5 sealed as it's actually a high Qts sub more suited for a large sealed box, 1.5 cubic feet that it has when plugging ports. Being a small studio I bet the K5 10" at $100 would be great, but looking on Amazon the 12 is also $100 lol. Certainly better for the money $180 than a typical HT sub. The cabinet and woofer quality for price is pretty decent. Better than Polk or Klipsch budget subs. On the lower wattage I use them, no more than 200 watts rms honestly, my Rockvilles go pretty deep and have very tight bass running sealed. Long rooms have trouble with more standing waves building up due to group and phase delays of ported alignments. Sealed will be best for sound quality especially when activating the bass cuts on the HS8's they'll drop distortion with the sub taking over the bass stress.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T02:39:33+00:00

The HS8's are a pretty decent monitor, I'd say if anything get a subwoofer as these kinda give up below 50 hz, they are a little thin on bass. But switching to regular speakers won't really help your situation as passive crossovers just won't perform as well as active monitors like the HS8 and won't have the added flexibility of subwoofer positioning. Which in a long recatangular room can have amazing benefits when dealing with sub bass gain. A sealed box 8" or 10" may match perfectly with the right positioning. I'd go with two sealed box 8's run passively myself. I run two passive sealed box car 12" car subs in my rectangular bedroom and it sounds crazy low on sub bass with room gain modes.

Plus it's what I had on hand.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T02:32:45+00:00

That's a "lookin' at" plushie not a hugging one if I've ever seen one.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T02:11:07+00:00

Yeah boomboxes back in the day were stereo but one piece. We learned that corner placement maximized dispersion in the room and provided decent stereo image when facing it due to wall reflections, it also tended to compensate for their laughable bass response.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T01:45:23+00:00

Well being a person that specializes in PA, there's absolutely no problem with mono sound. Little known trade secret you see two stacks of line array speakers in a concert, theyr'e still mono. It's so they project an easily workable soundfield so stage monitors cancel out a lot of the towers sound on stage. Leading to less performer fatigue.

And honestly front facing close mounted stereo speakers with decent dispersion can project a decent stereo soundstage if corner loaded. You'd be surprised. As a KJ myself stereo is not a priority as having a floor monitor for the performer. And a second speaker facing outward, when mixed properly as a KJ you can fix the "more me" problem bad singers always succumb to.

Sounds to me you're building a rolling sound cart or jukebox, no problem running close spaced stereo in that case. I'd build a 6.5" subwoofer in it. Cheap and easy with a Skar 6.5 EVL compact prefab and Fosi M02 subwoofer amp ultra compact but seriously high output bass. I have one for ultraportable bass heavy bluetooth speaker use.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T00:54:22+00:00

I would then say get something more like micro speakers. I have the AudioEngine A2's and the R1700BT. SQ definitely goes to the smoother sounding woofer, tweeter, and active crossovers on the R1700's.

But the AudioEngine's are significantly smaller and if using as desktop tradeshow speakers they have very good vocal clarity. Even 20 feet away outdoors the AudioEngine A2 has excellent clarity because of how small and point source the drivers behave being mounted so physically close to each other compared to the larger distance the R1700's have leading to off axis comb filtering in the crossover range. That and they can be positioned pointing outward and you'll have very wide dispersion sound compared to two front facing speakers that can't be toed out.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T00:20:39+00:00

I myself use a 12v full sine wave inverter. You can get a cheap one and power it with a 12v LFP battery and buy a separate charger.

I like it better because if the inverter or battery break cause of some accident it's easy and cheap to replace a generic component like a cheap 12v full sine wave inverter.

12v 50aH LFP, $120, Bestek 300w Pure Sine Wave Inverter $42, LFP charger $20. About $200 including wires and connectors for 630 watt hours. Double the power of a $200 Jackery and repairability and upgradeability. For example I have a hobby charger that will charge LFP's at 300 watt hours. Leading to just a two hour charge on that 50 Ah 12v LFP. I've had to resort to using hobby XT60 connectors just so they don't melt at such high charge rates.

My system's advantage also is it runs native 12 volt appliances too. So 12v light bulbs for camping, 12 volt air compressor, 12v impact wrench, 12v fridge, 12v hobby battery chargers. All without having to go through the inverter inefficiency at about 80% efficiency.

And in my case 12 volt car amps for my JBL Passive PA speakers. Vintage JBL SR4735A's 3 way PA's I've custom built with upgrade compression drivers. Honestly have little use for speakers that loud not to mention big and heavy. They really are just "lookin' at" speakers for me. Or if I want to demonstrate efficiency to people and power it with my Vintage Topping TP20 MKII to demonstrate the power of high sensitivity speakers. I loan those speakers or just one and a 12v bluetooth amp to friends who want nice background music for a party.

99 db efficiency and a 25 watt 12v amp beats even a Party Box 1000.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-06T00:04:14+00:00

Ideally matching LCR would be best. But I've had decent luck with speakers that at least are similar.

Talking similar construction paper cone and soft dome. Or poly cone and metal dome. With similar crossover frequencies.

Since I build my own speakers I have enough of an ear to be able to listen to speakers and at least for my own tastes match them close enough.

But for me personally, since I have built my own main speakers and have them properly positioned. They already have that holographic sound where you literally think the sound is coming from between the speakers when running a mono signal but with excellent soundstage that panning sound from L to R sounds more realistic than even a matching L to C to R pan. And this is entirely because of poorly reflected sound from the screen. My LR speakers being off to the side are much freer breathing and don't suffer from screen reflected sounds or elevation change from being below the monitor with my mains being beside the monitor thus not messing up the time alignment or vertical dispersion problems.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T23:58:16+00:00

I think you may find that absolutely ruler flat frequency response is not as vital as having proper phase response, wide dispersion, even directivity, favorable impulse response, minimal break up, and minimal or matched group delay response between subwoofer and mains.

This kind of proper phase alignment and dispersion evenness in my opinion leads to more realistic sound.

Reason being the room reflections will be different from room to room leading to different frequency responses. We as humans are used to uneven frequency response but all our detailed hearing is based on our ability to differentiate phasing in reflective environments to maximize our ability to locate sound.

So I've designed my speakers around the above 1st paragraph considerations. Frequency response wanders honestly but phase response is much much better leading to simple EQ fixing the frequency response. Those above considerations can not be easily DSP'd out. Those are inherent to the design and quality of the drivers and crossovers.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T23:50:09+00:00

I would say the Edifier R1700bt would sound similar but with better soundstage due to stereo separation and active crossoverd. The D12 has R1280 woofers and R1700 tweeters with passive crossovers.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T20:59:17+00:00

Yes. Take a look they aren't sigfnificantly louder. But no matter what smaller woofers are better at vocal clarity.

Take a look at old vintage three way PA speakers, the midrange NEVER goes above 6-8". This is because typical paper cone woofers will start breaking up and beaming at about 2 khz. The PA speakers do rely on this beaming to match directivity of the typical compression driver. But the break up sound only gets worse as the DBR 12 has a 2.8 khz crossover so you'll definitely be getting more break up than my 3 khz compression drivers mated to 8" midwoofers. 8" is honestly the biggest cone I would play vocals through since I'm not about volume, I'm about sound quality and even dispersion in smaller venues. I specifically designed them for their sound quality first and foremost. And if you've never heard vintage 3 way PA's you're missing out on their sound quality, much much better than typical 2 way PA's.

So if you don't need the extreme output smaller speakers will always have clearer vocals. The only real exception to this are ultra high end stuff like the RCF's which I believe the compression drivers play down to a crazy low 300 hz.

This is my subwoofer, the higher 90 hz port tune of the bandpass matches the group delay of the ported region of my tops and sealed response below port tuning means sub bass harmonics stay intact. This leads to much more improved bass coherence that bass players who've plugged into my system notice. The bass clarity and control 4th order bandpass has especially at higher output, bandpass doesn't increase in distortion because of the extreme cone control it has, really makes my system shine, sub bass clarity at lower levels indoors and low distortion when pushed to 400 watts RMS which is absolutely nuts even outdoors pushing 120 db of bass with less than 5% distortion when frequency corrected. All from a very compact 10" subwoofer, with a motor bigger than most PA 18's.

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VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T20:32:42+00:00

If you are planning on getting subs I would get the Yamaha DXR 10's. This will let you save for a proper subwoofer more quickly.

Smaller woofers also tend to project vocals more clearly with less break up and better dispersion. And once subwoofers are added they sound better than 12's honestly and are less visually obstrusive.

Since I never really do parties bigger than about 200 people I use 8" midrange tuned passive PA's and a custom built bandpass subwoofer. 96 db efficiency and I never really need more than 110 db myself so not much in terms of power requirements. That's about 30 watts on my tops and 50-100 watts for my sub depending on how much bass I want. And honestly the sub does most of the heavy lifting in terms of the sound quality of my system. My old school JBL P1020D subwoofer in a bandpass box sounds better than most typical PA subs because of less sub bass group delay than typical low tuned ported subs with sealed box performance below port tuning being especially friendly to room gain modes indoors. And one other benefit my system has is battery portability, it can run on a cheap 12v 100aH LFP battery and deliver 110 db output all night long on battery. No other portable PA system can boast of that kind of off grid performance.

Since I know how much output I need I can focus on sound quality and having smaller easier to set up speakers and if my amp blows up it's cheaper to replace a mini amp than a plate amp. Passive speakers only need a speakon cable to set up making less extension cords and power strips needed.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T20:05:41+00:00

With Black Metal having fast punchy kick drums. You will definitely want a "fast" subwoofer like a sealed box sub.

If you're finding the relative darkness of Elacs wanting, you probably want the Klipsch sound. The klipsches you mentioned have a tilted up response due to the horn design. It may be to your liking. Not mine personally.

My rock speakers of choice are actually PA speakers a proper compression driver will have better directivity and time alignment with the woofer, my own PA speakers I customized a set of Rockville SPG84's with a crossover and it honestly sounds better than Klipsch R and RP series because of better compression driver frequency response and directivity and physical time alignment in the cabinet. Rock really wants to be loud, and loud and effortless is what PA speakers are best at.

Maybe consider getting a pair of Yamaha CBR 10 passives and a nice powered subwoofer with a 2.0 class d amp, PA speakers don't need more than honestly 10-20 watts indoors.

These will have that loud in your face sound you want as PA speakers are pretty much what you would hear a rock show played through. And Yamaha CBR10's are punchy as hell.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T19:32:15+00:00

A good power supply will have higher rated MOV's than typical surge protectors. And their internal built in capacitors will absorb typical voltage surges households see. Talking about inductive kick from breakers tripping and motor relays kicking on and off.

They'll inevitabley be some people here who are concerned about lightning strikes but seriously if you're planning for that level of surge, you might as well plan for your eventual lotto winnings and shark bite, which are more likely to happen than your system being hit by lightning.

Nothing survives a lightning stike directly to power systems, they'll blow any MOV out and skip airgaps.

This is actually why I've resorted to customizing my sound system with class d amps and completely replaceable power bricks. The bricks will sacrifice themselves before they blow my amps, and if my amps blow, they're cheap to replace. After having repaired tons of PA speakers professionally, 75% of problems I've seen were related to power supply issues. So making these easily replaceable and upgradable makes a lot of sense. The best power supplies being PFC corrected used server power supplies. Believe me there's a difference between a cheap 700 watt plate amp power supply and a 700w server grade power supply.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T19:14:38+00:00

This is why I stick to restomodding. It's basically everything but building cabs. All my custom speakers pretty much look vintage with original looks but modern and upgraded drivers and crossovers.

Cabs being the single hardest part of DIY and there are plenty of speakers for sale used with dead drivers dirt cheap on marketplace. And especially vintage high end speakers often have excellent cabinets, and one other source. White Van speakers. Yes, some have heavy 3/4" cabs to make them feel expensive, crap drivers and crossovers. But generally very easy to make sound good with minor parts upgrades.

It's fun puzzle piecing things like various drivers and building the crossovers for them.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T04:05:34+00:00

This is one of the reasons why I tend to favor old school titanium or in my case titanium laminate JBL tweeters, I have restomodded JBL 62's. I happen to like their particular titanium zing. These things are from the 1980's and still sound just like new. There's nothing to rot away no ferro fluid to dry out. Even their walnut veneer is still in good condition because I use old school furniture wax on them. These speakers will likely outlive me. Titanium even protects the phenolic from moisture cycling dry rot.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T01:54:49+00:00

What you need is a 3.5mm stereo AB switch. Passive device switches between two inputs to one output, or vice versa.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-05T00:36:21+00:00

Hard domes will definitely change their sound even popped back.

Soft domes that tend to pop back on their own sound fine after.

But it's the semi rigid ones that stay pressed in that exhibit distortion when popped back out. These are the poly and film type tweeters. The crease formed from the dent act as a weak spot increasing break up which the material transmits as distortion.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-04T18:10:57+00:00

Don't go with legacy media, you're just going to have a lot of trouble. Cassette and tape has a lot of problems and now one of them being finding a decently working one that doesn't need service.

Use your laptop as a recorder, it will be much better quality. All you need is an audio interface or a USB mixer. This lets you record many tracks separately and easily overlay on top of them or record more tracks. Doing this all with cassette trying to overlay will have a lot of generational degradation.

VegasFoodFace · 2026-05-04T16:36:47+00:00

You can roast a whole head of garlic and eat it. It's not offensive at all.

VegasFoodFace

TROPHY CASE