Advice on Decent Speakers and Amp for a New DJ home setup

nixusr

New Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
So after listening to dnb for the past 18 years I've decided to buy some tables and give spinning a go. I've been doing a ton of research and my home setup is almost ready to get fired up. The last items I need is a pair of good speakers and an amp. A friend of a friend that has already been spinning liquid for 2 years says to just find some good used home stereo speakers and an amp. Not sure if I should go this route or just buy new. If I buy new my budget is $100 per speaker until I really get going.

This is what I have so far:
Xone22 mixer
(2) Numark TTXs
(2) Shure M44Gs
(2) Technic Headshells
...and a stack of various oldschool jungle, liquid and jump up records.

I dont have headphones yet but I'm researching a good pair to get too.

I found a pair of Gemini PA speakers but really have no clue yet what to get:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gemini-GSM-1260-12--PA-Speaker-582952-i1470733.gc

Any feedback would be fresh.....Thanks!
 
Rokits have always done me well. They can pump quite nicely but theyre not too great for anything besides bedroom mixing.
 
I cant follow the link on your original post, but from the looks of it theyre 12 inch speakers yeah?

You really dont need anything that big for home studio use, coupled with the fact gemini stuff is a waste of money. Save, for the time being.

As Deadbult said, check out the rokits. There are also a decent amount of cheaper monitor speakers out there that will suffice.

You also need to consider where your speakers will go in your room. How close will they be to your head? Are you gonna put them on a desk and angle them up?
 
IMO the placement of speakers is at least important as the speaker itself. I got some pretty sweet speakers, sound lovely when I am sat at my desk, but when I DJ they are both on my right, and it doesn't sound like it should, which fucks me over royally.

Bear that in mind, small speakers in the right place is probably better than better speakers in the random place you can fit them
 
I cant follow the link on your original post, but from the looks of it theyre 12 inch speakers yeah?

You really dont need anything that big for home studio use, coupled with the fact gemini stuff is a waste of money. Save, for the time being.

As Deadbult said, check out the rokits. There are also a decent amount of cheaper monitor speakers out there that will suffice.

You also need to consider where your speakers will go in your room. How close will they be to your head? Are you gonna put them on a desk and angle them up?

Good looking out everybody on the feedback!

Yeah I messed up on adding the link but yup they are the gemini 12s. The more I research this the more I'm getting a better understanding.

My office/studio is about 10X10X10. Space is a bit limite but I planned on having the speaker about 3 feet away on either side. As far as angle...no plan to angle them since I wasnt thinking of that.

As luck would have it, my coworker has some home stereo speakers he is going to give me but didnt mention brand. So I'm going to look at them soon and see if they will do until I can get something better in time.

Sounds like I can actually do with monitors or home speakers. I just realized the person that told me not to get Rokits for djing is a total novice so I may just got back down that route.

Im getting anxious to fire these tables up so I just need to be a bit more patient so I make choice.
 
monitors are important if you are producing and need to hear every single sound as it should be in a mixdown, much less important for mixing. You can get by with home speakers very comfortably and save yourself a lot of money in the process.

saying that it is nice to dj with monitors
 
Check out Why Buy New. Got my rokit's off there and they were pretty much brand new, mind condish for about 70 quid off retail price.
 
monitors are important if you are producing and need to hear every single sound as it should be in a mixdown, much less important for mixing. You can get by with home speakers very comfortably and save yourself a lot of money in the process.

saying that it is nice to dj with monitors

+1

I practice with a good quality 2.1 separates home cinema system built from good deals on gumtree. Beats the shit outta monitors for the price.

If you can, put them up high either side of your setup, angled in so the tweeters are level with your ears. You'll hear everything much more clearly and dont need it half as loud.
 
+1

I practice with a good quality 2.1 separates home cinema system built from good deals on gumtree. Beats the shit outta monitors for the price.

If you can, put them up high either side of your setup, angled in so the tweeters are level with your ears. You'll hear everything much more clearly and dont need it half as loud.


As luck would have it, my coworker kicked me down 2 Sony home stereo speakers and like 20 feet of stereo wire. Can't believe it. They look to be in great condition but I wont know how they sound until I get an amp or receiver.

Got any insight on an amp to use?

I definitely have Rokits on the list for the near future once I start in on the music production side. Can't wait to get cranked up!

Thanks for your help so far man!
 
Production wise I'd go for something other than the rokits. They are quite bass heavy on the EQ, not truly flat, which you NEED in a set of monitors.
Take a look at the Yamaha HS80's, they are gorgeous on the ears.

As far as a stereo amp goes;
What are the ratings for the speakers you have? It should tell you on a sticker on the rear of the device next to the speaker terminals.
This'll give you a good idea what they can handle and ultimately which amp will be suitable.

As a general rule I'd go with a stereo amp from the likes of NAD, Rotel, Cambridge audio, etc.

Keep your eyes on the second hand market in your local area and you should be able to pick one of these up for peanuts.

I managed to bag a Cambridge audio stereo amp for £35 the other day. Bargain :D
 
Thanks again for the advice! I took a look at the back of the speakers and they are rated at 200 watts each. So now I know I should look for a stereo amp at around 400 watts.

This weekend I will look around at a few local pawn shops. I should be able to find a decent stereo amp for sure.
 
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