Well, I can give you a bit of basic help as regards to speakers et al. My training in audio stuff is from a live theatre perfromance reinforcment/playback angle so it may or may not be that helpful in the DJ'n parties world.

First off we will give some loose (and possibly a bit off) definitions of speaker terms you are asking about.

Speakers are just that. Any type of speakers for whatever application. They are the last link in the chain that takes a recording and allows you to hear them.

Amplifiers are the electronic device which takes the weaker signals used between playback/mixing devices and makes the signal powerful enough to "drive" the speakers.

Monitors is a term for any speaker or headphones that are used to listen to "monitor" all of or a portion of the sound being recorded or played back. Most of the time on here "monitors" are referring to "Studio Monitors" which are speakers designed to be used in a recoring studio type environment.

Those are the basic categorical definitions as I see them..now to get into the melding of the stuff.

You basically need an amplifier and a speaker (or a pair if you want stereo lol) to create your preffered batch of noise.

That being said you have some differnet options (I won't go into detail about all of them because it gets confusing and I am already getting tired of writing). Speakers (monitors included) are sold in two types, Passive and Active. A Passive speaker is any speaker that requires an outside amplifier to create the sound. Your home stereo speakers are going to be passive speakers. Active speakers are self powered, meaning they have an amplifier integrated into them so you will run a signal level cable and an electric power cable into the speaker btu it requires no separate amplification.

Depending upon what scale of system you are looking for you will need to decide what is the most useful and cost effective solution for your needs. In most cases these days, a pair of Active speakers will do you very well because you do not need to spend the extra money for a separate amplifier(s) or the cabling that goes with connecting them to speakers. "Power Level" (the signal level of amplifier to speaker connections) is the most expensive per foot of all types of cable because it contains the most copper. An active speaker also requires a less powerful amp (the internal one) than an external one because there is no need to augment the signal that is invariably going to be lost over a long cable run.

I could go on for days with the complexities of the setup options you have, most of which are going to be slightly outdated and probably pretty esoteric so I will leave it at that.

I recommend you go to your local GuitarCenter or other store which sells PA equipment and talk to a rep there abotu what you are looking for and what you have. They will be able to steer you into the best solution for what you ask for.

One shameless plug though...if you are just planning on listening at home, the M-Audio BX5 monitors (active) are supa supa nice. They have a very nice frequency response for a speaker as small as they are. One of the best 300 dollar purchases I have ever made

MrS

___________________
Click the sig to see MrSquirrel

-"Reality" is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.

wow thanks, thats a lot of information. So it sounds like for a mobile dj I would want active speakers-right? Anybody know of any speakers/amps that would be strong enough for a house parties or dances or weddings and arent ridiculously expensive. I need a full package that will last me for a few years hopefully but i dont really want to spend more than $600 but if that is impossible I could go more.

If you can fork out $800 i would seriously check out the b52 Matrix system. It sounds pretty good except the highs can be alittle high but easy enough to eq out.

___________________

quote:

Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. He who laughs last thinks slowest!

quote:

Originally posted by DjTiberius wow thanks, thats a lot of information. So it sounds like for a mobile dj I would want active speakers-right? Anybody know of any speakers/amps that would be strong enough for a house parties or dances or weddings and arent ridiculously expensive. I need a full package that will last me for a few years hopefully but i dont really want to spend more than $600 but if that is impossible I could go more.

In all honesty, I will almost always recommend an active system these days for the simple fact that running mic cables is so much easier than speaker cables and you can almost always find an outlet. The added bonus of the lower wattage amps in the active systems is that they do not require the amount of power a typical power amp will and thus in a situation where you are not sure of what you will have, the chance of blowing a fuse is much less.

I do not knw of any good mobile systems on the market right now in the powered area. Powered speakers were just coming to the market when I last paid attention to what was available. I would honestly go and look at a Guitar Center. Sometiems they have used equipment as well as new. They also have "magic dust" as the salesman I usually run into cals it, that they can use to haggle the price down a bit.

One thing I forgot to ask about your system...do you have balanced outputs? (either XLR or 1/4" phone plugs) or is it just rcas? If it is just RCAs it changes the outlook a bit because you have extremely limited cable lengths in an unbalanced setup.

I can get technogeeky about balanced and unbalanced for days as well. Hehe.

Señor chex obviously knows more abotu the current way of things than I, so follow his logic possibly.



MrS

___________________
Click the sig to see MrSquirrel

-"Reality" is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.

no i have 1/4" phone plugs i believe that come out of the pio efx-500. so since i have those i cna run more cable lenght right? do u happen to know a reasonable price for a complete active system. And how many speakers should i have for the type of thing im talking about