[Outreach Relief]

Longtime internet lurker, admirer of headfi information that's out there on these forums, and first-time poster because none of it, I find, suitably answers my question.

Soon my fiancee and I will be employed at a downtown drop-in center for the struggling marginalized.

As the director of this drop in and I share a similar interest in music therapy we would like to play music for relaxation for those struggling with many afflictions.

The room that we will be playing in is, if I need to overestimate a bit, 30 feet by 32 feet. I am not sure how tall the room is but is lofty. The room is of old/cheap wood on all sides + plaster.

I have insufficient information to know the frequency response of my audio source, a lenovo ideapad 310 except that it's "Dolby Audio."

We'll be playing all sorts of ambient/downtemp: house, techno, trance, jungle/drum n bass, idm, experimental/leftfield, dub, psy, drone, modern classical, minimal.

We'll also be playing all sorts of chill out such as instrumental hip hop, jazz rap, acid jazz, nu/future jazz, trip hop, jazzdance, soul-jazz, latin, synth-pop, R&B, soul, funk.

As to persons in attendance, we're not sure the numbers. There are so many people who visit the the drop in on a daily basis. We wish to extend the bass as deep as possible and have audio clarity and balance.

We are hoping the bass response can be felt. We do not wish a permanent installation.

... asking the community here to provide offer some excellent suggestions for speakers and sub(s). We also asking suggestions for the very best dac and dac model for the job.

As I said, I've been lurking on various forums and so far the best solutions I've found, and I admit I know virtually nothing is a klipsch promedia 2.1 with a schiit dac (though unclear as to which one, we won't be keeping the equipment on all the time..) or krk rokit 8's plus a krk sub 10s.

I have no idea whatsoever if these are good options for the dimensions of the room or for what I am expecting for those visiting for music relaxation.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I have insufficient information to know the frequency response of my audio source, a lenovo ideapad 310 except that it's "Dolby Audio."

Forget that and just get a stereo receiver that takes digital inputs or can access a hard drive on its own. Nowadays there are Network Stereo Receivers that can hook up to the LAN and access a hard drive in that same network, control can be via smartphone app. Best part is, if bass is important to you, some of these have dedicated subwoofer outputs. You're going to need an amp to drive the speakers anyway, you might as well get one that has these bonus features and is fairly new so reliability isn't a gamble.

We are hoping the bass response can be felt. We do not wish a permanent installation.

Network receiver
https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-R-N30...5200&sr=8-11&keywords=Network+Stereo+Receiver

Tower speakers (relatively high sensitivity, so you get louder with less power input, and otherwise decent performance on other parameters)
https://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio...id=1510325496&sr=8-16&keywords=tower+speakers

Subwoofers (get two of these; use a splitter RCA adapter from the single RCA subwoofer output on the network receiver)
https://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio...d=1510325894&sr=1-2&keywords=Dayton+subwoofer

 

[Outreach Relief]

thank you. i just read cnet reviews, I'm not sure if cnet is credential but I've found them helpful, and these seem and to be excellent/the best option!

 

[Outreach Relief]

I'm wondering if more bass is necessary to have the impact and incredible low end that some of the styles listed above "demand." If so, how many these SUB-1500's would arrive at max results. I'm sure two would be enough but just checking. As I was lurking through the net I saw that most pa systems for bass heavy applications have a two to one rule (two subs one top and most of these subs are dual 18's or 21's!) Do the same rules apply for stereo speakers and subs like these?

edit: I'm just perusing the Dayton website and youtube and I'm seeing some useful and things-ridiculous coming out of the useful information; I learned about the ultimax series, they seem better than the sub-1500's suggested (lower extension, better punch, and the sub-1500 has foam that will erode in 15-20 years...the reviewers say.)

Ultimax has an 18'' version. All ultimax are diy-built. I see that they can be purchased from the parts-express website and that most people who use them power them properly with iNuke 6000W amplifiers. For those who want quiet amplifiers they replace the iNuke fans with Vantac Stealth Model SF025L (for the record.)

And now I watched some guy with his friends nearly destroying his home because he build custom home-theater versions, dual 18'' one on each side... and some other guy building a "g style sub box," which seems to be the same type as the house destroyer's cabinet (though they seem smaller.) Anyways, for speakers, klipsch floorstanding are suggested for subs.

Some more information to make a good decision would be helpful. The original response is properly thought out. Thank you in advance. I'm thankful that someone responded at all!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'm wondering if more bass is necessary to have the impact and incredible low end that some of the styles listed above "demand." If so, how many these SUB-1500's would arrive at max results. I'm sure two would be enough but just checking.

Well, you're working in a relatively low income area, right? Find the black SUV (usually an Escalade or Navigator) with gold Spinnerz that drives around at night and you'll probably see two 12in subwoofers each driven by at least 500watts blasting bass beats about life in da hood (if it's not playing any music, take cover when the windows roll down, especially now they'd have a reason because your job might reduce the number of potential recruits from the teens in the area). In any case, the general rule is to have the largest sub you can fit where you want it (not really a problem in your case) to get as deep into the low bass as possible, an enclosure that maximizes the sensitivity/efficiency if not also boosting a certain frequency range, and as much power handling on the subwoofer drivers and as much power as you can push into them from an amp.

Home audio powered subs typically have less power handling because 1) they're not designed to get your neighbours to call the cops on you every time you watch Star Wars, 2) not for letting everyone in a 6-block radius know that you're driving around in a totally pimped up ride (much less joining an EMMA or IASCA car audio event, some of which just put an SPL meter inside a car with windows closed just to see how loud each gets depending on enclosure design and amplifier power class). Not that you won't be able to find such a sub, ie, some people build their own theater rooms to keep the noise in, so while the market is small, it's there. Something like this subwoofer:
http://velodyneacoustics.com/subwoofers/digital-drive-plus-15.html

If there's a custom car audio shop near you (ie, like where them gangstaz get their rides pimped) you can buy raw drivers and high power plate amps, and then have them design a large transmission line enclosure for each of the 15in subwoofers. The kind that normally gets built into a panel van for no other purpose than to get a shop attention at car audio events.

As I was lurking through the net I saw that most pa systems for bass heavy applications have a two to one rule (two subs one top and most of these subs are dual 18's or 21's!) Do the same rules apply for stereo speakers and subs like these?

You have to take into account a lot of other concerns for that.

1) The bass playin in da club has to be very, very, very loud (to the point where everything else is hard to hear). This is because it gets people to dance and not talk, so they can sell more cocktails or overpriced bottled water. Or ecstasy, since the bass really can get them to orgasm if they're high enough, making them dehydrated enough to buy more overpriced water.

2) Da clubs have larger dancefloors with high ceilings plus the bar area.

edit: I'm just perusing the Dayton website and youtube and I'm seeing some useful and things-ridiculous coming out of the useful information; I learned about the ultimax series, they seem better than the sub-1500's suggested (lower extension, better punch, and the sub-1500 has foam that will erode in 15-20 years...the reviewers say.)

Ultimax has an 18'' version. All ultimax are diy-built. I see that they can be purchased from the parts-express website and that most people who use them power them properly with iNuke 6000W amplifiers. For those who want quiet amplifiers they replace the iNuke fans with Vantac Stealth Model SF025L (for the record.

If you're going to use more than those subs you'll need more speakers to handle the rest of the range, and more power and amp channels too. Also I just suggested the subs above because I'm trying to keep costs down. If that isn't a problem I'd say get two of the Velodynes I linked above. Or two JLAudio Gothams.

And now I watched some guy with his friends nearly destroying his home because he build custom home-theater versions, dual 18'' one on each side... and some other guy building a "g style sub box," which seems to be the same type as the house destroyer's cabinet (though they seem smaller.) Anyways, for speakers, klipsch floorstanding are suggested for subs.

Not sure what you mean by "G-Style" - is that the shape of the air tube from the rear of the driver to the outside of the box, ie, a horn enclosure, or is that lingo akin to "G-Unit?" Or they could have linked that G-Unit lingo to it [recisely because of the shape of the horn.

In any case the enclosure plays a part in how deep the sub can go, so again, if you have access to anybody who can build the box, then that's an option.