Why are DJ speakers so high in watts?

[eveares]

While I know you can not determine the loudness by a speakers wattage and that it is merely a power measurement, why are DJ speakers normally 300-1000w per speaker?

Does the wattage in DJ speakers go more towards sound quality or wattage, or are they just inefficient compared to hi-fi speakers?

Would a 50w or 100w hi-fi speaker get drained out in a big hall etc...?

 

[Lucid]

Because most of the time the wattage figures are a complete fiction.


DJ speakers are designed for robustness, not for fidelity. With good brands of speakers then that equates to the amount of punishment the speaker can withstand before frying a voice coil. Actually, it's not quite as black & white as that because distortion of the source signal plays a major part in how quickly a speaker can be wrecked: Hence why it's better to drive a speaker with a far more powerful amp which is just cruising along rather than an underpowered amp thrashing its guts out.


Hi-Fi speakers will work just fine in a large hall, but probably won't go as loud and certainly won't be happy with the amount of distortion being generated by a typical DJ source/amp combination.

 

[StudWall]

DJ speakers of course need to be loud. You'd be amazed at just how much volume comes from a low wattage.

 

[Sam Gangee]

The only meaningful measure is Watts continuous RMS. If "continuous RMS" is missing then the figure is fantasy.

 

[OwainDIYer]

The only meaningful measure is Watts continuous RMS. If "continuous RMS" is missing then the figure is fantasy.

aka Argos Watts.

 

[Lucid]

aka Argos Watts.

Shurely shome mishtake?............ Isn't PMPO Argos Watts?


"Yeah man, got me this bangin' surround system. Prolly bit more then (sic) I planned to spend, but top gear costs money. Got everyfin' tho. Blu-ray, free-dee, Bloo-tooff, and 1000 Watts, init. £190, man. Top"

 

[OwainDIYer]

aka Argos Watts.

Shurely shome mishtake?............ Isn't PMPO Argos Watts?

Argos Watts referred to fantasy, not RMS.

 

[ericmark]

This intrigues me what is a DJ speaker? For a large building I would expect 100 volt line speakers which reduces the losses in the cables. This can either used transformers or special speakers.

Watts RMS and PEP are clearly very different. But my radio with 300mW speaker and 2.5W output can run happy from a set of 8 C type batteries. But once I add amplifiers than the power required jumps.

Ohms law means at 30W output at 12 volt I do need a 5A fuse or it will blow.

At 230 volt at 1000W that is 4 amp or there about, and the idea of supplying that power to an amplifier seems daft. Clearly 1000W speaker does not need a 1000W amplifier but even with a 100 volt supply line and high impedance speakers the current involved would cause problems and so would the matching of 300 ~ 3000 Hz would be a problem when using so much power.

I know my father Wurlitzer Organ had a switch for domestic, small hall, and large hall to reduce the volume available when not required. Set to large hall it could as one would expect give ample volume and this was just 100W why anything would require more than 100W I don't know. May be Glastonbury uses 10kW P.A. system but that is rather an extreme case and I am sure far more than 10 speakers are used.

The problem with any large speakers is the sound level near the speakers. For HiFi then to ensure all the sound is synchronised there is often no option but to use large speakers. But with P.A. systems using many small speakers means the DB sound levels near any speaker are not going to exceed safe limits so for P.A. systems many speakers and low power is the norm.

 

[Lucid]

This intrigues me what is a DJ speaker?

Now come on ericmark, try not to be so obtuse. He's talking about the sort of speakers that DJs use. You'll have seen them used at parties, discos, wedding receptions etc which I'd be astounded if you haven't ever been to one of those type events at some point in your life. So it's a P.A. system as you rightly say later.

I know my father Wurlitzer Organ had a switch for domestic, small hall, and large hall to reduce the volume available when not required. Set to large hall it could as one would expect give ample volume and this was just 100W why anything would require more than 100W I don't know. May be Glastonbury uses 10kW P.A. system but that is rather an extreme case and I am sure far more than 10 speakers are used.

I know quite a few Hi-Fi enthusiasts who run valve systems that output less than 5W but the sound from the speakers is huge. That's much more to do with efficiency, so they'd argue that you don't need 100W.

The thing that's perhaps useful to remember is that not every system or room is the same. Sound dissipates significantly over distance and it requires far more power to generate the same Sound Pressure Level in a large hall compared to a sitting room.

The crux of the question is about the published specs of the speakers. My guess is that we're talking about the sort of speakers commonly sold as starter kits for DJs.

 

[AdrianUK]

aka Argos Watts.

Shurely shome mishtake?............ Isn't PMPO Argos Watts?


"Yeah man, got me this bangin' surround system. Prolly bit more then (sic) I planned to spend, but top gear costs money. Got everyfin' tho. Blu-ray, free-dee, Bloo-tooff, and 1000 Watts, init. £190, man. Top"

Just like those PC speakers from a few years back .... claiming 200W "music power" yet running of a 200mA 9V walwart...... Hmmmmm...