# Passive PA speakers for HT.



## Guest

I know it's been asked before, and if I do a google search, their seems to be a few threads over at the AVS forums. Overall, their just doesn't seem to be a lot of solid information out their as to how good or bad of an ideal it would be.

I was wondering, if the Behringer EUROLIVE B212XL could work well for home theater speakers (assuming the space is available) hooked up to a home theater AVR.

They are very efficient (8ohm), and get good reviews on sound quality. Would the horn dispersion be too wide for home use?

Their really isn't a whole lot of fair priced efficient speakers on the market, and Klipsch cost a lot. I used to have Infinity SM series speakers and they were crazy efficient, and kind of sounded like PA speakers anyway, but Infinity doesn't offer anything close to them today.

If you think it would work, please explain why the horn dispersion wouldn't be too wide, of it you think it would be the worst ideal since the pet rock, please explain.

Thanks


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## mechman

Did you try them out and see how they responded? Let us know. :T


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## Guest

No, not yet. It was more of a pre-planning ideal. I was just looking for realistic affordable ways to get near the sensitivity I once had.

At the moment, I need to rush finish some speakers I started on. I messed up the boxes and need to start over, so I probably won't be wanting to touch anything else till at least spring time.

At first I'd probably play with the larger ones for full range use. Even if I didn't use them for HT, they could be used for garage tunes, gym tunes, outside theater. Just have one set of portable tunes that could get loud.


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## superedge88

What I would be wondering about is how the plastic cabinet will sound compared to a wooden one.


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## ironglen

Generic said:


> No, not yet. It was more of a pre-planning ideal. I was just looking for realistic affordable ways to get near the sensitivity I once had.
> 
> At the moment, I need to rush finish some speakers I started on. I messed up the boxes and need to start over, so I probably won't be wanting to touch anything else till at least spring time.
> 
> At first I'd probably play with the larger ones for full range use. Even if I didn't use them for HT, they could be used for garage tunes, gym tunes, outside theater. Just have one set of portable tunes that could get loud.


If you have a large, non-reflective room they might work. If you have a regular, non-treated room you may very well have problems. I hope someone with experience with this responds.

As an aside, I'd like to get a pair of similar performing speakers on the cheap for my garage/gym as I move around and my bookshelf speakers don't have good coverage at all.


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## Guest

This was more of an ideal. I don't think it will ever take off the ground, but later I might try a pair for out-door temp theaters. Use the mobility and ruggedness of the PA style speakers. I don't often have a need, but it has come up. I'm sure I could find more reasons if I actually owned a set.

As is, the more I remember and think about the 5.1 system I had, the more I realize, higher end 2.1 is really nice for movies too, not just music. I think I rather use any extra funds for DIY and slowly play with stereo and 2.1 projects. I think I rather gift a few stereo speakers then spend all the cash on surround sound.

I would like to play with a pair of these PA speakers some day, and if I do, I'll be sure to take some measurements. See if Behringer's ratings are realistic or not.

Thank you all for your post and information and ideals.


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## tesseract

Generic said:


> Would the horn dispersion be too wide for home use?


The dispersion is limited and would have less off axis radiation than a regular cone and dome design.



superedge88 said:


> What I would be wondering about is how the plastic cabinet will sound compared to a wooden one.


This would be my biggest concern, I would consider the Behringer a "fun" speaker and not a permanent fixture in a serious system. 



ironglen said:


> If you have a large, non-reflective room they might work. If you have a regular, non-treated room you may very well have problems. I hope someone with experience with this responds.


Constant directivity speakers work well in all rooms, and by virtue of the limited dispersion, less room treatments are needed. :T



Generic said:


> As is, the more I remember and think about the 5.1 system I had, the more I realize, higher end 2.1 is really nice for movies too, not just music. I think I rather use any extra funds for DIY and slowly play with stereo and 2.1 projects. I think I rather gift a few stereo speakers then spend all the cash on surround sound.


I use all pro drivers in a biamplified constant directivity 2.1 channel system for music and movies. Tons of fun, sounds a lot better than every cone and dome speaker I have ever owned. :flex:


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## superedge88

I use powered QSC KW122's as my front three in my home theater, and I don't believe I will ever go back to "home audio" level speakers, The soundstage is so live and dynamic, absolutely astonishing.


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## bukiwhitey

I use Yamaha DSR 112's for my Home Theater LCR. I absolutely love them for music and movies. I even have my turntable running through them.


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## Voxman101

I would look for something better !!!


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## ironglen

Voxman101 said:


> I would look for something better !!!


Better than what? Any suggestion while in the same price range to what you're referring to?

I want to pick up a used, smaller, full-range PA speaker for the garage: any suggestions?


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## ironglen

tesseract said:


> The dispersion is limited and would have less off axis radiation than a regular cone and dome design.
> 
> Constant directivity speakers work well in all rooms, and by virtue of the limited dispersion, less room treatments are needed. :T


I thought the dispersion was wider, being 70-90° in many cases, while traditional cones have a 'sweet spot' roughly 30-45°, with much lower output off-axis.


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## tesseract

ironglen said:


> I thought the dispersion was wider, being 70-90° in many cases, while traditional cones have a 'sweet spot' roughly 30-45°, with much lower output off-axis.


In practice, you want to achieve the same polar response as the woofer at the crossover point. Polars of a waveguided tweeter's response is generally less than the horn's spec. At 90°, the frequency response is usually rolled off, and starts to do so at around 30° or so.

Domes tweeters, on the other hand, have a much wider dispersion off axis.


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## jeffpr

how about the KRK 10-3? check it out.


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## hardeng

I've been using three Electro-Voice ELX112 speakers for L-C-R duty behind an acoustically transparent screen for the past six months or so. I've owned and tried NHT Fours with Three center, Paradigm monitor series, Martin Logan Electrostatics and Magnepan and the EV's are easily the best I've used. Very dynamic, super intelligible dialog and no hint of overload or distortion when the action gets going. I've found that setting to "Large" is best, then I can turn up the sub (SVS PB13 Ultra) a bit more than normal which is only doing the LFE channel.

They did take a couple of months to break in, I let them run during the day playing Galaxie music (smooth jazz channel 933 mostly). I didn't previously believe in speaker break in but I do now! the initial harshness is now gone and the bass is now much fuller. 

Pro-audio with large (12") bass-mid driver is the only way to go for home theater in my book. Hi-fi speakers with 5" drivers just don't cut it.


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## AudiocRaver

Electro-Voice makes some of the best sounding, most listenable Pro speakers I have heard. I can see them working great for HT.


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## Misfit

EV does make some really nice stuff, always been a fan. EAW is next level. 

"near-field" vs far. That's what it's all about, isn't it? Tweeters work well for close proximity, while horns can throw those waves really far distances. 

"Live" speakers have horns, for throw. Near field studio monitors are for being closer to. 

I _think_ tweeters are seriously clear, at lower sound pressure levels. I'm _pretty sure_ tweeters can't handle a huge amount of watts. On the other hand, I've seen horns rated for 200 watts RMS with 8.5 lb magnets. 

For a home theatre, I think money would be better spent on higher quality components and circuitry. The passive crossovers inside full-range speakers are extremely important. In my experience, passive crossovers in large PA speakers with horns don't sound very good. Active processing is more vital when dealing with these beasts.


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