Hi Seanie,

I've read with interest your dance room reports for a couple of years now. The BANG&OLUFSEN approach when it comes to dance music is sooooooo the wrong way to go. They have never been designed for this. Coming from the dance radio industry, you really need professional broadcast speakers. Have a look at the Pioneer XY series. They are available in different sizes and are more than capable of powering your dance room. I found the BeoCentre a very weird choice for a dance room. Have you thought of two Pioneer CDJs with your MacBook/iPhone/USB stick?

Have a look at this video. Also for a nightclub room, check out the Bose 802 pro speakers. At under £2000, they are practically bomb proof in terms of exceptionally high volume levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_SINLLmFaU&list=UUg70JR8kcR0fTdarQf9xj_w

I have to also consider day to day this room is part of my house and needs to look nice. I cannot have the Bose as they would stand out like a sore thumb I think.

Hi Seanie,

The Pioneer X & Y would be fantastic for your room in terms of looks as they are available in white too. For club use and pro use, these are now regarded as the industry standard.

It's very bizarre that your speakers aren't coping with the loud bass levels. I used BOSE AM5 accoustimass speakers in a club room in my house for over 15 years and never damaged them once - even with the bass and treble n max (using Technics amps). Maybe you could try them at £400 for the set.

Have you not considered the beolab 20?? They sound and look amazing when i demoed them i was blown away.

Hi Mark,

I think we are talking really high volume levels here and the Bang&Olufsen speakers with their built in amps are just not able to take this pressure - they overheat. It kind of reminds me of putting a non athlete on a treadmill for five hours and expecting him to run top speed for the full amount of time! It's a totally different environment - B&O are lovely, really lovely for pleasant listening but what Seanie needs is something a little more tough.

Crikey - you must play your music loud!

I had four Penta's once in a room and that was amazing as the bass is massively deep (Swedish House Master particularly good)  - would 4 of these be good if you had decent ones (i.e refoamed etc) ?

How big is your dance/music room?

If you have the space you could connect a powerlink active to a poweramp and install 2 Klipsch La Scala speakers or the version that must be put into the corners of a room.

http://www.klipsch.com/la-scala-ii-floorstanding-speaker

You should listen to them if they suit to modern dance music. If they sound good to your ears, you'll never have to worry again about damaged speakers.

Klipsch La Scala and its corner-put (I don't know the english name for it) cousin are well known for the pure power due to the horn loaded construction!
If you want to listen to rock concerts at their original volume levels, this is the speaker to go.
Before you damage these speakers they will damage your room. 😁

They do look ugly, yes, but this could bring the power you want to your room. Give them a listen if they suit to your desired music.

Jeff wrote:

I was going to mention Klipsch's as well. The corner one you mention is the Klipschhorn. It was the first speaker Paul Klipsch marketed back in the 50s. It's been modernized, better drivers and horns, and is over 104 db/watt efficient. These things will part your hair with a 10 watt amp.

Something like this or a Pro type speaker are the only things that will survive the abuse given for a dance room kind of application. Any and all normal audiophile speakers are not designed for this, you need a speaker that can handle large current amounts for long periods of time without overextending or burning out drivers. Sadly none of them will have the style of B&O, but the Klipsch stuff is available in various kinds of wood, and are furniture grade in their cabinets.

Seconded.  A very high efficiency passive speaker like a Klipschorn, or a very efficient active pro speaker would beat almost all audiophile speakers I could think of for a dance room application.

Additionally, a room full of people will act as excellent sound absorption, so an very efficient speaker system (Db sound output for watts input) would be de riguer IMHO.

John.. 😐

I once saw a picture of a guy's home theater that had 4 Khorns and a LaScala for a center channel. He was driving them with a Carver Sunfire home theater amp that could put out 1000 watts peak on each of 5 channels. I figured he could implode a bowling ball at the listening position.😉😎 One thing I've heard said about large horn speakers is that instead of a "you are there" experience, the give you more of a "they are here" experience. There are numerous pluses and minuses with horns, but I will say that for dynamic attacks like from drums and such, nothing can equal the snap your head back impact of horns.

BTW, 121 dB is excruciatingly loud.

Here are the Khorn specs: