Monitor70 Floorstanding enough for outdoor wedding?
Howdy guys. I'm getting married next summer and we're trying to save money wherever possible, and to be practical in what we use to throw the whole shindig. It's going to be pretty casual, aside from her dress, with everything taking place outdoors at my parents' house; tents, a dancefloor, and plenty of barbecue.
For music, I'd really like to take care of that myself. I know the safest bet would just be to rent some party sound equipment and call it a day, but if I can upgrade my own equipment for the same price it would cost to rent, well, I'm just trying to be practical.
I live in an apartment, so my major investments have been into headphones, dacs, and headphone amplifiers. My speakers for HT and listening-out-loud are four Polk bookshelves (previous generation RTis, single 5 1/2" woofer each) and a center. While this works in my apartment, I'm thinking this could sound pretty anemic outdoors at a good-sized party, a 100 people or so.
My question for the experts, has anyone here used floorstanding speakers to entertain outside? Would a pair of Monitor70s produce a full enough sound outdoors? If anyone has any experience trying this kind of thing, I'd appreciate your input, even if the common thought is to just rent some massive equipment and stop worrying.
If it helps, I don't really want to buy a standalone sub, because I would probably feel guilty using it in my apartment and keep it way too low to benefit anyway. I guess I'm not a real bass nut in general, and I'm not looking to broadcast for a half mile, but I want to make sure the sound outside won't be overly thin. Appreciate any thoughts!
For music, I'd really like to take care of that myself. I know the safest bet would just be to rent some party sound equipment and call it a day, but if I can upgrade my own equipment for the same price it would cost to rent, well, I'm just trying to be practical.
I live in an apartment, so my major investments have been into headphones, dacs, and headphone amplifiers. My speakers for HT and listening-out-loud are four Polk bookshelves (previous generation RTis, single 5 1/2" woofer each) and a center. While this works in my apartment, I'm thinking this could sound pretty anemic outdoors at a good-sized party, a 100 people or so.My question for the experts, has anyone here used floorstanding speakers to entertain outside? Would a pair of Monitor70s produce a full enough sound outdoors? If anyone has any experience trying this kind of thing, I'd appreciate your input, even if the common thought is to just rent some massive equipment and stop worrying.
If it helps, I don't really want to buy a standalone sub, because I would probably feel guilty using it in my apartment and keep it way too low to benefit anyway. I guess I'm not a real bass nut in general, and I'm not looking to broadcast for a half mile, but I want to make sure the sound outside won't be overly thin. Appreciate any thoughts!
Post edited by carton132 on
Comments
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Would a pair of Monitor70s produce a full enough sound outdoors? If anyone has any experience trying this kind of thing, I'd appreciate your input, even if the common thought is to just rent some massive equipment and stop worrying.
I wouldn't do it because if someone tried to turn up the volume loud enough for rock music while dancing, not just for casual listening while eating, then amp distortion and speaker damage might occur even without the operator noticing what is going on, since the sound is attenuated outdoors. Last year I refused to let my college kid take my four Monitor 70s outside on the porch for her birthday party. I encouraged her to buy some inexpensive DJ speakers instead.
Many years ago I used Model 10s outdoors and, frankly, the volume was dissapointing even with a 200wpc amp. But you might make an exception if the gathering was located inside a semi-enclosed patio space where you would have a least two walls for sound reflection.Living Room system: 52"HDTV, 4 Mon.70s, Epik Valor, Outlaw RR2150
Bedroom System: 2 Mon.60s,Velo VRP1200, HK3490 -
But you might make an exception if the gathering was located inside a semi-enclosed patio space where you would have a least two walls for sound reflection.
Thanks for the impression, it sounds like my hesitation may have been justified. No walls, just a lotta grass and a pond. I'll do some more research into DJ setups...even if I rent, at least I won't have to listen to a guy in a sequins tux play the chicken dance. -
Wedding! Exciting lol.
I was hoping you'd be getting a new rig out of this. I personally have turned my Monitor 70's pretty darn loud. Definitely loud enough for a rager inside my house but I'm not positive if they would be enough outdoors. Maybe. I have never pushed them that far.
The Bass response definitely got better with break in.HT and Music Rig
Receiver- NAD T765 HD
Mains- Polk Audio Monitor 70
Center- Polk Audio CS2
Surrounds side- Polk Audio Monitor 60
Sub- Polk Audio PSW505
Windows 7 Media Center
T.V.- 40" Sony Bravia LCD 1080P
Blu-Ray- 80 GB PS3 -
I think they could work fine for a dance floor and general "mood music" for a smaller wedding...
I just replaced my Monitor 70's with RTi A7's and I always used the Monitors for parties or BBQs. They would be inside in the livingroom and I would just open the slider to the backyard and crank it a bit more and you could clearly hear them outdoors.
Not to mention, you don't want the music to be TOO loud... Not everyone wants to hear blasting music for hours on end at a wedding. Let them rock the dance floor and still be enjoyable for everyone else that is not dancing at the moment. I HATE going to weddings where it's just some **** blasting music all night and you can barely talk to family and friends...
BTW, what are you going to drive them with? -
I think it will do just fine. You don't want to kill the wedding with club-level loudness . just make sure you have a good AVR or AMP
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I asked this exact same question a few months ago for my buddies wedding. He went a different route but we were planning monitor 70s and everything. My wedding is sunday but a DJ is taking care of that. Good luck.
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Single powered 15" speaker = $300.00 bucks
Plug an Ipod and roll with it.
Most have 400 watts per channel, 96db at 1w/1m - more than adequate for your application unless you have a band playing.- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
