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scored a nice pair of 96dB proel 8" 2 ways for $120 shipped

70.176.132.243

Posted on April 24, 2016 at 02:22:34
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016

i joined the asylum to try and give everyone a heads up on an amazing deal i scored at MCM electronics, but by the time i'd created this account, they were already sold out, so i guess i'll just share my experience and give a brief review.

the speakers are italian brand proel FLASH8P PA 2 ways rated at 96dB from 70-20kHz. they use celestion 8" woofers and titanium compression drivers and have re-enforced ported plastic cabinets.

i've been planning a bicycle trailer system around a pair of sealed 2x12" cabs with high efficiency woofers crossed over around 2,500Hz to 96dB $70ea air motion tweeters in a biamped system, but when i saw MCM had these for $50 each with a limited supply, i had to move as these will make better full range satellites that can be mounted on speaker posts where sealed 8" high efficiency drivers alone cost nearly as much without tweeters, crossovers and cabinets and don't go lower than 500Hz.

i'm using them nearfield with my PC using a cheap little technics receiver i bought used for $20. they were a great investment and seem to dig deeper than their 70Hz rating with far more bass than similarly rated, for frequency response, NHT super zeros. i have a hard time imagining finding a better pair of new speakers for the same price.

at the lower volume levels i'm using them, they sound a little thick and lacking in midrange low level resolution, but they have a nice smooth treble that clicks faster than soft domes, with a similar soft balance at low levels. i hesitate to call them hifi, at low levels, but they image decent enough nearfield with nice depth in particular and sound especially nice & smooth on sultry female vocals.

they took the better part of a week to open up to acceptable low level resolution, but overall are pretty satisfying with a very laid back sound that's neither spitty as i'd expect from a horn tweeter, nor as thin sounding as i'd expect from a speaker rated only down to 70Hz. they fare much more open sounding at volume from the brief snippets at higher volumes i've heard, an i expect that some of the thickening of the sound is due to the receiver which needs to be set at its lowest volume to get the best balance and air while sounding excessively warm pushing the volume control regardless of input level. they might sound a lot better with a class D amp.

bottom line, they were a steal at $100 for the pair. i can't picture anything else having as much top to bottom resolution and ease with reasonably neutral cabinets at the price, much less approach the efficiency.

these are my first pair of speakers rated higher than 91dB. i can't wait to toss them in a trailer and eventually plug their ports and add 2-4 sealed 12s as subs.

i only wish i'd gotten them sooner so i could give everyone a heads up on a great high efficiency satellite deal

 

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Bicycle Speakers?, posted on April 24, 2016 at 10:06:09
bare
Audiophile

Posts: 1877
Joined: April 14, 2009
Nawww ? A Bicycle Boom Box?
Headphones or even Ear buds are an alternative for Many.

 

street party bikes, posted on April 24, 2016 at 10:59:14
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016

first off, headphones are dangerous, especially here where drivers are such maniacs i've seen about half a dozen cars and SUVs FLIPPED on their roofs within city limits and second, it would totally defeat the purpose of a street party bike.

the music scene here SUCKS with only 2 kinds of music boomed... mexican hilbilly & gangsta crap. i intend to fight back with positive music you can actually dance to like:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwNu2dqMHag&index=6&list=PLITfP3d88mvYgvRRrxR525TQdsjJMCdDt[/url]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFCb34q28f8&index=20&list=PLITfP3d88mvYgvRRrxR525TQdsjJMCdDt[/url]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYf8fKyeeow&list=PLITfP3d88mvYgvRRrxR525TQdsjJMCdDt&index=43[/url]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSjhvdcU31w&index=49&list=PLITfP3d88mvYgvRRrxR525TQdsjJMCdDt[/url]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjneZAegGio&list=PLITfP3d88mvYgvRRrxR525TQdsjJMCdDt&index=79[/url]
&
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmvzTHYWYZQ&list=PLITfP3d88mvYgvRRrxR525TQdsjJMCdDt&index=54[/url]

ladies LOVE street party bikes! i once had a busty milf freak on my leg to my sharona back when i had the system in the picture. i plan on crusing downtown on club nights, at biking events, parades & tailgate parties etc. bringing all the great tunes ever sucker with crap taste in music won't play... as a public service, and in my battle to preserve TRUE hip-hop which has been dead since gangsta crap & techno ruined everything around 1989.

 

RE: street party bikes, posted on April 24, 2016 at 11:03:08
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016
OH... and a majority of street party bikes have lousy sound quality using cheap "coax" car speakers. even a lot of the car systems here sound like crap

 

RE: street party bikes, posted on April 25, 2016 at 17:14:36
hollowboy
Audiophile

Posts: 263
Location: Melbourne
Joined: June 26, 2007
The pictured system is sweet and simple. Is that a Dayton amp? I got one of these to build a country lo-fi system, and the amp is notably bass shy. You might find that you can get better bass from it if you research mods.

Also: the 'Boominator' threads are a good place to look for more ideas on battery powered portable systems.

 

RE: street party bikes, posted on April 25, 2016 at 20:04:23
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016

no, the amp is an original sonic impact... before dayton rebranded them and switched the color to black. it was a pretty nice sounding amp, but a bit on the cheap side. eventually, the spring terminals started to go on it from hooking it up bare wire every time i went out and i fried it. as to the simplicity of the system, i was most proud of figuring out using the basket bungees as shock absorbers for the CD player.

i wouldn't call the amp bass shy. even with those 85dB missions with their ports plugged, i could feel my bike frame vibrate and got a sunbathing chick up and dancing over 100 feet away on a bike path, but 10w real world can only do so much.

the new system, as i'm planning it, will use a 2x100w sure amp for the mains, and a 1 x 200w going into 4 x 12" high efficiency woofers in a pair of sealed car boxes unless it turns out aluminum fabricators charge NASA prices. the trailer i want has 28 1/2" between the wheels and the sub boxes are 14"w x 28"l so wood isn't an option. if an aluminum frame is too much, i'll use wood and 10s instead.

i kind of miss the old system. it brings up memories of a hot busty MILF freaking on my leg to my sharona while i tried to keep the top heavy system from tipping over.

the new system will not only be a lot louder, but more comfortable too with a nice cushy seat recumbent like this

 

RE: street party bikes, posted on April 25, 2016 at 20:36:07
hollowboy
Audiophile

Posts: 263
Location: Melbourne
Joined: June 26, 2007
The boominators are plywood and come in at <30kg (including amp and batteries). Clever construction rather than expensive materials: the woofers are glued back-to-back to cancel vibration & so that the woofer frames double as cabinet bracing.

A lean cyclist with a 30kg trailer should get around more easily than a non-cyclist with a 30kg belly :)

Curiosity: where exactly are you going to use this?

 

RE: street party bikes, posted on April 25, 2016 at 21:08:19
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016
my ultimate plan will have 4 x 12s facing upwards with the mains facing forwards. i've seen a different version of the boominator and don't like the name. it sounds like ports and i hate ports. oh, that's right, i replied in the DIYaudio boominator thread and said i'm working on a thumpinator. i prefer SQ and especially transients over extension.

where do i plan on using the system? biking events, tailgate parties, downtown when all the clubs are blasting lousy gangsta crap and other forms of spitting, and parades. i'd cruise the bike paths here, but they're very sparsely populated and not too scenic either.

in theory... 96dB x 64w should = 117dB with even higher efficiency AND power to the subs, but i'm not planning on maxing the power out unless people really get into it and want to dance.

hauling the system won't be an issue, i've used another trailer and same model bike to haul almost everything i owned over 10 miles a trip between storage and my apartment 3-4 trips a day with no problem including hauling 50 gallon tubs filled with soil. staying on flats and running high tire pressures is the key. that's why i'm avoiding plastic rims for this trailer system.

 

UPDATE: they're sounding much more open now, posted on April 28, 2016 at 21:30:44
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016
apparently the speakers are taking much longer to break in than they should because i'm not pushing them at all. the midrange has opened up a lot and is now quite acceptable and not as thick and mushy sounding. i bet they'd REALLY open up pushed by at least a full watt. they weren't really designed for low level nearfield use.

i'm so glad i jumped on them and kind of wish i'd bought another pair now.

maybe i should go back to "blasting" white noise through them all night some more.

 

RE: UPDATE: they're sounding much more open now, posted on May 2, 2016 at 13:06:39
freddyi
Audiophile

Posts: 3852
Joined: December 6, 2001
what type of surround is on the woofer ? - WOW - those were a give-away in price ! can't find them cheap anymore
Karlson Evangelist

 

woofer surrounds, posted on November 11, 2016 at 23:56:05
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016
the woofers have the typical cloth accordion surrounds of high efficiency woofers

 

UPDATE: november 2016 they sound even better now, posted on November 12, 2016 at 00:38:43
thump
Audiophile

Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016
i finally got a class D car amp (planet audio 4 channel) and have the speakers hooked up to it sourced by my xduoo player. the combination is much nicer sounding than my PC's soundcard and that crusty old 20wpc receiver i bought used.

while i'm on the subject, both the xduoo media player playing uncompressed WAVs as well as the planet audio amp are nice source components. i was particularly surprised at how nice the amp sounds. it is tight and detailed as i've come to expect from class D, but not at all clinical sounding, but nicely neutral with just a hint of sweetness, even with the titanium compression tweeters.

the proels STILL sound thin with everything set to flat, but otherwise are VERY neutral and uncolored sounding. they could easily hold their own against entry level bookshelf speakers, especially if you only have a 1 watt amp. the tweeters don't spit & hiss and the midrange isn't sluggish. in fact, i'd say their midrange is their greatest strength. vocals sound very nice on the proels.

in fact, i've heard details on them on tracks i've heard dozens of times on various speakers and even headphones! i was amazed to hear a female "ooooohhh woooo" vocal pop out of a busy part of malcom mclaren's "un coche de agua negra". i've owned a cassette of it for nearly 20 years by now and have heard it played on JBLs, superzeros & energy RC10s on panasonic class D, and any number of headphones including using the apparently digitally sourced youtube video using the same souncard i digitized it with.

i've also listened to the herbalizer's "scratchy noise" dubbed off a CD on headphones many times, but couldn't believe i was missing a faint sort of echo off the kalimba sounding percussion riff! that's some really nice low level linearity when ANY speaker can embarrass headphones in detail retrieval!

i'm so glad i rolled the dice based on price and the little bit of research i could dig up on them. proels are NOT MTX grade toys! if you partner them with a subwoofer, you could have a nice little house party system with low distortion hi-fi aspirations. i can see why they list for $500. those celestions are great little drivers though maybe just a LITTLE BIT mid-forward, especially on some snare drum tracks. otherwise, they perform a disappearing act better than any PA speakers i've ever heard unless you count klip$ch maybe. they also image nicely with a very solid center and not at all shabby depth with a treble that can click faster than a soft dome, but not sound edgy like entry level aluminum domes.

if you EVER see a pair selling for $100... GRAB THEM IMMEDIATELY!

if you're looking for a portable PA system, i would still call them a bargain at $200 for the pair. they're a lot easier to get to ear level than regular PA speakers, and i'd dare say few 10"+ PA speakers could keep up with the effortless midrange of the smaller 8s or the waveguides that don't shriek like typical PA horns.

i will be mating them with a 15" JBL GT15 sub in a 1.9 cubic foot SEALED box in my bike trailer system. i doubt ANY similar system can keep up with both the sound quality AND output of the combo seeing so many of them use cheap shriek & spit car speakers. there used to be a UK trailer system that might be louder with its multiple (*cough cough cough*) ported woofers, but it lacked midranges and used piezo tweeters that are no match for my titanium waveguides with boomy bass that can't thump like i'll be able to. the 15" might not be as quick as smaller woofers, but it will have a 1.15Q (JBL recommended) and with a 14mm xmax, be able to move a lot of air in the minimal space needed to make my light show happen. that, and it'll be a lot lighter than the 4x12s i originally intended.

if you want to know more about the system, pop over to its thread here:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=general&m=720905
where you can SEE the gear i'll be using with more in depth descriptions of everything along with the reveal of my "secret weapon" lighting innovation that, combined with the HQ sound system will make it the coolest street party system IN THE WORLD, until someone puts a lot more money into one and/or comes up with NEW innovations.

 

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