Karaoke Forums

Hi,

Should I use speakers that are advertised/designed specifically for karaoke such as BMB, Vocopro or DJ/PA speakers from Yamaha, EV, Roland, etc.? What are the differences between them, if any? Hi-Fi speakers don't work well for karaoke, why?

Thanks.

There are no speakers "designed especially for karaoke". Well, I take that back. They may have been designed for karaoke in the sense that they are designed to remove dollars from unsuspecting karaoke lovers pockets.

Regular PA speakers are what you want -- "DJ speaker" is just another name for that. There are many speakers that work well -- the key is to match your speaker to the amp that is going to be driving it.

I guess the first question is what is the intended use?  If it is for home and private parties, then those "karaoke" speakers may be just fine.  I had a pair of the RSQ speakers and they were geat for home use (much better than my home theatre towers).  Now if you are using this for a pro application, Professional cabs are the only way to go.  You will also need they typical pro gear such as a mixer, amps (if using non powere cabs) key changer (if none on the player), decent microphones, effects unit, AV swicht, etc.

If you just want to sign at home,  the size and aesthetics of a 10" karaoke speaker may serve you better.  The RSQs I had got loud enough for the neighbors to "suffer" when hosting a karaoke party.

Generally, it is true that made for Karaoke equipment is more costly than Professional equipment.  A moddrate entry level PA system will cost you less than a "Pro" karaoke mixer amp /Karaoke speakers and will give you much more versatility.  It just all depends on your needs and specific situation.

Generally, home theatre speakers do not do well with karaoke.  You may notice distortion with vocals and may even damage the speakers.  Keep Karaoke separate from you home theater.  

Cheers

As others have mentioned, the key question is whether this is for home or professional use, and in addition to that, what equipment do you already have?

If this is for home use and if you already have a nice home audio/theater system, you could get by with a smaller PA system to just handle vocals, and let the home audio/theater system handle the music.  I don’t know how much you want to spend, but something like Yamaha BR10 (small PA speakers for about $400/pair) or JBL RM10 (more like “Karaoke” speakers for about $240/pair) should handle vocals just fine.  You would also need a moderately powered amp and mixer or moderately powered mixer.  This scenario is basically what I do for our basement Karaoke with the exception in the last paragraph below.

If you do not have a nice home audio/theater system, I would invest in larger PA speakers (cabinets with 12” or 15” woofers) and a more powerful amp or powered mixer to handle both the music and vocals for Karaoke.

I would not go out and buy home (hi-fi) speakers for the purpose of Karaoke.  However, I am personally using home speakers for vocals in my basement because the speakers were not being used for anything else.  They are holding up fine for now, and if/when they do die, I’ll replace them with some relatively small 10” or 12” PA speakers.

If it says karaoke or 'designed' for karaoke, chances are it's going to more expensive for less quality!  
Hifi speakers have different type drivers inside and are eq'd to reproduce a heavily compressed/processed signal - such as regular music cd's, home theater.  They aren't designed to reproduce live vocals that are not compressed, eq & volume will flucuate with live vocals which home speakers are just not up to handling - especially in the tweeter area which is usually the first to go.

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