Challenging Speaker Situation


I have a 20' x 20' billiard room. Other than the usual square room concerns, I am looking for the best type of speakers (and their placement) to use when I'm standing and shooting a few racks. I want to get quality sound up at the listening height, but still need the music to fill this relatively large room. I like a well balanced sound quality, and will be listening to mainly jazz and rock. Amplification isn't a concern, as I have a variety from which to choose, one of which would match just about any speaker that I use. Any advice would be appreciated.
_mike
a pool table calls for serious music..this is serious stuff...get a cd jukebox...yeah, a big ol' jukebox.
Good question. First since this is a billiard room, you'll be moving around as opposed to sitting in one place called the "sweet spot". You'd be surprised how much the sound can change by simply moving away from the sweet spot. So in my opinion (if I were you), I'd set up 4 identical speakers in the 4 corners of the room and run them from either a two channel powerful amp/receiver with A+B speaker outputs or a 5.1 A-V receiver that has a 5 channel stereo surround sound format. Your room would be considered large so look for full 3 way floor standers rated for "larger" rooms.

Another approach would be to install 4 bookshelf type speakers up high in the 4 corners with a powered subwoofer somewhere on the floor. There are some powerful high end bookshelf or standmount speakers such as the B&W 705 or 805S. There's no shortage of them. I'd work with a local hi-fi store to be sure you select the correct size subwoofer for your size room and you're employing enough power for this size space. If you like a lot of drum slam and punch and you go the way of bookshelfs, consider the size of the mid-range/bass drivers. May be better to get them in the 7" diameter area as opposed to the typical 6" or less since you listen to rock n roll and jazz.

This would be my recommendations. Sounds like a fun project. Would love to hear how you make out.
How about 4 corner horn Klipsch ??? That would sound awesome in a Pool Room.....
I like the Klipsch corner horn idea for this application in particular in order to keep the speaks optimally positioned but out of the way when shooting. 2 corners should be enough though.
An unusual selection might be the pro-type Toa HX-5's with a sub. Probably the best speakers I've heard in a public setup. Each speaker is actually 4 hinged together and have versatile mounting options.

What's your budget?
I agree with PDN's approach. I would add to the suggestion that you consider using omnidirectional speakers since they will give you a wider sound field and may work well in your situation. Experiment with placement. There are some good deals on omnidirectional speakers on Audiogon pretty regularly so keep an eye out. Another interesting option would be to mount soundsphere speakers (or something similar) overhead and not worry about bumping into speakers or tripping over wires. Just a couple more ideas to think about.
Why not go with in ceiling speakers and a wall sub? Several name manufacturers make a decent ceiling mount speaker.
Altecs use 4 or more run a older av receiver in party or mono. Doesn't get much better for such a set up. I used Bozaks in a similar set up. You can get Altecs less desirable models and a old AV receiver for less than $1000. Nothing else near this price range will do as well. Will take a bit of shopping to find the Altecs I picked up 8 pair this year. Going with such a set up for our New Sapien Social Club, club house. Soon a Sapiens S/C will be in your area;) Only open to homo sapiens of good character.
I suspect an Onmi directional speaker would best serve here. Look at Ohms. I haven't heard them in a long time, but I used to like them very much, and they are being manufactured now with a nice trial offer. I understand they are even better now.
What you probably don't want is anything that needs to be away from the wall to sound good because the speaks would then be in the way. This could be a problem with true omnis in this application in that they typically require some distance from walls to sound their best. Rear ported designs are also probably right out. Front ported designs would be better.

Check out my system and you'll see I use a pair of refurbished Ohm Ls from the 70's (front ported) in my basement with my ping pong table. These sound fabulous for rock and jazz...great party speakers.

You might pick up a similar professionally refurbished pair from Ohm Acoustics (www.ohmspeakers.com) for under $500 which would be a nice score! Even better might be a pair of larger Ohm H's (under $1000) if available and enough floor space is available.
Vienna Schoenberg on-walls would be a good call. I use them in my home theater room. Add a small sub (Velodyne SPL-R subs are being closed out at Audioadvisor.com) and you should be good to go. Short cue sticks help, too.

Marty
Okay. Don't laugh at me. But when it calls for good homogenous dispersion of sound, B&O loudspeaker lenses come to mind. If money is no object, get the Beolab 5s and maybe perch them up a little. Or just get multiple Beolab3s and mount them on the wall while reinforcing the bass with some quality subwoofers.
I put something along the lines of a B&W or Dynaudio stand-mount that fits your budget in each of the four corners then place 2 subs either 1 on each end of the room or one big 1 under the table! The slate won't move, will it?

FUN!