I am thinking of buying the amazing Warrior IS-1000 amp in the new year along with neccessary cables as my old amp has had its day (as well as the speakers).

The question is, what speakers will go well with this amp? If I am following the rule that the speakers must be twice the power of the amp, then what recommendations do you have, as most I have seen are 300W.

BTW, I'd probably run it @ 8 ohm (300W per channel)

No Comment

Ah!!! I can't remember posting this at all so left it in a text document ready to post, so posted it again obviously!!

Sorry for the duplicate post.


There will be no real size limitation

I don't use stands

Needs to be loud enough for Kids parties to large wedding functions

My views have changed slightly on the whole speakers/amp ratio.

I would still maintain that you must only send about 250watts into a 300watt speaker - those who profess to exceeding this regularly are usually the same ones who know several places local to them that re-cone blown speakers even on Saturdays/Sundays.

However, how you "make" 250watts is the interesting bit. Making a 250watt amp produce 250watts is pushing it to the limit and nasty things come out of amps when pushed to the limit. For example - slapping a 400watt amp onto 1/3rd power output would be useful.

However, a compressor/limiter (<£100) would be a worthwhile addition in-between the mixer and the amp - just to make sure that the 300watt speaker doesnt suddenly get presented with 350 watts or more.

So, a slightly more powerful amp is good, so long as a compressor/limiter is used for safetys sake, but not an amp double the speakers rating.

It's always far better to have a more powerful System than you actually need, so that the System is only running at a percentage of its designed capacity.

Having a 1000W System doesn't mean that you are required by law to run it at 100% of its output at each and every gig just to see if the clip lights still work! .

So for instance if you have a function which would require 600W to comfortably fill it, without blasting people into the public bar then it would be better to run a 1000W system at 60% of it's capacity than to run a 600W system at 100% of its capacity - as Gary states above.

However, I still wouldn't recommend running a 1000W @ 8 ohm Amplifier into a 200W 8 Ohm speaker on a regular basis, even at 60% of the amplifiers capacity .

I use a system which can deliver 300W RMS @ 8 ohms, and I use 300w RMS 8 ohm Speakers - however I also use a compressor limiter which limits my amp to around 85% of its output - so there is no potential to run the system flat out. If I'm doing a bigger room, then I run the system at 4 Ohms by adding bass bins and increase the power to 500W per Channel (still limited by the Comp - Limiter). I never suffer from clip lights appearing on the amp - regardless of how far the mixer is turned up.

The majority of function rooms in this area have a 60 - 100 capacity and the hotels are small , so two speakers and an amplifier is more than adequate - I rarely even kick in the Comp-limiter, I still know 2 DJ's in this area who operate using a mono cloud GS150 - 150 watt amplifier driving SAI speakers (Anybody remember them?) .

I get a couple of High School gigs each term where the 4 Ohm - 4 Speaker system is used, and I maybe have one or two gigs a year in Manchester which warrant a larger system driven by a QSC RMX2450 Amp - however if I didn't already have the system then I certainly wouldn't invest in it for one or two gigs a year. If you do large venues on a regular basis then it would be required, but I would never get the system into the average sized rooms I cover where you have around 5 ft square to set up the entire disco!.

So the advice is, get a system which is the biggest you can afford, but spend equally on Amplifier and Speakers - don't pay £1000 for an amp but only have enough for a £100 pair of speakers . Look realistically at the size of the Majority of function rooms you do, work out how much power you'll need and then buy a system which will deliver that capacity at no more than 75% of it's rated output - ideally 50% will give you a good headroom and maintain sound quality.

Don't spend on a system which will only really be used at 1 or 2 gigs a year, and be overkill or difficult to use in smaller areas or rooms with 30 people attending.

Use the system to it's ability. Have a pair of compact good quality, full range, High SPL cabs which can be used alone with the amplifier in smaller venues, but also have a pair of Bass bins or additional speakers in reserve for those larger venues.

Above all, if your amplifier clips then you have passed the 100% full rated power threshold of the amp and are now venturing beyond its design parameters - and strange things can happen to speakers at this stage (and some of them expensive things).

If you light the clip lights on your amplifier on a regular basis then first consider

(i) whether it really does need to be that loud in that venue.

(ii)Next consider adding a pair of bass bins( if you are only using your amp at 8 ohms per channel),

(iii) if you are already running your system flat out then get a bigger system.

This thread is yet another of several threads in the last few weeks which points out the usefulness of a compressor/limiter.

For under £100 the Behringer MDX-2600 (reviewed here on DJU) would be an ideal item to add to your rig - why not add your interest in one to the Behringer Group Buy thread, which Chris started a little while ago.

Protect your amp, speakers, other outbound audio processing equipment, your customers ears, and your reputation - for less than the cost of a gig.

Well then, the Warrior is only £175 and I already have enough for that and good quality speaker cables. I plan to spend £300 + on speakers. If I run it at 300W (8ohm), then would 400w speakers work fine (if I could find any out there!)?

A comp/limiter may be purchased soon as well after reading this thread