What are you guys using that you've been really happy with? The ones I am thinking of are either Truaudio, Episode or SpeakerCraft. I don't really have any experience with any of them I just know my client wants something badass.

Your thoughts, please.

Well budget will come into play but coastal source is damn hard to beat

Here's a start for the "Bad-Ass" category.

[Link: sonance.com]

http://www.nearspeakers.com/

[Link: coastalsource.com]

James Loudspeaker too

What's "badass" mean to your client?

Yeah I heard the coastal speakers at CEDIA and they were badass but I had forgotten their name. Thanks!

I've done a bunch of the Episode usually with the 4" sats and multiple 10" or 12" subs and Crown amps.

If the client needs really high SPL, I've done a couple outdoor systems that provide "Club" like sound using the JBL Control High Output speakers (Control 29, Control 28, Control 25 and Control SB2210 Subs).

I haven't heard a sat/sub "Landscape" style system that can match the JBL setup, but the larger JBL speakers and subs require a lot more thought to conceal.

Coastal Source
NEAR
JBL Pro

Big speakers are still needed to get into truly “bad ass” sound.

The sub/sat systems from NEAR, Sonance, James, and everyone else can do a really good job...but they can’t play as loud as the above options. I replaced a Sonance system by a pool (13 LS67’s, 3 LS12) with 4 NEAR LB8 and 2 IG12, and it is much better sounding at all volumes, and capable of much higher SPL.

I've done primarily episode with 4" SATs and 12" subs myself. I actually prefer the 4" to the 6". They sound cleaner to me. Either way, clients have all been super happy with them.

James or NEAR then everything else.

This is an interesting dilemma. We did three gyms for a doctor. For the first two houses we used a home audio approach. The rooms sounded good but he was grumpy. In the third house we finally got smart and used some EV speakers. In our opinion they sounded grim, but they were just like the clubs that he frequented. He loved them. They also played much too loud. I am such a wimp. I either inserted earplugs or simply left after he came into the room and took control.

Coastal Source hands down. We have done a lot of high dollar outdoor speaker systems. Back in the day it was rockoustics then sonance now its all coastal source.

1. How did you replace 13 speakers with only 4?
2. Is there a proprietary amp involved with dsp settings like the crown/episode?
3. Did you run the subs 8ohm or 70v?
4. Any comparison between episode system and Near?

Thx

I had the same question.  More speakers should give you a much more even sound at all volume levels.

So is the sound still even with only 4 speakers?

I'll ditto this^^

My own home was the usual sat/sub setup. Replaced the sats with Control 29s and it's a huge difference. to the point that my neighbors think I'm putting on a rock concert at my house.