I am sure there are plenty of stores in the Chicago area that sell audio equipment. Try the yellow pages under Stereo Equipment. DJ equipment (speakers)is not in the same catagory as good home speakers. Adding a subwoofer may be the only thing you need to get the bass you want.

The only speakers for large public areas, with pristine sound for PA etc, sound reinforcement www.slsloudspeakers.com

MAD,
Go to the www.musiciansfriend.com website, there you can find all of the DJ gear that you are looking for, and their 45 day satisfaction guarantee may come in handy for you. They have Dual disk DJ cd players starting from $200. I have been buying equipment from them for many years, no problems.

The very best speakers for this kind of use, of course in my opinion, are Klipsch La Scalas. You can usually find on ebay a good selection. Look for the commercial style that come in two cabinets each for portability. Suppliment with bass bins if necessary. A LOT of sound with smaller wattage amps. Designed for theater use.

Quote:
The very best speakers for this kind of use, of course in my opinion, are Klipsch La Scalas.

The Klipsch is the first thing that I thought of when I saw this thread. About 15 years ago, I built one of these (one is all that I needed), using the measurements off of a handout. It takes a full 4'x8' sheet (and a little bit more) of plywood (3/4") to put one together(heavy). I was using a Carver M-1.0t amp bridged to mono to push it.

This thing can (I still have it in my garage) do well over 100dB at 1W. Not really a Party Speaker, but a Block Party Speaker.

Cheers,

(oh, they sound really good too)