I have a local school that is looking at adding several PA system speakers. I've done some of this many years ago, but not much. I just wanted to ask people that do a lot of it for some input so I use the right materials, etc. since it's somewhat out of my realm of expertise. Below is a message to the school official from the guy that used to do their PA work.
"Some locations like stairways would probably do best with a horn. Large noisy rooms should probably have a horn too. I think you will see that in the shop and gyms. If there is a T-Bar ceiling I use an 8 inch speaker with baffle, tile bridge and back box. For some locations a wall mount 8 inch speaker in a wood box is the thing to use. Bogen makes those. These are all 70 volt and get tapped to what the location requires for power/volume. I use whatever brand is available in a timely manner and at a good price. Atlas, Bogen and JBL are some of the brands that make 70 Volt speakers. I just installed a new 240 Watt amplifier on the system so there should be ample reserve power to add on some more speakers.They should be hooked into whatever zone makes the most sense for the location."
Would these be 2 wire speakers with a volume tap on them? It seems like I recall some speakers that were 4 wire.
What cable should a person run for these and what are the length limitations on different sizes? Some will likely be a couple hundred feet long. Some will be 50 feet long.
I'm going to stop and take a look at the equipment sometime this week to see what's existing, but thought I'd ask and see if anyone had any input upfront or anything I should look for when I go there to see what they have now.
Thank you for any help!
"Some locations like stairways would probably do best with a horn. Large noisy rooms should probably have a horn too. I think you will see that in the shop and gyms. If there is a T-Bar ceiling I use an 8 inch speaker with baffle, tile bridge and back box. For some locations a wall mount 8 inch speaker in a wood box is the thing to use. Bogen makes those. These are all 70 volt and get tapped to what the location requires for power/volume. I use whatever brand is available in a timely manner and at a good price. Atlas, Bogen and JBL are some of the brands that make 70 Volt speakers. I just installed a new 240 Watt amplifier on the system so there should be ample reserve power to add on some more speakers.They should be hooked into whatever zone makes the most sense for the location."
Would these be 2 wire speakers with a volume tap on them? It seems like I recall some speakers that were 4 wire.
What cable should a person run for these and what are the length limitations on different sizes? Some will likely be a couple hundred feet long. Some will be 50 feet long.
I'm going to stop and take a look at the equipment sometime this week to see what's existing, but thought I'd ask and see if anyone had any input upfront or anything I should look for when I go there to see what they have now.
Thank you for any help!