Advice needed re: PA system installation

southampton · #1 (**permalink**) 19th August 2008 , 10:53 PM

Evening all,

We have just moved into new warehouse units and have inherited part of a PA system which we are looking to partially upgrade. Our requirements are as follows:

PA System comprimising of 5 zones. 4 of the zones are warehouse units and 1 of the zones is an office. Currently all 5 zones have 'their own' PA system, each with 240Wrms. Each PA system is operating via a 100v line and the speakers are pre-installed and working.

We would like to replace the PA systems (they are years and years old) and achieve the following:

5 Amplifiers (480wRMS each), each powering a zone. 4 zones are warehouse units, 1 is an office.

The warehouse units (amps 1-4) should have a radio playing permanently, with the office (amp 5) NOT having the radio playing. In addition to this we would like a tannoy microphone which cuts out the radio and makes an announcement to all zones (ie the warehouse AND the office).

What is the best way of achieving this? I have seen some '6 zone' amps online but the biggest I have seen is 480wRMS (split over all 6 zones) which is not powerful enough. Also I dont believe that the 'individual zone volume controls' work when using a 100v line? Instead I would like to use 5 seperate amps, but I do not know what equipment i need to split the mic/radio effectively.

Is there a '1 input, 5 output' type device on the market? Perhaps I could plug the tannoy mic into this device, with each output routing to an input on each individual amp and then repeat this for the radio, avoiding the office amp? I assume I can use a priority feature using this method? I believe this would leave me with 5 amps, all at 480wRMS, 100v line, each with independant volume controls for both mic in, radio in, and master out. Is this correct?

Alternatively is there a better way of achieving this?

Many thanks in advance for any help/assistance...

TrevCircleStudios · #2 (**permalink**) 19th August 2008 , 11:12 PM

What's your budget? How big is the space? Are they intended for background music only or something more?

southampton · #3 (**permalink**) 19th August 2008 , 11:20 PM

Thank you for your prompt reply. Not sure on budget yet, trying to figure out what we can get for our money. Any ideas on an approximate? My first impressions would be £500 per amp, £250 for cabinet/leads/power management/stuff, £100 for a decent radio, £150 for Tannoy mic, Plus whatever I need to 'route' the audio where it needs to go - preamps? mixers? etc. say 4/5k? am i even close?

zones 1-4 will be back ground music (radio) and tannoy announcements only, zone 5 will be tannoy announcements only.

A tannoy mic which allows us to page zones individually and a 'message card' to play regular announcements automatically would both be nice, but not essential.

Many thanks again for your reply, i await your comments

southampton · #4 (**permalink**) 19th August 2008 , 11:23 PM

forgot to mention - as for space - its a big site. Offices have speakers built into the suspended ceiling, some areas have cabinet speakers, some have horn speakers etc. The warehouse units are particularly loud, although the 240wrms amps which are currently installed are sufficient (perfect volume at 65%), I was going to update to 480wrms to be safe.

Stagesound · #5 (**permalink**) 20th August 2008 , 12:15 AM

To design this fully for you would require quite a bit more detail, not least of which is the number of speakers and wattage tappings on the 100v line speakers in each zone. If your amps are working for you and have sufficient power, why go higher? I'd be very surprised if your office zone needs the same power rating as thewarehouse zones.

I have used equipment from Cloud to install systems like this with great effect. They have multi-zone, multi-source control matrixes, capability for multiple paging mics which can page one, many, or all zones, and remote volume/source selection for zones if required. Your solution is definitely achievable using Cloud gear.

Although you talk about the warehouse units as "zones" - are they really? In a paging system, they are only different "zones" if they each get, or can get, different signals. You could have four physical areas, each with its own amp, but all getting the same paging and/or music - that's only one zone. It's quite important to know this to be able to select the corect multizone mixer.

Are the warehouses seperate buildings - how far are they from the central paging location?

A CDPM4 or CDPM8 will do the job for the paging mic, depending on how many zones you need.

If you could make your zones (1) Office (2) Warehouse A (3) Warehouse B and (4) Warehouses C and D, you would get away with a four zone system, which will keep the price down. (You still can have seperate amps for C & D).

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#1 (permalink) 19th August 2008 , 10:53 PM
southampton Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3	Advice needed re: PA system installation Evening all, We have just moved into new warehouse units and have inherited part of a PA system which we are looking to partially upgrade. Our requirements are as follows: PA System comprimising of 5 zones. 4 of the zones are warehouse units and 1 of the zones is an office. Currently all 5 zones have 'their own' PA system, each with 240Wrms. Each PA system is operating via a 100v line and the speakers are pre-installed and working. We would like to replace the PA systems (they are years and years old) and achieve the following: 5 Amplifiers (480wRMS each), each powering a zone. 4 zones are warehouse units, 1 is an office. The warehouse units (amps 1-4) should have a radio playing permanently, with the office (amp 5) NOT having the radio playing. In addition to this we would like a tannoy microphone which cuts out the radio and makes an announcement to all zones (ie the warehouse AND the office). What is the best way of achieving this? I have seen some '6 zone' amps online but the biggest I have seen is 480wRMS (split over all 6 zones) which is not powerful enough. Also I dont believe that the 'individual zone volume controls' work when using a 100v line? Instead I would like to use 5 seperate amps, but I do not know what equipment i need to split the mic/radio effectively. Is there a '1 input, 5 output' type device on the market? Perhaps I could plug the tannoy mic into this device, with each output routing to an input on each individual amp and then repeat this for the radio, avoiding the office amp? I assume I can use a priority feature using this method? I believe this would leave me with 5 amps, all at 480wRMS, 100v line, each with independant volume controls for both mic in, radio in, and master out. Is this correct? Alternatively is there a better way of achieving this? Many thanks in advance for any help/assistance...
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#2 (permalink) 19th August 2008 , 11:12 PM
TrevCircleStudios Mic Check 1! Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: England Posts: 2,321	What's your budget? How big is the space? Are they intended for background music only or something more?
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#3 (permalink) 19th August 2008 , 11:20 PM
southampton Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3	Thank you for your prompt reply. Not sure on budget yet, trying to figure out what we can get for our money. Any ideas on an approximate? My first impressions would be £500 per amp, £250 for cabinet/leads/power management/stuff, £100 for a decent radio, £150 for Tannoy mic, Plus whatever I need to 'route' the audio where it needs to go - preamps? mixers? etc. say 4/5k? am i even close? zones 1-4 will be back ground music (radio) and tannoy announcements only, zone 5 will be tannoy announcements only. A tannoy mic which allows us to page zones individually and a 'message card' to play regular announcements automatically would both be nice, but not essential. Many thanks again for your reply, i await your comments
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#4 (permalink) 19th August 2008 , 11:23 PM
southampton Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3	forgot to mention - as for space - its a big site. Offices have speakers built into the suspended ceiling, some areas have cabinet speakers, some have horn speakers etc. The warehouse units are particularly loud, although the 240wrms amps which are currently installed are sufficient (perfect volume at 65%), I was going to update to 480wrms to be safe.
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#5 (permalink) 20th August 2008 , 12:15 AM
Stagesound Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 181	To design this fully for you would require quite a bit more detail, not least of which is the number of speakers and wattage tappings on the 100v line speakers in each zone. If your amps are working for you and have sufficient power, why go higher? I'd be very surprised if your office zone needs the same power rating as thewarehouse zones. I have used equipment from Cloud to install systems like this with great effect. They have multi-zone, multi-source control matrixes, capability for multiple paging mics which can page one, many, or all zones, and remote volume/source selection for zones if required. Your solution is definitely achievable using Cloud gear. Although you talk about the warehouse units as "zones" - are they really? In a paging system, they are only different "zones" if they each get, or can get, different signals. You could have four physical areas, each with its own amp, but all getting the same paging and/or music - that's only one zone. It's quite important to know this to be able to select the corect multizone mixer. Are the warehouses seperate buildings - how far are they from the central paging location? A CDPM4 or CDPM8 will do the job for the paging mic, depending on how many zones you need. If you could make your zones (1) Office (2) Warehouse A (3) Warehouse B and (4) Warehouses C and D, you would get away with a four zone system, which will keep the price down. (You still can have seperate amps for C & D).
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