Ceiling speaker system for cryroom and foyer

raggedyandy7 · 02-01-2012, 05:33 PM

I am looking to put in a speaker system connected to our allen and heath gl2200. I understand I'll need a preamp to do this as well. I am looking for some recommendations of what to purchase along the lines of:

Proper speakers (70v speakers?)
Amp
What size aug wire
Volume control for both speakers, can this be done on the amp or will I need a seperate volume control for each one?

Anything else I would need to do this? I'd like to do this on a low budget but don't want crap products as well.

raggedyandy7 · 02-01-2012, 05:36 PM

The cry room is about a 14x8 room, the foyer is about a 18x12 room

ibanez_dude · 02-01-2012, 06:05 PM

We've been using these (I think) at church for years, in the foyer and cry room. They're not super crazy high end obviously, but they sound fine to me. No issues.
Amazon.com: Pyle Home PDIC81RD 8-Inch Two-Way In-Ceiling Speaker System (Pair): Electronics

pfirst · 02-02-2012, 11:41 AM

Might look up Parts Expess. They will give you several options at several price points. Pyle is a good economy choice. Just compair the frequency chart on each speaker and it will give you something to compair the expensive stuff to thr bargain speakers. They often have clearances that can save you a lot.

raggedyandy7 · 02-02-2012, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibanez_dude

We've been using these (I think) at church for years, in the foyer and cry room. They're not super crazy high end obviously, but they sound fine to me. No issues.
Amazon.com: Pyle Home PDIC81RD 8-Inch Two-Way In-Ceiling Speaker System (Pair): Electronics

In using these speakers, what else would I need to hook them up to the sound board via an aux?

What is your current setup in running sound to those speakers and do you have them setup with individual sound controls?

Stratopastor · 02-02-2012, 04:35 PM

Andy, the basic idea would be to set aux 5 and 6 to post-fade ('pre' button up) and send aux 5 or 6 to a power amp (not preamp); the power amp output goes to the speakers via some suitably chunky speaker wire. That way (once you've got the aux knobs set correctly) any adjustments you make to the mix levels on the sliders will also be heard in the foyer mix. Naturally the total effect of the ceiling speakers; impedance will have to match the expected impedance of the amplifier. If your creche and foyer aren't a long way from your desk rig, this is the simplest thing to do.

A 70 volt speaker system (or 100 volt) carries the advantage that you can use long runs of thin cable without serious losses, and you can add more and more speakers without worrying about impredance matching. This is achieved by means of a small transformer on the back end of the amplifier stepping the voltage in the speaker cable up, and another one beside each speaker stepping it back down again. All the speaker-transformer primary coils are in parallel and because they each look like a high impedance, you can keep adding more without spoiling the matching. So then the setup looks like

GL2200 aux 5 or 6 > specialised 70 volt line power amp > long thin cable > specialised 70 volt line speaker > more thin cable > another similar speaker .in parallel> more thin cable > another similar speaker > etc etc

In the above case you've bought a 70 volt line amp and a load of 70 volt line speakers - the amp has the 70 volt transfomer built in and so does each speaker enclosure - you never see the transformers, you just hook it all up.

Yet another option would be to use an ordinary amp with ordinary speakers (say, all 8 ohms) and separately add the transformers, thus

aux > amp > step-up transformer > long thin cable > step-down transformer > speaker
... and then add another transformer in paralle with the first, leading to another speaker

etc etc

the Pyle speakers on the Amazon link above will probably do fine but they're 8 ohms, not 70 volt line. You can see the built-in 100v line transformer on this one

Adastra CEILING SPEAKER 100v Line Speaker (5.25")

(my church uses the GL2200 too)

Maestro_dmc · 02-02-2012, 06:02 PM

If Stratopastor's idea sounds more technical than you want to take on, you could do much the same thing with a box like this.

This would turn your regular amplifier and speakers into the equivalent of a 70V system.

There are probably a few limitations on how it is used so you should look up the instruction sheet and see if it will suit your needs.

You would still need an amp and speakers, you just wouldn't have to worry if they were 70v or not.

**Gustin** · 02-04-2012, 03:44 PM

another thought... it's not terribly expensive to set up a cheap and dirty video system.. if you (or someone in the congregation has a spare tv or two, it would probably be cheaper than doing the work of wiring new speakers into the ceiling (and this would be the natural progression of that set up down the road.

need a video camera set up... then take an audio feed off the mixer like you're planning... route the video output from the camera and the audio output from the mixer into a box like this (Amazon.com: Nyrius NRFM100 Universal Channel RF Signal Modulator Audio/Video Converter with UHF/CATV Mode for satellite/cable TV set-top-box, DVD, surveillance camera: Camera & Photo) and then send the coaxial cable to any tv in the church that might need it. Chances are someone has a video camera and a few tvs lying around which should make the whole undertaking pretty easy/cheap... even if they the cost is probably pretty close to what you're looking at for the ceiling speaker set up.

Stratopastor · 02-06-2012, 08:29 AM

building on Gustin's excellent point, you could do that wirelessly with one of those little microwave video -senders. Depending on the size of the building, it could end up cheaper than the cost of cabling.

raggedyandy7 · 02-06-2012, 04:49 PM

The cableing isn't the issue, I don't mind that. I know I want to do in ceilng speakers I just don't know brand to go with and if I should do a 70v system with only using 2 or 3 speakers on fairly short runs (between 25-50').

Also, in regards to a poweramp, what to get since I need it primarily for running these speakers, so I don't need a poweramp and mixer combo, just the amp. But I have been looking to see if there are any that have an eq built in so I can run it's on volume control and EQ instead of using whatever is being used via the board.

I'm currently looking at the Pyle PDIC80T, since I THINK that would give the capability of doing 70v or connecting to 8ohm.

BaconRocks · 02-06-2012, 05:13 PM

This is way off topic, but what excatly is a cryroom?

raggedyandy7 · 02-10-2012, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaconRocks

This is way off topic, but what excatly is a cryroom?

Haha, it's a room for those who are mothers with infants or toddlers they don't want in the nursery so they can take them to a backroom but still feel part of the service and congregation and not have to miss any of the message

BaconRocks · 02-10-2012, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raggedyandy7

Haha, it's a room for those who are mothers with infants or toddlers they don't want in the nursery so they can take them to a backroom but still feel part of the service and congregation and not have to miss any of the message

That's a good idea! Down here in Kentucky when they cry we just take them "outside" or hope everyone is ignoring it.

pfirst · 02-12-2012, 06:44 AM

I just put a temporary powered monitor speaker on a high shelf in ours. They can turn it off and on and adjust the volume. It was and old and cheep one that I just didn't get ride of. Our long term solution is going to be a small flat screen TV, which we will run sound and our projectors through so they can see and hear everything the congregations sees. The video will feed off our VGA splitter , we have one open channel left, and the sound will come off our board. By the time you look at price it is a good option too.