Audio help needed on church project (1 Viewer)

[LI Guy]

Hi guys, I got a lot of help from this forum when I put in my first home theater back in 2004. Have not been on the forum lately and now have a new project in front of me: Installing multi-media in the Gathering Space at our church.

The room is half below ground, it's one of those setups where you go in the door and go a half-flight up to the fellowship hall, or a half flight down to this space below. The room is about 25x70, concrete floor with linoleum tile, painted cinder block walls and a drop ceiling with acoustic tiles. A closet was added along one end of the room so that one wall is clean drywall that goes almost the width of the room.

I've selected this Epson PowerLite 1781W projector, and the plan is to paint a screen on the drywall wall with screen paint and a border.

Where I need help is with the audio. I'll need a receiver that can support the gamut of inputs, DVD, USB, Internet, etc. The projector supports wireless input from a phone or tablet as well. I'm thinking that I'll need an HDMI from the receiver to the projector for receiver a/v inputs, and a separate audio-out from the projector to the receiver for content streamed directly to the projector. Receiver will be about 25' from the projector.

In order to get good sound distribution/balance I was thinking that 8 or 10 8" ceiling speakers spaced throughout the room and a 12" sub by the screen would do the job. I've only got about 3 1/2" of height above the drop ceiling so Speakers will need to fit in that mounting depth.

I've got a budget of about $1500 for all of the audio, including receiver, speakers, cable, etc. The space will be multi-use, so that means everything from PowerPoints to movies. I want it to sound decent but doesn't have to be audiophile quality.

Looking for suggestions on equipment and possible other ways to configure the audio instead of ceiling speakers and anything else that may be helpful.

Thanks in advance,

Don

 

[Mike Frezon]

Hey, Don!

Welcome home!

I'm sure the experts will be by shortly with some advice! I think you pretty much gave us all the info they need to start spit-balling some ideas!

Is HT-style surround sound (with directionality) important to you? Or are you thinking the ceiling speakers would be mostly a mono/stereo situation?

 

[LI Guy]

Thanks Mike! My big concern is sound balance in a long room like this. I set up a projector in a similar space at another church years ago with donated components. We had an old Sansui receiver with a pair of Optimus floor speakers (with 12" woofers) mounted on the wall on either side of the screen, then a pair of smaller speakers at the rear of the space. It actually sounded pretty good, but in order for folks sitting in the middle of the room to hear, it was too loud at the front and back. We also had a wireless mic (donated of course) and the presenter couldn't point to anything on the screen because of feedback from the front speakers.

So that's what's leading me to ceiling speakers that would provide more even sound throughout the room, having true surround sound or 3D projection isn't really important. We've actually got some budget to buy stuff, so at least we don't have to cobble together donated components....

 

[Musicman1]

I spent 42 years in pro audio. For this you need distributed sound so it is the same in every seat in the house. I would go mono with the whole system. Your receiver likely does not have a mono option so go with PCM audio and use Y-cords where needed.

 

[LI Guy]

Thanks Musicman, that makes sense. Any recommendations on equipment? Can I use a home-type amp or do I need to go a 70v type system?

 

[Bob Bielski]

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/Keele - Introduction to CBT Loudspeaker Arrays.pdf
Before you blow your money look into this thread. Anywhere in the room you will hear proper balance of sound and on the cheap. Good luck on your project.

 

[LI Guy]

Thought I would come back and update this thread. After much research and advice received here, I went with a 70v pro audio system from Pro Acoustics.

I originally wanted to go with an array of 8" ceiling speakers, but having only 3 1/2" clearance above the ceiling tiles made the selection very limited. In the end we chose these Pure Resonance SD-4 speakers . I got a pair of these, one will go in the center of the room in the ceiling right behind the projector, the second behind it, about halfway between the first speaker and the back of the room.

I'm also adding this Atlas 12" subwoofer in the front of the room in an alcove next to the screen to give us good low-end for movies, etc.

Powering the system will be this Denon 333XAB 120W bluetooth receiver.

Although not theatre related, I also added this Samson wireless mic set.

The whole set up including speaker wire and shipping cane in at around $1800...I'll post back on how it sounds when I get it installed.

The last thing we need to acquire is a smart DVD player with analog audio out. I have not bought one is a while but they only come with HDMI and optical connections, I need one with RCA jacks to I can connect to the Denon receiver.

So 2 audio sources should give us the full range of inputs. The projector audio-out will supply sound if you connect directly to the projector via wifi, and the DVD player will deliver sound from Netflix and other streaming sources, while sending video directly to the projector via HDMI. This configuration enables us to avoid needing a video switch.

I'd appreciate comments/feedback on this setup! I've also not worked with 70v before so any tips for a successful installation would be appreciated!