# Speaker system for pro haunted house



## David_AVD (Jul 27, 2011)

70V (100V over here) systems are great when you have to run multiple speakers from the same source, especially if they are spread out over distance.

I don't know how useful they would be if you only have 1 or 2 speakers per audio zone.

It's hard to advise more without details.


----------



## djjerme (Oct 17, 2019)

...also are you going to run ambient sound and/or localized sound.

If you run distributed audio to localized amps in the various zones, you’ll probably run into ground loop issues or interference unless you use balanced lines. I’ve used balanced/shielded lines in broadcasting plants for 100’s of feet without bleed or hum. Most broadcasting installs have gone digital for audio distribution (and yet you still have 88 punch blocks) which pretty much eliminates ground hum, but introduces dropped packets. The price of small DA’s has come way down over the years and you do a lot more localized content from a central control area.


70v systems give you less moving parts (single amp, multiple speakers) and I’ve seen house system work flawlessly in the service industry for years with no issue. 


One option you could also try is wireless, but it’s definitely one of those “you get what you pay for it”. I’ve used wireless for video in racecars and it works decent over distances, but you still get jitter and dropped frames, plus still susceptible to interference.

If I were doing a pro install from scratch, I go distributed audio using a central point and then individual DA’s at the end points feeding small amps. Then, you’re only running CAT 6 everywhere. The beauty of that is you can use the CAT runs for anything: audio, video surveillance, animatronic control..etc. The wires don’t care what the data being Tx/Rx is for.. The when you building out you can easily just say “I want 3 runs of CAT6 to each room.

It’s been a few years since I’ve had to spec a build out so I am not up on the latest, but if you go with the “name brands” you usually can’t go wrong.


Edit: checking out BHPhoto, it looks like a lot of the same companies I used in Broadcasting are still around: Shure is good, Rolls is decent as well. The RDL stick on series are amazingly handy, I don’t know how many of those little buggers I’ve used over the years, but they work flawlessly for 24/7/365 abuse in pretty much any environment. So if you want to go analog distributed, choose one of those brands. Even used, the RDL stuff rarely fails.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Epicpancake (Mar 31, 2021)

David_AVD said:


> 70V (100V over here) systems are great when you have to run multiple speakers from the same source, especially if they are spread out over distance.
> 
> I don't know how useful they would be if you only have 1 or 2 speakers per audio zone.
> 
> It's hard to advise more without details.


I’m looking to run ambient audio over the entire haunt. One of the main buildings that we have is 100‘ x 50‘. With about 20 locations where I want speakers. I’d like the volume to be moderately loud but not piercing. I’ve done more research since I’ve first posted and I’m leaning more towards the 70 V side because it is more Expandable. And I also think that I want to have all the amps/media players in one central location. I don’t really care how much wire it’s going to take for me to run this thats not an issue. Just trying to figure out what system is the best bang for the buck.


----------



## David_AVD (Jul 27, 2011)

It does sound like a 70V line system is your best bet. You can also tap each speaker at different wattages and/or use attenuators to set levels at various locations.


----------



## Epicpancake (Mar 31, 2021)

David_AVD said:


> It does sound like a 70V line system is your best bet. You can also tap each speaker at different wattages and/or use attenuators to set levels at various locations.


Would you have any systems that you recommend?


----------



## David_AVD (Jul 27, 2011)

I'm in Australia (we use 100V line instead of 70V) so not too familiar with popular brands in the USA.


----------



## djjerme (Oct 17, 2019)

TOA for 70v power amps. They’ve been doing it since dirt was invented.


QSC and Crown also make 70v power amps, though I’ve not used their 70v range, only their regular power amps for nightclub installs.

As for speakers, they’re pretty basic so you could get away with some cheap knock offs. Though if you got the budget, JBL makes some nice units in their own enclosure if you aren’t or can’t do ceiling mount. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## David_AVD (Jul 27, 2011)

TOA is certainly a good brand. I've used them a lot but wasn't sure if they were big in the USA.

Don't forget that if you need a certain speaker type that doesn't come in a 70V version, you can add a 70V > 8 Ohm transformer (only a few dollars) to it.


----------

