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[Nicolas Ruiz]

Hello need help in deciding coverage with this very difficult reverberant room.  Rectangular room with solid block parallel walls 40 feet wide by 180 feet long, concrete floors, 20-25 feet tall arched rounded roof of metallized type material.  Used for small city events, weekend musical events, DJ, disco, weddings,  bands etc.  I been assigned the JOB of a permanent sound installation. But no room treatment allowed budget limited strictly to speaker choice,location, type etc.  Basically no money except for speakers.

All sound heard in the room was intolerable producing garbled unintelligle speech and roaring sounding music. Could not tolerate had to exit immediately but from outside the room thru the front door the sound was balanced and clear. Obviously a case of XS reflections.  What to do in such a difficult setting? Obviously need to control not only floor ceiling but wall reflections while providing enough volume,  bass output.  Helpful recommendations appreciated.

Nicolas
 

[Ray Aberle]

Hello need help in deciding coverage with this very difficult reverberant room.  Rectangular room with solid block parallel walls 40 feet wide by 180 feet long, concrete floors, 20-25 feet tall arched rounded roof of metallized type material.  Used for small city events, weekend musical events, DJ, disco, weddings,  bands etc.  I been assigned the JOB of a permanent sound installation. But no room treatment allowed budget limited strictly to speaker choice,location, type etc.  Basically no money except for speakers.

All sound heard in the room was intolerable producing garbled unintelligle speech and roaring sounding music. Could not tolerate had to exit immediately but from outside the room thru the front door the sound was balanced and clear. Obviously a case of XS reflections.  What to do in such a difficult setting? Obviously need to control not only floor ceiling but wall reflections while providing enough volume,  bass output.  Helpful recommendations appreciated.

Nicolas

Nicolas,

Have you done installs before? If not, does the client know that you have no experience with installations? I would *strongly* urge you to bring in an installation contractor that can help you d this right.

At the same time, if the client refuses to pay for things that are vital to the success of the install, you probably do not want to be a part of it…

For the record, it will be nearly impossible to provide accurate suggestions without an in-person consultation. Perhaps you could post your location, and someone on here might chime in if they are close to you?

-Ray

[Nicolas Ruiz]

Nicolas,
Have you done installs before? If not, does the client know that you have no experience with installations? I would *strongly* urge you to bring in an installation contractor that can help you d this right.  At the same time, if the client refuses to pay for things that are vital to the success of the install, you probably do not want to be a part of it… For the record, it will be nearly impossible to provide accurate suggestions without an in-person consultation. Perhaps you could post your location, and someone on here might chime in if they are close to you?

-Ray

This does NOT constitute a helpful recommendation please limit yourself to constructive advice based on the facts provided.  Cop out recommendations not useful.  Presently in small city in Central America where was asked if something could be done to improve the sound in the installation described.  Obviously limited budget. Additional questions regarding the room will try to be answered.

Nicolas

[Tim Halligan]

This does NOT constitute a helpful recommendation please limit yourself to constructive advice based on the facts provided. 

Based on the facts provided, it was the best advice you will get.

Cheers,
Tim

[Nicolas Ruiz]

Based on the facts provided, it was the best advice you will get.

Cheers,
Tim

What other facts do you need??? I will try to provide more room details etc  These poor 3rd world country people need to have a decent sounding room for their activities!!

Nicolas

[Tim McCulloch]

What other facts do you need??? I will try to provide more room details etc  These poor 3rd world country people need to have a decent sounding room for their activities!!

Nicolas

Sometimes the solution is not a speaker but treating the reflective properties of the room.  In an environment where the reflected energy is equally as loud as the direct energy you're pretty much screwed.

[Lee Buckalew]

What other facts do you need??? I will try to provide more room details etc  These poor 3rd world country people need to have a decent sounding room for their activities!!

Nicolas

If the room is not decent sounding and there are problems because of the room itself there is no improvement that can be made by simply adding speakers.  The best you could hope for would be to limit how much extra energy you add to the room, you can't take away the excess acoustical energy by adding speakers. 

Lee

[Scott Olewiler]

Hello need help in deciding coverage with this very difficult reverberant room.  Rectangular room with solid block parallel walls 40 feet wide by 180 feet long, concrete floors, 20-25 feet tall arched rounded roof of metallized type material.  Used for small city events, weekend musical events, DJ, disco, weddings,  bands etc.  I been assigned the JOB of a permanent sound installation. But no room treatment allowed budget limited strictly to speaker choice,location, type etc.  Basically no money except for speakers.

All sound heard in the room was intolerable producing garbled unintelligle speech and roaring sounding music. Could not tolerate had to exit immediately but from outside the room thru the front door the sound was balanced and clear. Obviously a case of XS reflections.  What to do in such a difficult setting? Obviously need to control not only floor ceiling but wall reflections while providing enough volume,  bass output.  Helpful recommendations appreciated.

Nicolas

You cannot fix this problem without room treatment.  Keep using whatever speakers were being used before and use all of your budget to treat the room.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

What other facts do you need??? I will try to provide more room details etc  These poor 3rd world country people need to have a decent sounding room for their activities!!

Nicolas

Nicolas...

Nobody here is unsympathetic to your problem, but the fact is that given the type of construction, the ruling out of acoustic treatment and the results desired, you are faced with an impossible situation.  Please do not "shoot the messenger" when we tell you that it cannot be done given the facts you provide.

Very sorry to say that it cannot be done as they desire and as you describe.

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

What other facts do you need??? I will try to provide more room details etc  These poor 3rd world country people need to have a decent sounding room for their activities!!

Nicolas

These poor 3rd world country people need to adjust their expectations to fall within the limits of physics. An untreated concrete/steel beer can of a room probably sounds equally bad with just unamplified speech or music; adding powered sound will be worse no matter what speakers you use or where you put them.  Either move the event outside where it has a chance of working, or soften the room. Insulating the ceiling will help with both noise and heat.  Semi-rigid fiberglass panels covered by cloth would both help a lot and look nice. If it's a semi outdoor space where damage is a concern, cover them with expanded steel mesh.

Sometimes the best possible outcome is finding out early that your plan won't work, rather than finding that out after you've spent a lot of time and money.

[ProSoundWeb Community]