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Author Topic: School me on 70 volt speaker systems  (Read 4905 times)

Justice C. Bigler

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School me on 70 volt speaker systems
« on: July 31, 2011, 05:15:01 PM »

I'm looking for some 70 volt mixer-amplifiers and speakers to replace old gear and add a few extra speaker locations. We currently have a mix of Mackie AM4160 and EAW CAM60 mixer-amplifiers that run program and paging for back stage and lobby areas. I need at least two inputs, one for line level and one mic level input. We are running between 4 and 16 speakers on one line.

Looking at something like the EAW Cam 160, but I'm not finding a price anywhere on line.

Other good products to look at?
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Justice C. Bigler
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Ivan Beaver

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Re: School me on 70 volt speaker systems
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2011, 05:35:51 PM »

I'm looking for some 70 volt mixer-amplifiers and speakers to replace old gear and add a few extra speaker locations. We currently have a mix of Mackie AM4160 and EAW CAM60 mixer-amplifiers that run program and paging for back stage and lobby areas. I need at least two inputs, one for line level and one mic level input. We are running between 4 and 16 speakers on one line.

Looking at something like the EAW Cam 160, but I'm not finding a price anywhere on line.

Other good products to look at?
You need to define your needs more-especially on the loudspeaker side.  What sort of level are you looking for-and at what distance.  Recess or surface mount.  Is sound quality or sound quantity more important.

Some other brands to look at-TOA-Bogen-Atlas and there are many more.

As usual, you have to define your needs first-then look for the tools to solve the problem.
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Justice C. Bigler

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Re: School me on 70 volt speaker systems
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2011, 06:23:56 PM »

As usual, you have to define your needs first-then look for the tools to solve the problem.

At this point, my purpose is to replace 70 volt amps that are already in place, running ceiling mounted speakers of various brands. I don't need a lot of volume in the lobby areas, but volume in the back stage areas is a good thing, and we get a lot of complaints about the levels back stage. If I turn the amps up, then they will clip and limit the levels.

My main requirements right now are that I have a mic level input and a line level input.

I'm not concerned with absolute studio quality sounds, but I don't want them to sound more shitty than they do now.
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Lee Buckalew

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Re: School me on 70 volt speaker systems
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2011, 07:45:30 PM »

At this point, my purpose is to replace 70 volt amps that are already in place, running ceiling mounted speakers of various brands. I don't need a lot of volume in the lobby areas, but volume in the back stage areas is a good thing, and we get a lot of complaints about the levels back stage. If I turn the amps up, then they will clip and limit the levels.

My main requirements right now are that I have a mic level input and a line level input.

I'm not concerned with absolute studio quality sounds, but I don't want them to sound more shitty than they do now.

At a minimum you'll need to know the wattage rating of the 70 volt output of the existing amps.
This may be the easiest way, if the current system is not distorted or having unknown problems, to ensure that you get amps of an appropriate size. 
To KNOW that the amps are not too over or undersized you would need to know the tap of each speaker on each existing amp.  It may be possible/more cost effective to use one (or more) multi-channel 70 volt amps or it may be better to distribute mono amps (or a combination), depends on your layout.
It can be helpful to keep LF out of cheep 70 volt so having a HPF or other capability to provide lo-cut/high-pass can be beneficial.
A number of product lines have been suggested.  Another would be the crown commercial line.  Most of the major manufacturers have 70 volt dedicated amps or amps that can be standard or 70 volt.  Mixer/amp combo's are a bit more limited but, they are easily available.

If we had an idea of the need:
number of amps
wattage of each
how many can be located in each amp location?
how many zones are you needing (and are they separate audio/mixes or just different levels)?

We could recommend some makes/models.


Lee
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Iain.Macdonald

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Re: School me on 70 volt speaker systems
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2011, 09:29:23 AM »

I'm looking for some 70 volt mixer-amplifiers and speakers to replace old gear and add a few extra speaker locations. We currently have a mix of Mackie AM4160 and EAW CAM60 mixer-amplifiers that run program and paging for back stage and lobby areas. I need at least two inputs, one for line level and one mic level input. We are running between 4 and 16 speakers on one line.

Looking at something like the EAW Cam 160, but I'm not finding a price anywhere on line.

Other good products to look at?

Hi,

This guide from Yorkville is useful. You really need to work backwards from the speaker to the amp, as usual. That will define appropriate wattage. Then define zones, inputs etc, and then you can choose the correct product. One thing, avoid like the plague, cheap and nasty Chinese, Italian, and Korean mixer amp products that are often used in retail shop environments. The price looks right, but the end result is awful.

Iain.
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Re: School me on 70 volt speaker systems
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2011, 09:29:23 AM »


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