5.1 Setup for School AV Room

[reju]

Hi friends!

I have volunteerd to setup the 5.1 sound system for my kid's school AV Room.

They have Sony Projector VPL-EX5 having 1024 x 768 Native Resolution. The Projector screen is fixed type 4:3 with 150" diagonal length. A simple dual core PC is used to play all DVD and MKV/AVI files.

The sound system at the moment is 5.1 Logitech entry level desktop Theatre.
Which does not do any justice to 30' x 20' AV room.

Can you guys suggest a decent 5.1 system with front floor speakers. The AVR should ideally have MIC input for presentations..

Will also require a decent sound card with digital output.

The budget is max 50K including sound card.

Thanks!
Edit: Will an addon graphic card make any difference in picture quality?

 

[baijuxavior]

Before you post please search the forum. You will definitely get answer.

 

[theironhorse]

you looking for a pc based system??

also with front floor standers... custom HT will go out of budget.. i guess you should the HTIB way in budget of 40k with stands for fronts and wall mouting the rear and 4-5k for good sound card...

also if they are playing heavy video stuff.. adding a video card will defintely help reducing load over processor and making the video buttery smooth...

aus xonar will be arounf 4-5 k ... and its real good card..

 

[prithivi]

Hi friends!

I have volunteerd to setup the 5.1 sound system for my kid's school AV Room.

They have Sony Projector VPL-EX5 having 1024 x 768 Native Resolution. The Projector screen is fixed type 4:3 with 150" diagonal length. A simple dual core PC is used to play all DVD and MKV/AVI files.

The sound system at the moment is 5.1 Logitech entry level desktop Theatre.
Which does not do any justice to 30' x 20' AV room.

Can you guys suggest a decent 5.1 system with front floor speakers. The AVR should ideally have MIC input for presentations..

Will also require a decent sound card with digital output.

The budget is max 50K including sound card.

Thanks!
Edit: Will an addon graphic card make any difference in picture quality?

AVR with MIC this is Professional audio it would be strange hyeah:

get a HTIB and give mic input to pc and take audio out and give it to AVR

i remember my old sony HT System has mic input

befor yu buy check with technitions

 

[theironhorse]

AVR with MIC this is Professional audio it would be strange hyeah:

get a HTIB and give mic input to pc and take audio out and give it to AVR

i remember my old sony HT System has mic input

befor yu buy check with technitions

EVEN ONKYO 3300 HAS GOT MIC IN ( PHONO) so mic will not be an issue..

http://hometheatersreview.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Onkyo-S3300-bis1.jpg.

 

[reju]

I am thinking of going for the Denon 1311 + ProFX Fusion(6) 5.1 package @ 36.4K
I think they look great and sound will be adequate for the AV room.

I know the speakers are not great, but the audience will be students from Jr. KG upto Std X, so it should not really matter. They will be mostly viewing nursery rhymes, narrated stories/ lessons, animation movies and mild action movies.

Please let me have your comments.

 

[reju]

No comments anyone?

 

[haisaikat]

For a 20x30 hall I tink you will neeed to drive te speakers and amp to quite a high dB if there are people sitting all throughout the room. I think this may reduce the life of the system unless speakers and amp both ave higher apabilities that what power theywill be played on in average. So my suggestion would be to call profx for a on-spot demo of this package and get it verified how this package fits when playing a movie or speech in that very room. I thinkschools do not have AV upgrade bdgets each year and hence it willbe expetd for he system to la at least 7 to 10 years. And I guess this wil be a matter of your reputation as well. If you find this packge is playing well at 60 % max, go for it.

 

[reju]

For a 20x30 hall I tink you will neeed to drive te speakers and amp to quite a high dB if there are people sitting all throughout the room. I think this may reduce the life of the system unless speakers and amp both ave higher apabilities that what power theywill be played on in average. So my suggestion would be to call profx for a on-spot demo of this package and get it verified how this package fits when playing a movie or speech in that very room. I thinkschools do not have AV upgrade bdgets each year and hence it willbe expetd for he system to la at least 7 to 10 years. And I guess this wil be a matter of your reputation as well. If you find this packge is playing well at 60 % max, go for it.

Thanks for your inputs. The AV room is used on an average only 2-5 hours a week. So life expectancy of the system may not be a problem. And it's not played very loud, as sound may escape to the nearby classrooms. At the moment the Altec Lansing 5.1 computer speakers are used at 80% volume. Yes you are right, they may expect this to last for at least 10 years

 

[venkatcr]

Reju, the 1311 will be grossly underpowered for both the room size and the environment. Remember kids will always create a collateral sound, and the operator may be tempted to push the power of the amp high to compensate. Sometime or the other, the amp will start clipping. I have found the 1311 to be inadequate even in small rooms.

If you have no option but to use the 1311, look for some very easy to drive satellite speakers.

A better option would be to go in for commercial amplifiers. Even if you just repeat a stereo sound across the whole room through say six or eight parallel speakers, it really would not make any difference to the audience. The kids will be too excited to understand and appreciate a true 5.1 system.

Good options are Crown amplifiers, though they will be expensive. An inexpensive option would be DNM Audio from Mumbai. Of course the last option would be Ahuja.

Cheers

 

[reju]

Thanks venkatcr. So you feel satellites will work for this room size. There's offer on Denon 1311 + Polk RM6750 (satellies) for Rs. 33750 Shall I go for it then?
What speaker cables should I opt for? i will require 50M. Belden 12 AWG at 110/m is overkill? Or should I go for cheaper cables?

Nice to know about DNM Audio, had never heard about it before.

 

[venkatcr]

Thanks venkatcr. So you feel satellites will work for this room size. There's offer on Denon 1311 + Polk RM6750 (satellies) for Rs. 33750 Shall I go for it then?

As I said, if you have to go with Denon 1311, do look for satellites. I have heard it with Canton satellites, and it sounds decent enough. Just check the impedance and the power. Hopefully, the power output of the 1311 will be near the upper limit of the satellite speakers.

What speaker cables should I opt for? i will require 50M. Belden 12 AWG at 110/m is overkill? Or should I go for cheaper cables?

Go in for 14 or 16 AWG. That should do. 12 AWG will be an overkill.

Nice to know about DNM Audio, had never heard about it before.

DNM makes decent multichannel amplifiers mostly used in commercial establishment. They are in Mumbai. Call them and talk to them. If you add a power amplifier in the chain, it will be much better.

Cheers

 

[magma]

reju
this is what i did for An iB school AV room

do understand a 5.1 sytem is pretty useless in such large AV rooms that are meant more for documentaries/learning and light entertainment

Not only that, the system must be rugged enough to stand the test of time as well has enough factor of safety to ensure from going into protection or blowing drivers going into clipping etc
All these issues you will defineltly see when you use a HT system in a commercial application

Moreover surrounds do only 15% duty and lows should be taken care by larger drivers instead of subs in such applications

children at the back cannot hear anything ( since the dialogue and most of the audio is carried from the centre channels or the fronts in case of 2.0)

if you increse the volume so that they can hear, the children in the front suffer from it being too loud(when using a 5.1 system)

the solution is to have dual zones and jst going 2.0 * 2 rather than 5.1

basically 2 pairs of fronts
one for zone 1 and the other for zone 2

BUy a multizone 4 channel amp from DNM or Ahuja ( i prefer the latter )
8 inch drivers would be excellent if you can afford
you can get these speakers from Ahuja too
(make no mistake Ahujas stereo speakers are no slouches!)
Buy the stereo ones not the PA ones

this is the preamp i got
SC2311 from sonodyne
it is very uselful since it doubles up as a mixer can be attatched to laptop and mic inputs etc etc

the speakers i got were
AM XRS 8

i had two setups for this school
in one setup 1 got away with just using a pair of AM XRS 8
and one digi amp AV 2.2P
and one preamp as above



in the other setup ( larger room)
i went for the multizone format

you need to decide what you can get away with
in a 20*20 room you might be able to get away with option 1 by placing the speakers 4 feet from the front wall (16 feet from the rear)
option 1 will cost you 45k ( 2 speakers,power amp and preamp with Mixer)

the sonodyne website is currently down
google it later

the AV 2.2 digi power amp is a product by 'Australian Monitor" that is distributed by sonodyne
so are the speakers in option 1

some helpful links
Installation 100 Volt Line - Wall Mount

cheaper products here
ST-600 PROFESSIONAL POWER AMPLIFIERS
SP SERIES PASSIVE SPEAKER SYSTEM

i know most of the above distributers
if you find it hard to contact them give me a buzz
though it should not be difficult to get their representatives at lamington road

 

[magma]

ofcourse if the school is feeling really rich you can go for a LINE ARRAY
that would just be killer ( but i dont think there are line arrays for samll rooms)
which is on the cards for me soon

 

[reju]

Thanks Magma. Very valuable inputs!!

Taking yours and Venkatcr's views into consideration, I am thinking of going for the Denon 1311 (75w/channel @ 8 ohms) and Polk Audio RM56750 satellites with sub.

Here are the specs:
Response 40Hz - 24kHz
Lower -3dB Limit 45Hz
Upper -3dB Limit 20kHz
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Recommended Amplifier Power 20 - 100 w/channel
Efficiency 89 dB
Inputs Spring clip speaker wire input

Subwoofer Amplifier Specs
Power Output 50 watts
Dynamic Power Output 100 watts

I plan to place them high on adjustable wall mounts, tilted downwards and tending towards the centre of the room. Since the room is 30' long, I will place the satellites 4' from front and 4' from back. The centre will go 4' from front, on the ceiling, also tilted downwards and towards the centre.

The sound then should be audible evenly to all and and not loud for the front viewers.
The advantage here is 5.1 system for children's movies which can sound really good.
We can always switch to "all channel stereo" for presenations and other non surround requirements.

Any comments on this idea? It should work? Thanks!

 

[venkatcr]

Sounds good. Keep the speakers in a positions that the first and last rows of seats are roughly equidistant.

Show a nice cartoon to the kids - Toy Story 3?

Cheers

 

[reju]

Ok. Yes, the kids will be in for a treat

 

[reignofchaos]

I'd get what Magma has suggested. Buying a tiny satellites for a 30' room is ridiculous. Its just not worth it.