Electro-Voice BACKGROUND MUSIC SPEAKER SE User Manual

Speaker Systems for
Background Music and Paging

Technical Guide

Installed Sound

TA-2

Version 1.2

April, 2002

Distributed loudspeaker systems for paging and background music are
among the most important “bread and butter jobs in sound contracting. In
most cities, new restaurants, hotels, health clubs and clinics are continually
sprouting up. Each one has needs that can be met by a distributed system,
and each represents a potential client for the enterprising contractor.

The overwhelming majority of paging and background systems are relatively
small, however. With the margin on many installations running in the $400
to $600 range, there’s not much room for error or misunderstanding, since
the cost of a single callback can eat up most of the profits. To succeed with
distributed sound systems, the professional contractor needs to be able to
count on his jobs going in smoothly and efficiently.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the “nuts and bolts” issues that affect
profitability in the distributed sound system market, and offer suggestions
for improving your chances of success in the business.

The Site Survey

Every system specification begins with a survey of the site. The sales
engineer, whose job is to ask the right questions and gather all the
information necessary to complete an accurate bid, normally performs the
survey.

At this stage, it is most important to form an accurate picture of the
customer’s needs. Will the system be used for paging, background music, or
both? Do pages originate from a single location, or from multiple locations?
Must the system be tied into the customer’s telephone network? Should the
system be divided into multiple zones with separate volume controls? If so,
should pages be routed to all zones, or should zones be separately
addressable? Should zone controls be located at the rack, or is local control
required? The answers to questions like these will determine major aspects of
the system design.

Talking to individual users of the proposed system will help to flesh out
important design details. Is the maitre d’hotel’s station located directly under
a speaker? If so, then an independent local volume control should be
provided for that speaker, so that it can be adjusted to allow conversation

Speaker Systems for Background Music and Paging page 2

Electro-Voice Installed Sound Technical Guide

with patrons. Will the person issuing pages be sitting under or near a
speaker? If so, then consider equalization, or a separate muting circuit, to
avoid feedback. Is light-switch height a comfortable location for zone
volume controls, or does the user have another preference? Getting this kind
of information at the beginning will help to avoid confusion and delays at
the installation stage.

Just as important as the human factors are the construction details of the
site. How are the walls and ceilings constructed? What kinds of mounting
surfaces will be encountered? Is the drop ceiling a lay-in type, or tongue­and-groove? Where must cabling be routed, and how accessible are those
spaces? Do partition walls or bearing members extend above the drop
ceiling, where they may obstruct cable runs? Is conduit or plenum cable
required? All of these factors directly affect the price quote and the actual
task of installation.

Defining The System

Upon completion of a thorough site survey, the system may be specified and
quoted. The sales engineer also usually generates the design and quote, often
at the same time as the site survey. Success at this stage depends experience
and product knowledge.

To avoid ambiguity and confusion at the installation stage, the specification
needs to be as explicit as possible. Of course, it should enumerate all of the
equipment proposed to do the job, and should include both a block
diagram and an accurate floor plan with annotations regarding construction.
In addition, it should provide details such as local volume control locations
and height, the desired location for amp racks, and even names of the
employees who are expected to use the system. To forestall disputes and
clarify responsibility if changes are required during or after installation, the
customer should be asked to sign a written agreement governing the
specification.

Many contracting companies simply communicate the sales engineer’s
design directly to their installation department, who are charged with
putting the system in and making it work. There are potential problems
with this approach. For example, the salesman’s natural tendency is to over­design and oversell when he can. If the client is amenable, the result can be
an excessively complicated (and problematic) system. Moreover, it is easy to
make mistakes in the flush of a sale, and these may be compounded when
the system goes in.

©2002 Telex Communications, Inc.