Choosing a custom sound system for your business can be overwhelming. There are many options available in both the home audio and commercial audio realm, so how do you know what is going to work best for your space?
Generally the sound systems you’ll find in a commercial environment like a restaurant, retail store, or school gymnasium are different from the home theater systems you might be more familiar with. In this beginner’s introduction to 70 volt speaker systems, we’ll start by answering how commercial sound systems work differently from home audio sound systems and what are the benefits and ideal applications of commercial sound equipment?
How Speaker Systems Work for Home Audio
A home stereo system is designed to wire out separately to multiple speakers. You may have one run of speaker wire out to your front left speaker, one to your center speaker, and another to your right speaker. A common problem with using a system like this in a commercial setting is that it limits the number of speakers that can be used. It can also send different content or parts of the audio to different speakers. This is what you experience with theater surround sound. When designing a sound system for commercial use, you want to make sure to have the same signal going to every speaker throughout the restaurant, retail store, conference room, or other business background music system.
70 Volt Commercial Sound Systems Explained
How to Connect 70V Speakers
First, you start with a commercial-grade mixer amplifier and take one continuous run of speaker wire from the mixer amp and then run it to multiple different 70v speakers in a line, often referred to as daisy-chaining. You can even include different types of commercial audio speakers. For example, you can use pendant speakers in the main area of a restaurant and commercial ceiling speakers in the restroom, office, or hallway all from the same sound system.
Components of a Commercial Sound System
The basic equipment for building a commercial sound system is a robust mixer amplifier, 70 volt speakers, subwoofers, and volume controls. A custom-built sound system can also include wired and wireless microphones, mounting kits, brackets, equipment racks, cables, and other accessories.
70v sound systems have features designed specifically for commercial applications, like priority mic ducking, paging, the ability to have built-in Bluetooth, and built-in paging announcements. Commercial speakers can deliver high-performance sound and the operational versatility required for paging, foreground/background music, and public address (PA) announcement systems.
Benefits Of Commercial Speaker Systems
Commercial systems come with a lot of benefits including the number of speakers that can be connected, better reliability, and easier troubleshooting from a practical and cost-effective audio solution.
More Flexibility
With 70 volt speaker systems, for all intents and purposes, we can run as few or as many speakers as you need, even on one individual speaker wire. This also makes commercial systems easily scalable if more speakers need to be added. Whereas with a home system we have significant limitations there.
Solid Reliability
Commercial grade sound equipment is built for the demands of operating 24/7, 365. Most mixer amplifiers in the commercial audio space have longer warranties, usually 2-5 years, versus home audio equipment which is only meant to be used at most a few hours a day and usually carries a one-year warranty.
Safer Connection
Commercial mixer amplifiers include a fully grounded power cable with a three-prong plug. Most home audio systems however are generally ungrounded and just have a two-prong connection.
Easier Troubleshooting
By hooking up multiple speakers on any individual run of speaker wire from one mixer amplifier, it becomes much easier to troubleshoot any issues that may arise. The speakers can also be wired in a line to where if one fails the remaining speakers can still operate.
Better Volume Control
You also have the ability to control the individual volume levels of each 70v speaker with what's called a transformer tap usually found on the back of the unit. The tap settings give you control of wattage output for the individual speaker. As an example, tapping the speakers lower in the dining room would let you always keep the music at a lower volume than the bar of a restaurant.
Where Should You Use A Commercial Sound System?
You can use commercial speaker systems in any 70 volt application where you need the ability to have lots of speakers on one individual line. A wide range of commercial business applications, restaurants, retail stores, schools, classrooms, all-weather stadiums, gymnasiums, churches, auditoriums, fitness centers, hotels, general public address systems, office sound masking, and outdoor landscaping for example will all benefit from a commercial system.
The Downsides Of Commercial 70 Volt Systems
There are a few downsides to 70 volt sound distribution systems, including complaints of not enough low frequency or base, or that sometimes 70v systems can be non-musical. But a lot of those issues have gone away these days because manufacturers have a lot higher quality commercial grade speaker options and continue devoting more attention and research into making 70 volt technology and commercial audio sound the best that they possibly can.
There are times when you can get away with using a home-type audio system for commercial use. For example, there are some wireless speaker options for smaller restaurants, retail stores, or small offices where the environment is quiet and the volume may not necessarily need to get loud. You can read more about the use of Wireless Speakers For Your Commercial Audio Sound System here.
If you have questions about a custom speaker system for your business, give us a call at (888)-256-4112, or email us at [email protected]. Our sound system experts are always happy to help!
