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Speaker Location; A
Sound Delivery
Listen … what can you hear? Very rarely
will it be silence; there will always be a ticking clock, the rain pouring down,
or the clicking of a computer keyboard.
Sound is everywhere; we are subjected to it continuously from the
monument we wake up until the moment we fall asleep.
The effect of sound is often subliminal and as such, getting
the audio right for your venue is a key factor in creating the ambience and
mood you want to achieve for your guests. Deliver poor quality, inappropriate
sound and people will always complain, get it right and it enhances the décor,
service and experience of a venue, and customers will rarely remark.
So how do I deliver quality sound?
Delivering quality sound is down to what you play and how
you play it. The most carefully selected
play list is useless unless the music is of the right quality, delivered
through the correct hardware, which in turn needs to be expertly installed in
the right position.
Getting the
positioning right; the proximity effect
Obviously, the closer you are to a speaker, the louder any
transmitted audio becomes. However, a
well designed sound system can help to balance how sound is delivered
throughout a room, to minimise or completely avoid any ‘proximity
effects’.
Historically sound was delivered through speakers which were
screwed onto the outside of walls in a room.
Not only was this often unsightly, but as sound was ‘squirted’ into the
room, it remained loud in the immediate proximity of any speakers and quieter
in the centre of the room. In addition
to this, as the sound waves converged in the centre of the room they worked
against each other, and as such the quality of the sound here become ‘muddy’;
unclear and undefined, creating a less than desirable experience for those in
that area.
Ceiling Speakers
At CGA Integration we try, wherever possible, to use ceiling
speakers in our designs and installation.
This enables us to create a grid of speakers to offer an even coverage
of sound throughout a room. As customer’s
ears are always a constant distance from the ceiling and therefore from the speakers,
(no matter how tall they are!), they will receive a consistent sound as they
move throughout the room. In addition to this, mounting speakers on the same
level within a ceiling gives you the hidden advantage of the speaker cones
coupling, which gives greater efficiency and a theoretical large driver area which
allows for increased bottom end sound throughout the room.
Speaker design
Although speaker technology as a whole has not evolved greatly in recent
years, ceiling speaker design has been refined and it is now possible to
generate a good quality, full warm sound from a ceiling speaker, without the
need for a separate bass bin. This will
satisfy audio needs in most situations, but there are still areas where
separate bass bins are required;
‘Party Level’ Audio
In bars and function rooms which demand ‘party level’ audio,
separate bass bins are still required to deliver the sound level needed in
these environments. Bass may be ‘omni-
directional, but bass bins need to be positioned to generate an even balance of
sound throughout a room; otherwise they will generate the same proximity effect
as badly positioned wall mounted speakers.
Ceiling mounted bass bins are now available which enables the bass to
dissipate above the guests rather than be focused in one point at floor level,
again minimising ‘proximity effects’.
Design led small
speakers
Many designers request that we use tiny ceiling speakers
which look chic and compact. If this is
the case, a ceiling mounted bass bin will also have to be factored into the
audio design to ensure a full and warm sound.
Speakers need to be a certain size or diameter to enable all
frequencies of sound to be projected into the room at a balanced usable
volume. If the size of the speakers is
greatly reduced, separate bass bins are required to enable lower frequency
sound waves to be amplified and transmitted.
Small speakers are great for personal use; one person listening to their
headphones hears well balanced audio, but these same speakers can not be used
to fill a room with well balanced sound, the result would be a very thin and
tinny noise.
‘Invisible’ speakers
Speakers are now available to deliver sound in challenging
areas. CGA has designed and installed
sound systems with invisible drive units which deliver quality sound through
the following media;
- Plaster
in plasterboard ceilings
- Wood
panelling in wooden ceilings and walls
- Glass
- Sheet
metal.
This enables superior sound to be delivered in areas such as
spas, lift cars or highly design lead environments.
Again, due to the specialist nature of these units, separate
bass bins will need to be factored into the audio design in these areas to
generate a fully balanced audio.
Always start early
If you are refurbishing or building a new area within your
venue it is always worth considering your audio needs early on within a
project. By factoring audio requirements
in at the design stage, the best possible sound system can be designed for you,
which will blend seamlessly with the rest of the décor within a room and create
the best possible results for you and your guests. With so many factors to consider we would be
happy to advice you. For more
information or to discuss specific project requirements please contact CGA
Integration; Specialist sound, light and video system integrators.
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