Basic Design Guide

Basic system design is pretty simple. You need to know some key information in order
to come up with a good design. The dimensions of the room, ceiling height, where
sound is needed, how loud the system needs to play, etc.

Step by Step

1. First you need to figure out what kind of speakers you need and how many are
necessary. There is a simple formula to follow that will help you get an accurate
speaker count.
2. You then need to know how much power will be necessary. There is a simple
process for that, too.
3. You'll also need to decide how many volume controls will be needed and whether
paging is necessary.

What kind of speakers do I need?

In the following cases we'll use a basic retail store or restaurant to make our
calculations. The kind of speaker depends a good deal on the ceiling type or mounting
situation.

Flush mounted speakers Surface mounted speakers

• Drop tile ceilings under 25 feet • Existing building sheetrock ceiling
• New construction sheetrock ceilings • Excessively low ceilings (under 8')
• Column mounted situations
• Outdoor wall mounted situations

How many speakers do I need?

In a drop tile ceiling (most common) for premium speakers use this simple formula:
For simple purposes this formula should be used for all Bose and JBL ceiling speakers,
plus any ceiling speakers that are four to five inches in diameter.

Subtract the ear height from the ceiling height and multiply that number by three.
Square the result and then divide it into the square footage. It may be easier to
understand as an equation:

Speakers = square footage / [(ceiling height - ear height) 3]2

• Ear height for a seated audience (restaurant) is 3.5 feet

• Ear height for a standing listeners (retail and others) is 5 feet

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Example:
A retail show floor that was 40 x 90 with a 12 foot ceiling would go like this:
∇ Subtract the ear height (5) from the ceiling height (12) to get 7.
∇ Multiply 7 x 3 to get 21.
∇ Multiply 21 x 21 to get 441.
∇ Divide that number into the square footage (3600/441) to get 8.1 speakers.
∇ Round it down to eight and you've got your speaker count.
Flush mounted speakers are also recommended for new construction hard ceilings
provided the system can be pre-wired and roughed in prior to sheetrock installation.

For economy 8 inch speakers use spacing rules:

• If the system will be playing music, space the speakers at 1.5 times the ceiling
height
• If the system will be for paging only, and understanding every word is not critical,
space the speakers at 2 times the ceiling height
To calculate the number of loudspeakers required, divide the spacing number into the
length and width of the room, round to the nearest whole number, and multiply the two
numbers together.

NOTE: If economy is the main driver of the purchase, you can use the paging formula
for music. However, the customer must understand that they are sacrificing coverage
by using fewer loudspeakers.

Example:
∇ Same retail store at 40 x 90 with a 12 foot ceiling. They system will be playing
music.
∇ The spacing should be 1.5 x the ceiling height = 18.
∇ Divide 18 into the length of the room: 90/18 = 5 speakers.
∇ Divide 18 into the width of the room: 40/18 = 2.2 (=2 rounded down)
∇ Multiply the two together: 2 x 5 = 10 speakers.

The Global Speaker Solution

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In the DMX MUSIC line of loudspeakers, we have a self-branded value loudspeaker to
offer. This loudspeaker is manufactured by Posh specifically for our company. The
benefits of the speaker are:

• Aesthetically pleasing.
• Dispersion of a 5½ inch driver, which is much wider than that of an 8-inch
loudspeaker.
• Low Cost – it is more economical than a conventional coaxial loudspeaker.
Design systems with the Global Speaker using the same formula as the premium
loudspeaker.

Surface-Mount Loudspeakers
In an existing sheetrock ceiling, or other hard surface, or a very low ceiling, use
perimeter and column mounted surface speakers. The simple formula to remember for
surface mounts is:

Each speaker will cover a circle with a diameter of 25 feet.

A speaker mounted on a wall firing directly into a room would cover 12.5 feet on either
side of it and 25 feet out into the room. Some larger speakers like the JBL Control 28
will throw a little farther.

Example:
Same retail store at 40 x 90 with a 12 foot ceiling. They system will be playing music.
∇ Divide the length of the room by 25, which equals 3.6. Round that up to 4
speakers.
∇ Since the speaker throw 25' each for a total of 50' of coverage if they were on
facing walls, you would put 4 speakers down the length of each 90' wall for a total
of 8 speakers. Each speaker would be placed evenly along the longer wall.

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Calculating square footage
The easiest method for this is counting ceiling tiles.
• Square tiles are 2 feet by 2 feet
• Rectangular tiles are 2 feet by 4 feet

40'

40'

40'

80'

40'

80'

To calculate the square footage, multiply the length times the width. In "L" shaped
rooms, split the space into two rectangles.

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Calculating ceiling height
A ballpark method is to visualize how many grown adult males (6 feet tall) stacked up it
would take to reach the ceiling. Ask the business owner, or if it's new construction, get
a copy of the reflected ceiling plan. Get as accurate a height as possible. Two feet can
make a difference.

Note: When dealing with retail, business owners will be very keen on what their square
footages are as that is how they calculate their rent, sales per square foot, etc… If
you're having trouble figuring out dimensions, ask the owner.

New Construction
New construction can be easier to design because there will be blueprints for the
project. Prints are generally many pages and encompass all levels of construction on
the job. The pages you need for a quality system design are:

Reflected Ceiling Plan: Locations of lights, HVAC ducts, ceiling types, etc…
Floor Plan: Locations of furniture, fixtures, walls, doors
Elevations Plan: Heights of ceilings, soffits, and other architectural details.

Timing on these jobs is critical. The system will need to be pre-wired while all of the
other electrical system components are being wired. It will also need to be roughed in
before any hard ceiling is finally installed. The last step is to install the speakers and
make final connections to the amplifier.

How much Power will I need?

This depends on how many speakers you have and what the system will be used for.

• Higher ceilings and loud venues like Bars and young retail require more power
per speaker. Loud venues that want business foreground music will need the
system to play between 80-85 dB.
• Offices, hotels, non-youth oriented retail, and quieter restaurants require less
power per speaker. Venues who want only background music will need the
system to play at 55-70 dB.

Headroom
Refer to your tapping guidelines elsewhere in this manual to figure how much power per
speaker, then simply add them all for your total power needs. Make sure to have at
least 20 percent headroom in your amplifier. Your amplifier needs a little extra room,
just like your car does. You may only drive your car 70 miles per hour, but it can go 85
miles per hour if you need it to. The same goes for amplifiers. Sometimes there are
peaks in the music that the amplifier needs to handle. Allowing for headroom will make
sure the system will always sound good.

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Also, leave extra room if you can for future expansion of the system. The customer may
want to add a few speakers here or there in the future. Leaving extra room will insure
that there will be enough power.

Zoning
Very often you will have to zone your sound system. A zone is any part of a system that
needs to be controlled separately from the rest of the system. Zones fall into three
categories:

• Music Zones
• Paging Zones
• Volume Zones

A music zone is exactly how it sounds. It's an area that has it's own style of music
playing. If you need to have different music in the Bar from the Restaurant, you'll need
a two-zone system. Also, each music zone requires it's own amplifier and music
source. A two-zone music system would require two DR500's and two amplifiers.

A paging zone is similar to a music zone in that it also requires it's own amplifier.
The standard hospitality page zoning has paging in the lounge and waiting area but not
in the dining area. This would require two amplifiers, one with paging capabilities, with a
paging microphone.

The other common paging scenario is in retail or grocery stores. The retail paging
system is typically one zone, whereas the grocery paging can be multiple zones. Both
of these systems would use the telephone system as the paging source.

A volume zone is a different concept. A volume zone doesn't require a separate

amplifier. It's simply a group of speakers that need to have the volume adjusted, such
as different zones in a restaurant. A restaurant may only be one zone of music with no
paging but may have six volume zones:

Bar Dining area

Ladies Room Men's Room
Waiting area Outdoor seating

Each of these zones would have its own volume control located either in the zone itself
or mounted in the system rack. Other areas in a restaurant that may use volume
controls could include different dining areas within the same room, private function
rooms or the kitchen area.

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What about Wire?
Wiring is very important. It's what gets the sound to the speakers. Thankfully, your
installers are excellent at figuring out how to get wire from one place to another. There
are three basic scenarios for wiring:

• New construction
• Wire Molding
• "Hide the Wire"

In New Construction a pre-wire is necessary. This is a phase of the construction when

all of the wiring for all of the systems (electrical, computer, POS, audio, telephone,
network, etc…) takes place. At this point the walls and or ceiling are still open and the
workers can run wire easily. When dealing with a new construction job, ask the
superintendent what the pre-wire date is.

In Existing Construction using surface mount speakers, you may need to use Wire
Molding to hide the wire. This is just a metal or plastic channel with a cover over it that
is stuck to the wall. It makes for a more aesthetically pleasing installation.

In other Existing Construction, the installer will simply "hide the wire" behind beams,
moldings or other architectural details of the building.

Do I need an equipment rack or shelf?

A rack is a metal or wooden cabinet mounted on the wall or the floor that holds the
"head end" of the system or all of the amplifier and mixers. Some racks have locking
doors on the front and back, others are open on the front. A rack is not always
necessary on a job, but should be considered when there are more than two or three
components in the system or when making the system tamperproof is a concern.

• Simple jobs with 10 speakers, and amp and a DMX music source can sit on an
existing shelf, or a simple shelf can be included in the installation.
• Multi zone systems with three amplifiers, two DMX music sources, a mixer and a
power strip will require a rack. Consult with your engineer on jobs like this.

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