Garth Urie

Choosing the correct PA system for your needs



Posted: Monday, August 09, 2010

by Garth Urie
Midrand Electronics

It really is very easy to choose the incorrect set-up for your PA system when purchasing sound gear. First and foremost you have to make decisions as to exactly what the PA system will be used for and where. Outdoors and indoor systems have different criteria and then a rock band or house DJ versus classical music will have different response criteria in the bottom end.

Outdoor sound systems If your conclusion is that it will only ever be used as a basic PA system for talking to people say like school sports days, meetings then simple and very cost effective solutions are horn type speakers. A few hundred watts in a decent horn public address system will you easy coverage of thousands of people over a couple of soccer fields. For a combination of music and speaking, then you would prefer speakers as horns sound very "tinny" with music, work on around about 1/2wat per person attending approximately. This is adequate for general speaking and background music.

For larger systems, they become more complex with the acoustics of the area covered but if you were intending a band or danceable music for a fair crowd, entry level is generally around 800 1kW of sound adding about 2w per person over 250 people. Therefore an outdoor PA system with around 750 people should be approx 2kW. This is by no means an absolute power house, but will suffice for many functions. (Some outdoor systems will easily reach 10kW or more for a 1000 people

These are just approximations sufficient for someone with little sound experience. They will assist you get through setting up a reasonable sound system and making it through the event without having your attendees complaining they could not hear!

Garth has been involved in audio audio, sound and lighting for more than 15 years. Visit our site for further information on sound and lighting! http://www-sound-lighting-sa.co.za
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