Tannoy / Sound Systems....in the workplace....

janzman | 18:20 Thu 17th Sep 2009 | How it Works

7 Answers

A large three storey warehouse (250,000sq ft) has a loudspeaker system throughout for tannoy announcements and also radio.The volume levels at present are very different throughout the building Some areas are hurtfully loud while other areas are as if the radio wasn't on at all.The tannoy announcements come through loud and clear everywhere. Could the disconnection of a number of speakers change the volume levels in the remaining speakers by creating a 'surge' of some kind .This is the reason for the imbalance in sound levels put forward by the company management, but I'm not so sure.It comes across as corporate buul shete. to me but I stand to be corrected .Can anyone help please?

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ChuckFickens

without looking at or knowing the system impossible to say.

it's perfectly possible that disconnecting a few speakers could seriously effect the levels on certain other speakers, though it is a little strange that the tannoy is fine and it's just the radio that has differing levels.

janzman

Question Author

I am not able to look at the system either,and even if I did my knowledge is limited so my question is somewhat hypothetical, but thanks for that chuck

Mortartube

Tannoy type speakers can often be tapped. In other words they usually have a variety of selectable wattage outputs which are set with a small flat blade screwdriver on the back of the horn (I assume you mean horns). They often work on the 100Volt line principle, which allows long runs from the amp and between speakers without too much loss of signal strength

You simply put the screwdriver in the slot and turn it till the slot matches up to a diagram printed on the back.

Small horns may have a selection of 5Watts, 15Watts or 30 Watts.

It is important that the total wattage of all of the horns does not exceed the output wattage of the amplifier. This is calculated by adding up the wattage of all of the speakers on one line. I'E 10 x speakers set at 30W = 300W

The speaker type cabinets and ceiling speakers are varied usually by looking at the transformer inside and a wire can be placed on different pins on the transformer to change the output wattage. The outputs are marked on the transformer. Again the max output of the amp must not be exceeded.

If this is not viable. You can buy a zone amp which can run a number of different lines with speakers on (Imagine a normal amp but with 8 speaker channels for instance) Each channel has a separate volume, bass and treble control. Each channel can be run out to separate areas and in combination with wattage selection on the speakers themselves allows for a quite controllable setup.

Mortartube

The disconnection of certain speakers should not result in an increased volume of others as the maximum output should be set as previously mentioned. unless they are wired in a non standard way.

Mortartube

I meant to ask. Are the announcements hurtfully loud in some areas?