Small system for the yacht club...

[Brian Steele]

I'm not a "commercial audio system integrator" by any stretch of the imagination. However I do know a thing or two about audio, so the local yacht club has asked me to put together a system for their newly renovated place. It's basically a fairly small open bar, a large room and a wooden deck around 20'x40' by my best guesstimate. They are looking for something that fits the following needs:

1. Background music, with ability to "turn things up" if the usual crowd is a bit larger than usual
2. At least two separate zones, preferably three (Bar, Room, Deck).
3. Sources: blu-ray, radio, cable TV to start.

I've searched around for a bit and the best I could find so far to fit the need and budget is EV's "EVID" speaker systems, specifically two pairs of the EVID 6.2s, one pair for the Deck and one for the Large Room, and one pair of EVID 4.2s for the bar. These to be powered by two Sherwood RX-5502 receivers (each of these is capable of supporting two audio zones).

Am I thinking in the right direction, or are there other options I can consider for around the same total price ~$1,500?

[Brian Steele]

Re: Small system for the yacht club...

FWIW, I'd have loved a chance to DIY the speakers for this project (something along the lines of my Blastoreens idea), however time is way too short to work on that option.

[greywarden]

Re: Small system for the yacht club...

Do you need to play 3 different sources, one for each zone, or would a 6 channel amplifier work? One source and 3 pairs of speakers.

[Brian Steele]

Re: Small system for the yacht club...

Do you need to play 3 different sources, one for each zone, or would a 6 channel amplifier work? One source and 3 pairs of speakers.

The system needs to support at least two separate sources, and likely three. They want to be able to play music by the bar and the sound from a cable TV channel through the system in the main Room, for example.

[greywarden]

Re: Full-grown galleries

Sounds like a party at the Yacht Club! lol

[Brian Steele]

Re: Full-grown galleries

I ended up going with the following:

1. EV EVID 6.2 x 2 for the main room
3. EV EVID 4.2 for the bar area
4. A Sherwood RX-5502 dual channel receiver to drive them.

It seems to work fine, though the response of the EVIDs shows nothing below 100 Hz. EV supplies a subwoofer that can be used to fill out the bass, but there was nowhere to locate in this particular project. I may DIY a subwoofer for them at a later date, depending on how much is left in the budget.

[spasticteapot]

Re: Full-grown galleries

I think I've heard those, and wasn't impressed. They're also awful expensive.

An install at my school uses JBL Control 25s to great effect - they sound great, and they're half the price. There's also the QSC S82s, which are on sale for $160ea and should work fine without a sub.

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/2...Fa47MgodcDMAwg

EDIT:

I'd also consider a more robust amp than the Sherwood - it's not rated for this sort of thing.

[Brian Steele]

Re: Full-grown galleries

I think I've heard those, and wasn't impressed. They're also awful expensive.

Expensive yes, and I wasn't overly impressed with the sound either, though this does audibly and measurably improve when installed properly. Still, they're in and running, and the owners are happy with them. Every time I hear them though I think "these need a sub", LOL. There's nothing below 100 Hz.

I'm not a fan of the "JBL" sound, so I probably would not have opted for the Controls, and the published FR looks worse than what I measured with the EVIDs.

Those QSC boxes look interesting though, and the FR graphs suggests a smoother sound than either the EVIDs or the JBL Controls. No bass either though (my Blastoramas have a similar flat passband down to a very similar cutoff point, even the alignment looks familiar, so I have a fair idea what the low end might sound like). The rotatable HF horn is a great plus. If I'd know about them when I was searching, I would like likely opted for them instead of the EVIDs.