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Author Topic: Small cinema audio advice Aleksandar Obradovic Expert Film Handler Posts: 125 From: Belgrade, Serbia Registered: Oct 2012 posted 01-08-2015 11:50 AM                     Hi all, Let me hear your opinions for audio speakers for small auditoriums (30-40 seats, under 100 sq meters). 1. L/R Speaker Make/Model/price 2. SW make/model/price 3. Surround speakers make/model/price Tnx to you all. BR Alex  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-08-2015 12:32 PM                     Prices will vary based on where purchased and possibly special deals. The problem with speaker recommendations is that they are WAY too subjective. People have their preferences for whatever reason. Suffice to say, I can normally source all of my "typical" cinema speaker needs from QSC and JBL. QSC has some new speakers specifically tailored to small screens/screening rooms though one has to use a Q-SYS system with them. In both brands...I tend to avoid the lower-end versions...which are generally the same as the upper end but with inferior drivers that "work" with the cabinets/horns of the better drivers. So for QSC, I'm normally in the SC-4xx range and for JBL in the 4000 or 5000 series. Don't cheap out on the speakers in your sound system...no amount of EQing will overcome bad speakers (and bad acoustics).  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-08-2015 01:00 PM                     You have to first look at your budget and decide to go passive or biamp (or triamp). Then decide what you can afford. I just installed a set of SC-1150's in a room 38 feet long and 50 seats. The results were very impressive. I have also installed a few dozen pair of the SC2150's in rooms that are appropriate in size for this system. This is an excellent 3-way passive speaker! Both these speakers are shallow so you don't need a lot of space behind the screen. I don't even bother with any JBL any longer. Harmon simply has let the JBL Cinema Division to to shit since Lynn Dean left there. I have been waiting almost two months for six 15" JBL woofers! Thats ridiculous... While they offer a few decent products the Screen Array series is junk compared to the QSC equivalents. The old 4670D and 4675 are still made however the construction quality of the bass bins is really crappy. Ever since I had some fall apart in shipping I quit using their products. Mark  |  IP: Logged Aleksandar Obradovic Expert Film Handler Posts: 125 From: Belgrade, Serbia Registered: Oct 2012 posted 01-08-2015 01:39 PM                     Steve/Mark tnx for your replays. I am now browsing QSC website and there is a lot of interesting stuff. Can you tell me what are your opinions about their amps? I had several ISA series amps by QSC which were good and some QSC 10D and that's all. What about prices? This installation will take place in SE Europe.  |  IP: Logged Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 01-08-2015 01:58 PM                     Mark, I'm glad you posted that about the 2150. I have 3 of them going in my screening room and haven't seen much feedback as they're a newer speaker compared to the JBL 3677 and 4722 which have been used and well received in more than a few home theaters. It'll be spring/summer before the house is built and I'm hoping they're really smooth. They'll be in a baffle wall fed off of the DCA 1644, treated room etc. Do they hold their own well against the 4722n (passive), better? about the same?  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 01-08-2015 03:20 PM                     Alex, QSC amps are the most reliable available - and probably the best as well. Steve, Why you have to use Q-Sys for those speakers? Which speakers are you referring to?  |  IP: Logged Terry Monohan Master Film Handler Posts: 379 From: San Francisco CA USA Registered: May 2014 posted 01-08-2015 04:56 PM                     I visit many small theatres around the USA each year. The biggest complaint I have on most of them, they place the L C R speakers in the middle of the screen so you have no separation of screen sound. I have even been as bold as to have gone backstage with the managers/owners permission and moved the right and left speakers over as far as I could to give the sound a better image. Many theatres I have even helped place the right and left speakers off the screen and put on the far right and left of the outside wall of the theatre and hid them. Some very small cinemas I have seen have the few surround speakers on the back wall and not sides. This gives a nice surround sound effect without all the speakers down the side. One old lady owner I know hooked up some Cerwin Vega Earthquake speakers to the under stage screen area and It sounded good for the small place she runs. There are some very nice crisp and bass speakers out now that sound great in a small viewing area.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-08-2015 05:49 PM                        All our speakers and amps are QSC. We replaced older Peavey stage speakers and E-V surrounds with the QSCs and the system never sounded better.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 01-08-2015 06:47 PM                     Regarding QSC amps, if you can afford it, they are certainly a good choice. For normal cinema applications probably the best choice you could make. While an amplifier is nothing really special and most professional amplifiers do exactly what they are supposed to do: amplify the signal without messing with it too much, reliability is also an important factor and QSC, in general, scores well on that part. quote: Aleksandar Obradovic What about prices? This installation will take place in SE Europe. Are you going to do the installation yourself or are you looking for and integrator who will implement the whole system? According to the QSC site, the only official dealer for Serbia is PAXT (operating from the UK). Maybe you should drop them a line for pricing and availability: PAXT LTD 15 South Cambridgeshire Business Park Babraham Road Sawston Cambridgeshire CB22 3JH United Kingdom Phone: +44 7507 793 562 Fax: +44 1223 839 988 Email: info [at] paxt.com Website: www.paxt.com  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-08-2015 09:18 PM                     It is the QSC reference series that "needs" the Q-SYS dsp to operate properly. http://qsccinema.com/products?family=Loudspeakers&series=Reference%20Monitor%20System Talk to QSC about that. Note, in the "pro" audio world, many speakers are designed around having a known DSP crossover/tuning. That isn't too uncommon. As for JBL...I'm not nearly as down on them as Mark. I have the ones I like and the ones I don't. Note, the 4675 is definitely history...it isn't on the price sheets anymore...the 2360 horn was being kept alive just for Cinema and most cinemas don't want to have 4-feet behind the screen to have a horn like that anymore. As for the 4722. For the money, it is an awesome speaker. It sounds really good and works well either bi-amped or passive crossover...despite having a cheeseball crossover. It is A LOT better than the 4670D in terms of sound quality. The 2380 horn of the 4670 was never a good horn. It has no pattern control below 1000Hz and it is normally crossed over at 500Hz for cinema. I like QSC's 3-way speakers like the SC-424  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-09-2015 05:57 AM                     Sorry for the typo in the last sentence above (editing time has expired). I like QSC's 4-way speakers like the SC-424...I do also like their 3-way speakers like the SC-423 too.  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 01-09-2015 03:40 PM                     Thanks Steve, I was not aware of those speakers. Heck, QSC are releasing new products every day!  |  IP: Logged Aleksandar Obradovic Expert Film Handler Posts: 125 From: Belgrade, Serbia Registered: Oct 2012 posted 01-10-2015 10:28 AM                     Hi guys, I've been a little bit busy during past few days making some plans and CAD drawings for this cinema. @Marcel, I have started my own integrator/service company (from scratch) and this is going to be my 1st "big" job Now, about amps... What can be of use of QSC's these days? I had good experience with ISA series(the good ol' one's) of same manufacturer and for 3y period (i had take care of this multiplex site where they where installed) no problem noted neither with QSC speakers nor amplifiers. What are your opinions of new amps of this series? What do you think of multi-channel amps (like crown DCi 4/300N)? BR Alex  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-10-2015 08:14 PM                     I've done one pair of SC-424's and three pair of SC-323's. All excellent speakers. Best dialog reproduction I've ever heard in a cinema system. Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-11-2015 11:29 AM                     From personal experience...nothing beats a QSC for cinema use. The DCA line is my favorite but the ISA does work...they are heavier, deeper and made in China though. QSC is now promoting their new DPA line pretty heavily. One has to be thinking a little differently when using these. Think of them as a gain sharing amplifier. You have all of that power under the hood and it will split it up as needed. Kind of handy in a multi-way system where the HF and MF use MUCH less than the LF section. Also, unlike conventional amplifiers, you are not rewarded for lower impedance. So the power rating for 4-Ohm is typically the same as for 8-Ohm. As such, there is no need nor desire for a 4-Ohm LF section, necessarily. This lowers the current on the speaker wire which reduces the wire size demand on long runs (lower current). The amplifiers have onboard DSP like some other amplifier companies too.  |  IP: Logged

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