receiver for speaker selector?

[masterh]

I have speaker selector that controls up to 12 speakers (niles svl-6)

I want to hook this up to the receiver to power it (I will connect ipod to receiver as a music source)

what should I look at for a receiver?
should I avoid home theater receiver? (eg:6.1, 7,1) since those channels doesn't mean anything for a coffee shop purpose?

how many watts?

it doesn't have to be high end I believe. I guess I just need enough power for 12 speakers....

 

[JerryLove]

it doesn't have to be high end I believe. I guess I just need enough power for 12 speakers....

What is the resistance and wattage requirement per speaker?

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

You need to look for a professional- or commercial-grade amplifier. A speaker selector like that will merely deliver an optimal impedance to the amplifier, but there’s no free lunch. Even if you need only 15 watts per speaker to get the volume levels you want, that’s 90 watts per channel that’s being constantly demanded from a stereo amp. So for all practically purposes, for the typically home theater receiver, the amp is running virtually wide open all the time. Home audio equipment is simply not built to withstand this kind of load on a continual basis. You may get a few years out of it, if that. For long term reliability, I’d say get a pro audio amp with enough power output that 100 watts continuous would be loafing.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[markw]

Anything more than two channels would be a waste for this application.

First off, how many watts can the speaker selector handle? That'll about determine the maximum power you should be looking at.

And, yes, those watts will be divided between the speakers.

Let's say it's 100 watts per channel.. You buy a receiver that puts out 100 watts (per channel). Assuming you have five pairs connected to the speaker selector, the maximum each speaker would see is 20 watts, assuming 100% efficiency.

I hope you use extremely efficient speakers and/or don't expect lots of volume.

 

[Rickster71]

That model Niles speaker selector has adjustable impedance matching and can handle 100 watts and 4-Ohm speakers

 

[markw]

Oops... my math was wrong.

That would make it 16.67 watts for each speaker.

 

[highfigh]

I have speaker selector that controls up to 12 speakers (niles svl-6)

I want to hook this up to the receiver to power it (I will connect ipod to receiver as a music source)

what should I look at for a receiver?
should I avoid home theater receiver? (eg:6.1, 7,1) since those channels doesn't mean anything for a coffee shop purpose?

how many watts?

it doesn't have to be high end I believe. I guess I just need enough power for 12 speakers....

What speakers, how large is the space (that matters when considering the power used and needed) and how loud do you want to run it? If it's for background music in a commercial space, you'll need a commercial amp because the warranty on consumer grade equipment doesn't cover commercial use. Personally, if I was doing a system in a large space, I would either use all dual voice coil ceiling speakers or a mono system, like this:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=246-524

or this:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=242-904

You're not too concerned with sound quality, or you'd be using something other than MP3 (unless you plan to use .wav files) and stereo separation isn't needed in this type of application. What is needed is good sound coverage and dispersion, which is why systems for wide distribution are usually mono. You want the sound coverage to be even enough that you could move through the whole place and not hear a difference in sound, from place to place. If the ceiling is high, don't use regular ceiling speakers- you need to use speakers with a definite dispersion pattern and place them so the patterns mesh well.

 

[masterh]

it's orb mod 1 speaker (it says power handling 15~110 watts)

I am confused after looking at amp/mixer unit.
what's the difference between just the amp and amp/mixer?

If I connect speaker->speaker selector -> amp , then I can control the volume for each by speaker so I don't need amp/mixer unit?

How do I connect those? use regular speaker wire from output (amp) to amp tab? (speaker selector: there are 4 slots) are there 4 wire connectors in amp?

is it easy to hook up ipod with amp? (I am going to use as hard drive, I want to hook up satellite radio as well)

What speakers, how large is the space (that matters when considering the power used and needed) and how loud do you want to run it? If it's for background music in a commercial space, you'll need a commercial amp because the warranty on consumer grade equipment doesn't cover commercial use. Personally, if I was doing a system in a large space, I would either use all dual voice coil ceiling speakers or a mono system, like this:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=246-524

or this:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=242-904

You're not too concerned with sound quality, or you'd be using something other than MP3 (unless you plan to use .wav files) and stereo separation isn't needed in this type of application. What is needed is good sound coverage and dispersion, which is why systems for wide distribution are usually mono. You want the sound coverage to be even enough that you could move through the whole place and not hear a difference in sound, from place to place. If the ceiling is high, don't use regular ceiling speakers- you need to use speakers with a definite dispersion pattern and place them so the patterns mesh well.

 

[masterh]

http://www.toaelectronics.com/amp0001.asp
toa a912-mk2 , is this one acceptable? it's 120 w rms
I am not sure how to connect it to speaker selector and ipod

thanks!

 

[masterh]

??? waiting for help

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

TOA amps have various options for input modules - check the Module Guide at the link you provided. You would want two modules with standard RCA inputs, one for each channel of your Ipod.

The speaker connections are screw terminals; you'd have to crimp spade lugs to the individual leads of your speaker cable. Use either the 4- or 8-ohm terminal, depending on the speakers you're using.

It would be advisable to study the manual as well...

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[highfigh]

??? waiting for help

That has far more inputs than you need- get the one that has just more than you expect to need (think ahead- you may decide that a tuner and CD player are needed). If you want to use the Orb speakers, you probably won't be needing a 70V amplifier. If that's the case, you'll need an amp and some way to maintain proper impedance. If the output is mono, you'll need two input channels for a stereo source. Do you want to have wall-mounted volume controls in areas that are farther from the main unit? How many speakers do you want to use, and how will you adjust the volume for each one to avoid one or more being too loud or too quiet?

 

[Rickster71]

Oh I remember... your the Yogurt shop guy. How did those Bose speakers work out for you?

 

[desmondlewissmi]

Make sure that if your speaker selector is impedence matching, that your volume controls are not impedence matching.

You only need a 2 channel reciever such as the Harman kardon 3490.

Right and Left Speaker channel from Reciever plut to the speaker selector.

Each block of speakers plugs to a seperate connector on the speaker selector.

 

[desmondlewissmi]

??? waiting for help

What did you end up with? I would argue something along the line of a Harman Kardon 3490 would work great. I use it for my house, granted I only hvae 4 pair of speakers, but it sounds GREAT.

How does the Niles Speaker Selector work for you? Is it impedence matching? If not, are your volume knobs impedence matching?