Setting up a in/outdoor system for a small bar

[dustondo]

What do I need?

Hey everyone, thanks for taking a second to read the thread.

Basically I want to set up 4 polk 70rt in ceiling speakers for the interior space of the bar. each is rated 125 rms, two right channel two left. and 4 atrium 4's outside (80rms) with a separate outdoor sub.

Just looking for some simple options to be able to have all of these run from a few different sources (not independantly, all one thing at a time) like ipod, sat radio, cd etc and how to wire something like that up. Not sure if I can use a home theater amp since they all seem wildly underpowered, or if I could just use a stack of crown amps and somehow get the source material to all of them to run to the speakers and still have volume control over them (small mixing board?) I'm lost lol.

I've obviously never done anything like this before so any help whatsoever is greatly appreciated!
-Dustin

 

[XEagleDriver]

Dustondo,
Depending on the size, shape, and seating in the bar area you may want to consider using "stereo input in-ceiling speakers like http://www.crutchfield.com/fg_101500_AG_General_Features|FFStereo_Inputs/Stereo-Inputs-In-ceiling-Speakers.html?tp=193
These produce both the left and right signals from one ceiling speaker. Otherwise, folks near the room sides will either hear only left or only right channel sound. Additionally, with these stereo input speakers, you may not need four speakers to cover the room with sound, 2 or 3 may suffice. Same idea would apply to the exterior space and those four speakers.

To power four to eight speakers, I would use an AVR with preamp outputs (not all AVRs have these) feeding a stereo signal into an eight to sixteen channel amplifier to power the speakers.
If the AVR supports "Zone 2", you would be able to run the indoor and/or outdoor speakers together or separately (using two amplifiers with half as many channels each, i.e. four to eight).

Clear as mud?

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

 

[markw]

I'd recommend you ditch the stereo and just go for mono for the reasons stated above.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

You weren’t clear if this is to be a commercial establishment or something in your house. If the former, you should be looking at commercial-grade equipment, not residential fare that isn’t heavy-duty enough to withstand the rigors of continuous duty.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[dustondo]

Thanks for all of your help thus far. It's a commercial setup so you're absolutely right. Now Thinking now of going with speakers like the polk rc6's and an amp like the Crown ct8150. Am I anywhere close to the mark on this one? Thanks again

 

[dustondo]

actually, just struck me that I'll need something to manage all of the sources so perhaps combining that with something like the dbx zonepro would be good? I've used those in the past and aside from needing a damn computer to set it up they're pretty good. Again, just looking for other angles to get this job behind me.