Small Company Small Conference Room Setup?

[ominous]

<font color='#000000'>Hi all-

New here, and have been searching the forums for a while about a system for a conference room. I see a bunch of $1000ish area setups but they're mostly recommended for home usage.

We have a small 10x20 conference room with a XGA projector mounted to the ceiling. We wish to toss a small 5.1 decent sounding system in there so when we present media pieces to clients, they can hear more than a simple PC speaker setup.

Some media pieces we do have very high quality sound (up to 96KHz). Sometimes we watch movies (or create certain types), and also we play video games on it.

High quality sound isn't the highest concern, I think pricing would be because it is a small company. Does anyone have any recommendations for a $1,000ish 5.1 setup for this application? Since the room is so small and it's so quiet in there, the wattage can be minimal. I think they'd be more interested in a cheesy $300-$400 5.1 kit with just a more powerful subwoofer. I'm really not sure the right way to go. I'd really appreciate any help audiophilez!</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'>&quot;Recommended&quot; for home use doesn't mean it's mandatory. But the warranty might be void.

I guess the question should be: are there any 5.1 systems designed specifically for office/conference room use?

Failing that, one of the &quot;home theater in a box&quot; outfits would probably fill the bill: a receiver/DVD player, small satellites and a subwoofer. Might want to attach speakers to the walls with brackets. If they're not included, Parts Express (for one) sells several kinds.</font>

 

[ominous]

<font color='#000000'>That's about how far we've gotten on that decision. What I'm trying to find here is perhaps some suggested setups that're known to be decent. Sony lately has been quite disappointing, nothing like the Sony 10 years ago. I would much rather buy something bigger than we need than something smaller.

Does anyone have any specific model recommendations, or brands, or anything? Thanks in advance</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'>Ah, so it's specifics you're wanting!

Time for my broken record number: grab the current and last month's issue of Consumer Reports. They have tested AV recievers and speakers therein. My only &quot;firm&quot; suggestion: get a reciever that is rated for 4 ohm speakers as well as 8 ohms. That signifies a decently robust power supply and amp circuit topology that's less likely to crap out during your office Unreal Tournament deathmatches*. Yamaha, Onkyo, and Panasonic all make good units. A &quot;certain person&quot; who frequents these boards seems especially bullish on Yamaha!

Read other's comments and suggestions here, and the staff reviews. A 10x20 conference room is about equvalent to a decent-size living room, though probably a bit &quot;deader&quot; acoustically. So look for people's living room system suggestions here!

I'm bullish on Cambridge Soundworks speakers, as many here know. Generally good to excellent stuff at all price points. Good warranty, excellent customer service. Check them out at hifi.com. Infinity, Polk Audio, PSB (getting pricey there, though) are a few other brands to consider.

Oh, and here's a tip about the center channel: the typical horizontal center channel is a poor choice for fidelity. Has to do with horizontal interference patterns between the drivers. There is a reason why high-fidelity speakers generally have their drivers arrayed vertically -- it puts the undesirable interference patterns where they will do the least harm. Unless you need to put the speaker on top of a TV, use a good small monitor speaker for the center instead. If you're using small monitors (not &quot;mini cubes&quot; or the like, but a good small monitor like the Cambridge Newton M-80) for the fronts (as you no doubt will), that means the three front speakers should be the same.

If you must get a &quot;typical&quot; &nbsp;sideways center channel speaker, try to stand it up on end.

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*You kids should play outside! Hacky sack, anyone?</font>