Total novice after some advice from those in the know

[TLS Guy]

Well these are the two suggestions that have come through for the for commercial audio setup, this really is way over my head but I have been assured that these setups would work in a bigger space if eventually we moved elsewhere.

DTR-5.8
XM & SIRIUS Ready, 2-Zone 7.1 Channel
Surround Receiver- Rack Mountable Used for processing purposes only

Australian Monitor Commercial Stereo
Amp
The AMAV AV2.2P is a 1 RU stereo power amplifier. Designed for the demanding commercial audio-visual market, the AV2.2P delivers 100
watts per channel at 4 ohms from an elegant, slim line package. The
AV2.2P features front panel dual colour status LEDs, on board limiter,
ground lift switch and the option of bridged operation delivering
200 watts at 8 ohms.2 x 100 watts @ 4 ohm / 2 x 75 watts @ 8 ohm
1 RU chassis Convection cooled design for whisper
REQUIRE 3 x UNITS
OUTPUT

Turbosound Impact 55T x5
Compact passive 2-way speaker with a 5" LF driver and a 1" ferrofluid
tweeter plus integral multi-tapped line transformer. Compatible wit
brackets and OmniMount brackets, and includes 3/8" mic stand fitting. Weather resistant to IP54.
• 160Watt Output at 8ohms

Peavey PRSub
Rated at 400 watts program and 800 watts peak.It is simple to use, just connect your full-range signal and its internal crossover does the rest.
One 15" premium 2.5 inch voice coil woofer

and the second recommendation

Denon AVR2308
• Identical quality and power for all 7 channels,
100W x 7ch
• New 32 bit floating point DSP
• Compressed Audio Restorer
Denon's new audio technology forMP3/WMA/AAC compressed format to
reproduce higher frequency range and deeper bass sound.
•Latest version Mult EQ
-New tower type microphone for more accurate measuring
-Maximum six points measurement
-New filtering ALFC (Adaptive Low Frequency Correction) for higher resolution
processing in low frequency band.
• HD Video Circuit
-Discrete and latest devices for ultimate HD video performance in each block.
-Faroudja DCDi Processing up to 1080p
-Analog to HDMI up conversion

TOA Commercial HD Series (rear speakers)
• Variable impedance allows for
flexible installations
• 90 watts continuous

TOA Variable dispersion HX-5 (front and
centre)
The HX-5 is an innovative modular speaker design that incorporates the best characteristics of the traditional, cumbersome woofer enclosure combined with a CD horn-loaded high frequency driver and the fullrange
compact speaker enclosure without the drawbacks associated with each type.
• 600watt continuous power

The auditorium was used for film about 15 years ago on a short term basis and was stopped due to low patronage and poor sound quality. This is a massive space and the balcony alone seats 150 people, I can remember seeing films there as a child and it seemed big, cavernous & cold. It is a wonderful space for theatre but the ceilings are probably 30-40 ft and a crowd of 100 would rattle around in there.

Before they stopped showing movies they had moved the audience into the balcony which is carpeted and this worked well (except for the dodgy sound I believe)

None of your speaker choices are any good. The Turbosounds are not efficient enough. I'm familiar with the TOA. They would be OK for a PA system. They are not cinema grade.

I think you need to get hold of someone who has done cinemas before, and go and listen to their systems. I have done these types of installations.

If you want to do this right and I think you do, there is just nothing to touch a big 15 inch driver biamped to a large and highly efficient sectoral horn with electronic crossovers at around 100Hz. I don't think anyone, least of all you is going to be impressed with what I see so far.

 

[anamorphic96]

I second TLS's thoughts. You need to look at commercial cinema equipment. Not PA or home cinema speakers.

The only thing you should be looking at in the home market is the receiver/processor and a DVD source/player.

On a side note the Denon receiver does not have pre-outs so it wont even work in this situation.

 

[Spkr_Bldr]

Yep, as much as I'd like to suggest hi-fi speakers, I can't for that application. The only hi-fi type system that could fill that space would be a true line-array, but then likely your budget is busted.

Speakers designed for cinema applications is where to start, but I don't have any experience on what to recommend there.

Is there a stage? If so, you could probably mounts subs in it firing out and use the stage itself as an infinite baffle type setup. About a year ago I bought 4 AV15's and a Crown K2 for $1200, I have no doubt that would fill the space you're talking.

 

[TLS Guy]

Yep, as much as I'd like to suggest hi-fi speakers, I can't for that application. The only hi-fi type system that could fill that space would be a true line-array, but then likely your budget is busted.

Speakers designed for cinema applications is where to start, but I don't have any experience on what to recommend there.

Is there a stage? If so, you could probably mounts subs in it firing out and use the stage itself as an infinite baffle type setup. About a year ago I bought 4 AV15's and a Crown K2 for $1200, I have no doubt that would fill the space you're talking.

I think your most cost effective bet is large drivers and horn. I like linear arrays for the top end in large spaces, but it is only a solution for cost no object systems.

These speakers if you could find them would do you nicely.

http://mixonline.com/TECnology-Hall-of-Fame/altec-lansing-speakers-090106/

Do not discount the fact that you might find three of them, if you search defunct theaters. I bet there were a lot of these in Australia as well.

Note that the sensitivity is 103 db 1 watt one meter. What that means is that three of those powered by three 10 watt amps would play as loud as those Turbosounds driven by three 900 watt amps.
The heritage version, now in production, of those speakers would blow your budget. However you could turn this into a youth project. You could build three of them. The plans are well known and available. There are a number of 15 inch low Qt drivers available at low cost that would do the trick. JBL have some multi cellular horns to choose from. Then with six modest amps and three electronic crossovers you could fill the place with sound, even that large space easily. The whole town would want to come!

Failing that you need to pick something that is it's modern equivalent within your budget.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Woops! I have no idea how I did that!

Hey, it happens to all of us, where did that come from, what was I thinking

 

[cosmos]

Thanks again for all your input on this, unfortunately time is against us (we were hoping to order this equipment 3 weeks ago). This latest quote has actually gone over our budget and I will speak to this guy today about any changes we can make but I haven't been able to contact any of the cinema speaker people.

There are no disused cinemas that I know about anywhere near here and to listen to any commercial sounding stuff would be an 800 km round trip. The idea of turning the speakers into a youth project is great in theory but there are no spare funds for any kind of side project (if there was I'd be getting better equipment) and we have a time line.

Just had a look at that Optoma HD81-LV projector and on line in Australia the cheapest I can see it is $8,900 up to $13,750, that wouldn't leave much for the sound.

We are just going to have to make sacrifices somewhere on this project and look to where those are best made and also what would be easiest to upgrade in the future if we are in a position to do so.

I always knew we were never going to duplicate the cinema experience but we just want to offer an alternative, considering the closest commercial cinema is 100 km round trip and petrol is around $1.80 per litre.

Heavy sigh