How to add speakers to a 100V PA system

A recent question was very interesting to us, and will undoubtedly be useful for all churches who wish to extend their sound system...

We would like to add a couple of loudpseakers to our 100v system. At present we have 8 speakers in our system. What do I need to check before getting another couple of speakers, and how easy is it to 'patch' them in?

In a 100V system, you must not add more speakers than the amplifier will drive.

100V speakers have "taps" which are rated at different powers (such as 10W, 15W etc.). Amplifiers suitable for 100V are also rated with a maximum power, say 120W. You can effectively "daisy-chain" more speakers up to the maximum rating BUT we would not recommend going more than about 80% of the maximum to get the best sound, and to stay within tolerances of components.

Therefore to be able to determine how many speakers, and of which type, you can add, you must go to each speaker in your system and look on the back to see which "tap" has been selected. Add them all up. Then compare this to the rating of your power amplifier.
If there is spare capacity, it is simple to add in new speakers - simply mount them on the wall, run speaker cables either back to the main amplifier, or to a convenient speaker, and ensure that you connect "+" to "+" and "-" to "-". That is all there is to it.

One important questions to ask is this - what you are trying to achieve with the extra speakers?

Are you extending into another room, or trying to increase sound coverage, or to mask some other underlying problem in the sound system? Knowing the answer to this question will help in determining which speaker or speakers to install.

A very common issue we help with is churches with old column speakers which really do sound bad! Modern speakers can easily and greatly improve the sound, without resorting to any extra wiring.

We hope that this helps, and would point you in the direction of our "installed speaker" selection.
http://www.churchpa.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7_8

If you have any questions, or require further advice, please do not hesitate to contact us on the following email address (enquiries@churchpa.co.uk) , and we look forward to forming a strong relationship with you and your church.

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