DIY PA installation in a church

[User Name]

1. Bose is crap.

2. Consider the relative distance to the speakers - if the front row is 1ft from the back speakers and the back row is 50 feet from the speakers, you've got a bit of a problem. The simplest solution to this problem would be to put some corner horns on the ceiling in the front of the room. Another option is line arrays, which use a trick of acoustics to decrease the difference in volume between the front and back of the room.

This leaves you with two options - a relatively simple and traditional "speaker in a box", and a more complicated line array. Implementing the former is relatively simple - build the large high-efficiency design of your choice and EQ as necessary. Earl Geddes makes some very well-rated kits, and there are no doubt some freely available plans out there. Alternately, you can buy some commercial speakers - you can get some Tapco Thump 15" powered 2-ways for about $500 that might do the job if all you need is to amplify human speech.

The second option is a lot more complicated - line arrays generally require some rather fiddly design, an active crossover, and multiple amplifiers. The cost is also likely to be higher, though not by as much as you'd think. (There are a few designs for simpler, smaller designs with passive crossovers, but the size of a line array is directly tied to how far you sit from it, and all of these are much too small.) However, if you an pull it off, the result can have some pretty spectacular results.

Regardless of speaker, buy good amplification. Tapco, a Mackie brand, offers very good value for money - not fancy, but generally regarded as well made.

Building an enlarged version of one of the aforementioned similar arrays is also an option, but the operative word here is "enlarged". If you were to get several cartons of 3"-4" fullrange drivers, you could build some whopping enormous line arrays - at least 20' high. If you can find a few cartons of cheap fullrange drivers (such of the NSBs of which I myself have a carton of 30), this could be a very economical option that's also quite simple to build.

Incidentally, soldering the ends on XLR cables is relatively simple. Go buy a spool of good quality cable - shielded Canare Star Quad, for example - and some heavy duty XLR connectors, like Neutrik. You can also buy premanufactured "cable snakes" with multiple XLR connections on two ends of one very long, very heavy cable.

Just an fyi... the 2 points you just made counter dict its self, the fact that you say bose sucks means nothing the fact is he is looking for something that is going fill that room with sound, and sound decent. the solution is going to a line array. Everyone Argee's.... guess what bose l1, is going to be the cheapest, easiest array you can get... Building a line array system is going to be time consuming and will need a lot design for a good sound.... not to mention how your going to rig it... so don't say bose is crap, yes maybe they overprice there equipment, but the design and features are all there in a nice package, which overall will save headache trying to build a line array...