Hi guys. Where to start. I looked at a job today at a water park that has some problems. The park used to have a 70v audio system. Last summer they installed an 8 ohm system. Problem is, there 12 channel amp keeps blowing. It will run for about 3 hours, then shut down. This is why I was called.
The old 70v system which is still in place had a bogen c-100 amp with a total of 13 horns run throughout the park. The system went down last summer. The cause of the system going down as I found out today was that the 1st horn in the system was dead. The new system has a Pheonix Gold MX-1260 amp with 14 proficient audio 500 series speakers.
The longest wire run in the new system is about 400 feet.
My first thought even though I have never done it is too put transformers in at each speaker, and convert it to 70 volt. Most of the new speakers were placed near/next too the old 70 volt horns. Also, the old 70 volt amp was housed in the same building as the source equipment (am/fm receiver, external hard drive with mp3's) the new Pheonix gold amp is housed in another building about 20 feet away. The source equipment is tied to the amp via a cat5e run and baluns. The reason they did it this way was that it split the distance of the speaker wire runs.
So, let me hear your thoughts on this...
Basically, the owner of the park got a quote last summer for a new 70v system that was 22,000. He paniced, and bought the new equipment, and had his manager install it. They suffered threw the season with the amp blowing every 3 hours.
Thanks for the help guys. Bobby,,,

$22k seems a bit high, and the 8 ohm seems a bit wrong.

Consider 14 JBL Pro control 28 t speakers with a crown amp; I'm fairly confident you'll have a real system, robust as heck, for less dough, plus more durable.

I had to do a double take to make sure it was not Mr. Stanley as the poster.

Can you get a simple wire diagram drawn and post it or email it. I can get you the parts list you will need to get it done...with my designer fee attached :)

LOL :)

Thanks guys. I don't think that the owner is going to even consider new speakers.
I don't get the Mr. Stanley joke.. Sorry....
What do you think about adding transformers?

Going to 70 volt makes MUCH more sense then staying with 8 ohm. Adding transformers will work; clearly, you'll need to get them installed out of weather's way. I'm not familiar with the speakers you mention, so don't know if you can pop the woofer and install the transformer inside the box.

If you intend on using the bogen, tap the 14 at 5 watts each.

A simple wiring diagram? ya right... LOL
I asked today about just simplifying the job, and running new wire due to the fact that they have the old wiring for the 70v system that was put in in the early 80's, the new wire which are home run from eah speaker pair back to the amp. They don't want to get involved in that.
Your right, 22000 was a bit pricey. It's a shame that I couldn't have been involved in this last summer before they bought 14 new proficient audio 8 ohm speakers.
Now it will be tough to talk the owner into new speakers, and wiring. One thought I had was to take the proficient audio speakers in on trade, and put them into the jbl's. The wiring is going to have to be done on the fly... Any other thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated... Thanks guys...

Hi Fred, I'm not sure if the transformers can be placed into the proficient speakers. I am thinking that I could mount a box to house the transformers. Most of the speakers are mounted on tel poles. one pair per pole plus one horn from the original 70v system.... Any other comments would be appreciated. Why is it that I always get jammed with these kind of jobs???? LOL...

This almost sounds like you should walk away. Their "fix" for the original problem caused this new one. If you get too involved, the profit in the end may not justify the time on the job. You should redo the system or walk away. Just my opion. Good Luck.

I agree with that. You start trying to band aid this system then you're gonna be stuck there. I guess another idea would be to buy powered speakers and run line level to each but that would probably cost more in the end. You can't go wrong with Crown.

Listen to Fred;

The combo he prposed will work great. We have done a few installations with this same equipment.

70 volt just makes more sense for this project. The Crown amps are bullet proof. The JBL Control speakers look nice and sound great.

A hint; run your ideas and design by Capitol Sales Company. They really do alot of this. Very good tech department with the inventory to back it up.

A question: how were you able to determine that the 1st speaker in the line was blown? I'm coming behind another installer next week, and that is what I believe is the problem. Did you hear it not working or were you able to meter line voltage?

Mike

avbydesign, LOL... I new someone was going to ask that question.. That particular horn was mounted low, so it was easy to get at. Just shear sh*t luck... Thanks for your reply.. Bobby....

Fred, I am working on picking up the JBL and Crown line... I spoke to a distributor last week, and he told me to call them when I had an order. I emailed him tonight, explaining what I was looking for. Seems strange to not fill out dealer paperwork before asking for pricing. But, that's their business...

Instalz, CALL FRED AT WORK! HE'LL TAKE CARE OF ALL OF THIS FOR YOU!!

He's not going to bluntly ask you for the business so I guess that means one of us has to step up and do it. Call them, they are awesome. You'll learn more in 1 phone call then you would in 10 years doing business with someone else.

Just a thought. If the new 8 ohm system is all wired back to the amp, would it be possible to use a speaker wire feed from the 70v amp location about 200 feet away to the home run speaker wires in the building that houses the Pheonix amp, then wire in parralel from that location?
I have wiring in that building that feed 8 pairs of speakers.
This way, I can locate the crown amp in the same building as the source equipment, feed a line from the amp 200 feet to the building that I have the wiring for the 8 pairs at. Also, I have a cat5e feed from building to building.
Does that make sense?