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BACKGROUND MUSIC SYSTEMS.
 The term "Background Music" can be quite misleading as the
sound is quite often more powerful than the public imagine. In many cases the
level of sound required to overcome ambient noise levels, particularly in
industrial applications, can be quite high. The ability to provide high level,
high quality sound over long periods is the essential criteria for a good
background music system and these requirements usually rule out the use of
domestic Hi-Fi units.
Background music systems are generally used in commercial
applications and typically fall into two categories:
INDUSTRIAL
Industrial background music and paging systems are used to provide music to
relieve the boredom of repetitive work or mask the noise of machines. These
systems usually include a paging system which drops the level of the music
whilst announcements are made. Industrial systems usually require quantities of
loudspeakers spread over a large area and use a system called "100 VOLT LINE".
The basis of this is quite simple, the sound produced by the amplifier is sent
through a transformer which increases the voltage on the speaker cables to 100
Volts. This high voltage is then sent to the loudspeakers, each of which has a
small transformer which transforms the high voltage back down to a lower voltage
that the loudspeakers can handle. a
100 Watt 100 Volt Line amplifier can drive 10 x 10 Watt speakers or 20 x 5
Watt speakers etc.
This all sounds too good to be true, it's very cost effective
and you can simply keep adding speakers, but there is a price to pay! As the
sound passes through the transformers the deep Bass and high Treble frequencies
are lost and 100 Volt line systems are basically all "Middle". This result
generally relegates the 100 Volt Line system to use in factories, shopping malls
and supermarkets where coverage is more important than quality.
LEISURE
Leisure application background music works on the same system as a Hi-Fi system
(Although it may be mono or
stereo). Multiple "Low Impedance"
amplifiers (Amplifiers without 100 Volt line transformers) are used to drive
high quality loudspeakers which may have to be wired in "Series/Parallel" to
provide the correct resistance to the amplifier. The wiring of these speakers is
critical, because unlike the 100 Volt Line system, every time you add a speaker
to the system you reduce the load that the amplifier sees and if the load gets
too low (Usually below 4 Ohms) the amplifier will self destruct. These systems,
correctly designed, can sound better than the home Hi-Fi and because of this are
found in Restaurants, Hotels, Bars, Boutiques and Sports & Leisure Centres etc.
Also with large sound systems comes the problem
of "Noise Pollution".
Check out Noise limiting
Systems
MUSIC SOURCES
Once you have selected the correct Amplifiers and speakers, you will then need
to choose your music source. By far the most common source of music are CD's and
great care should be taken when choosing a CD player because most manufacturers
will not cover their machines under warranty for commercial use. With this in
mind we recommend the ONKYO
range because they offer a three year warranty, even in commercial use.
Other common sources are Cassette and Radio. MP3 files are
also becoming very popular for background music and this will require an MP3
player or a Computer with a good sound card.
In almost all cases if you are using background music in a
profit making business then the odds are you will need a
"Performing Rights Licence".
If all this is too much for you, simply telephone or
e-mail us and we will advise you
of the correct combination of speakers, amplifiers and players to do your job.
For background music applications we recommend the
following manufacturers products
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