in-ceiling sound

[Howell]

I'm working with 6 in-ceiling speakers that I know nothing about. They all run to one of 2 wall mounted volume knobs.

In the previous configuration the lines continued on to a 6 line speaker switch alongside other speakers and then to an AV reciever. I may be able to get the model number of the reciever if it's important.

I need a new small amp to drive the speakers but am not sure how hard it is to make a mistake on selection. I'm trying to avoid using the space an AV receiver requires. The incoming signal will be from a hometech bluetooth reciever.

How much power do I need to drive the speakers to fill 1000 Sq ft to a volume level of ambience? If it makes it easier I do not care if stereo is maintained. Impedance matching?

 

[Handruin]

I'm working with 6 in-ceiling speakers that I know nothing about. They all run to one of 2 wall mounted volume knobs.

In the previous configuration the lines continued on to a 6 line speaker switch alongside other speakers and then to an AV reciever. I may be able to get the model number of the reciever if it's important.

I need a new small amp to drive the speakers but am not sure how hard it is to make a mistake on selection. I'm trying to avoid using the space an AV receiver requires. The incoming signal will be from a hometech bluetooth reciever.

How much power do I need to drive the speakers to fill 1000 Sq ft to a volume level of ambience? If it makes it easier I do not care if stereo is maintained. Impedance matching?

Are you planning to run every pair of speaker wires to its own amplified channel or to wire them in series? That will make a difference in the planning for the amount of amplifier channels and wattage needed. I don't see why you couldn't get by with 25W per channel if you just need ambient volume level. If you wire them in series you'll need twice as much power because you'll be doubling the average resistance. If you run them in parallel you'll halve the resistance thereby double the power of the amplifier assuming it can handle lower impedance loads.

Do you know the make/model of the in-ceiling speakers so that you can check their impedance? That will help you to properly plan an amplifier. When you asked about an amplifier, I'm assuming you already have a receiver with some kind of line-level output to go to the amp?

Maybe something like this...though a bit overkill:
http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PSPVC6-6...386475065&sr=1-2&keywords=6+channel+amplifier

 

[Howell]

Ideally I would change as little as possible including wiring and just find something to work with what is there.
I actually don't know much about the current configuration. I know that there are 6 speakers too high off the floor to get to without a tall ladder. Working on that.
I know that a subset of the speakers runs through what looks like a pot resistor volume knob on the wall (cooling fins). I presume the remaining speakers run through the other volume knob next to it but I don't know how many or in what order.
I know that when it attaches to the current AV reciever it is only 2 pair of wires. The only place I have ready access to glean more information is the wall interior behind the volume knobs. I've just not had time to look.

I do have an AV reciever I can use but would prefer to use something that takes up less space. The bluetooth device worked fine on the 1/8" analog input on my speaker sound bar. I'm not sure if that qualifies as line level.

Is there a way to measure the Impedance of a speaker set? Multimeter? Thanks for the help.

 

[Howell]

Google was pretty helpful. The procedure is much more straight forward than I thought it would be. I should have a day of in a couple of Mondays and I'll let you know what I find.

 

[Howell]

I pulled a speaker out of the ceiling and have been told that all 5 speakers are the same: Insignia ns-c6500,
I also took a look at the in wall volume adjusters: Sonance VC30R

All of the speaker leads run into the space behind the volume knobs so I think everything is discoverable. I believe that two speakers are running off one adjuster, and the other adjuster has 3 speakers with two running in series. Each adjuster has enough terminals for 2 speakers by design.

In the previous configuration there was a Hometech HTS6 in between the receiver and the volume adjusters. Could this have been fixing the impedance automatically?

 

[Stereodude]

I don't think so. It doesn't mention it.

 

[time]

In the previous configuration there was a Hometech HTS6 in between the receiver and the volume adjusters. Could this have been fixing the impedance automatically?

Sort of. Near as I can tell, each channel has (up to) 3 speakers wired in parallel and then in series with a 5 ohm resistor, yielding a minimum of 7.7 ohms. You can disable the "protection circuit" and bypass the resistor, but that would overload your amplifier with more than 1 or 2 speakers connected to either channel.

 

[Howell]

Arrg. My diagnostics were confused by a combination illogical wiring runs, improper wiring connection at the wall, and a dummy speaker. At least I have enough of it working now. Thanks everyone for the help.