Best products from r/ProAudiovisual

Refurbished EliteBooks are great - take a look at what Amazon has, but you can get a decent machine for $200. They're ugly corporate laptops, but workhorses. https://www.amazon.com/HP-EliteBook-9470M-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B01KU32UBS/ This one actually has VGA as well. Winner!

EDIT: Honestly if you're running a show, get two of them for redundancy. $400ish dollars out the door is pretty good for that setup.

Seems to make sense to me, just make sure whatever you are tapping your speakers can be supported by your amp. (I typically give it a 2.0 Safety Factor for power.) Try to avoid sharing outlets of your audio system with anything else (like PC or other appliances.) If you do, you may need one (or more) ground loop isolators https://www.amazon.com/PAC-SNI-1-Noise-Isolator/dp/B000K50HJE/ref=sr_1_3?crid=VXXU83M8Y6CP&keywords=ground+loop+isolator+rca&qid=1572640221&sprefix=ground+loop+is%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-3

Good luck, building a speaker setup, like a PC is a great learning experience!

The challenge with a gymnasium is first and foremost acoustics. As the first poster said it’s less about speaker size and more about how the speaker pattern sends acoustic energy into the space. To combat this, many highly reverberant spaces use steerable line arrays that focus sound energy at audience members in a narrow beam, thus reducing the amount of sound energy and early reflections.

That said, a good steerable line array will run over $2K, easily, before mixing and amplification. So thats not an option.

It’s great you’re asking the right questions but honestly for $300 you’re not gonna find anything that’s going to address the reverberation or the amount of amplitude you‘d need. A friend has a warehouse similar size to a gymnasium and uses a Fender Passport PA. When the space is full of people it’s impossible to hear.

The knockoff brands will have to suffice unless you get more funding. If you do end up getting more money the I’d at minimum go with a QSC K10.2 Active 10" Powered 2000 Watt Loudspeaker
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y4BT184/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_30zEDb9GTBB5N

Now, whenever you post the "correct" way of doing things, you expose yourself to further improvement comments, I'll be that guy:-)

That audio is night and day of course, but still very boomy and live on good speakers. In post, you could help that with cutting some of the lower frequency (High pass filter).

A better solution is to put something facing you that absorbs some of that audio. The cheapest / mobile solution would be hanging some cheap thick velour drape on a background kit. I use this all the time for interviews.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B07JMZH81W/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

https://www.amazon.com/Backdrop-Adjustable-Photography-Background-Support/dp/B07FY4TVKH/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=background+kit&qid=1565116795&s=gateway&sr=8-11

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For closer vlog type setups, you could look at this:

Hello Proxpi! Thank you for responding.

I have updated some images to show the potential location of the TV.

https://imgur.com/a/uFRWDYf

1: Yes I would like to have all devices (Surround Sound system & Xbox one) in the AV Closet.

I have attached some more pictures. You can see in the image where the TV mount is. The Cabinet (in the second picture) is just to the left of the TV. The speaker wires from the cabinet (You can see in the top right hand corner) run about 15 feet to two exposed wires behind the location where the picture was taken and two run to the two {top right and top left of the tv area).

For video... I think I did something foolish... I wanted to "Future Proof" my video, so instead of running HDMI thought the walls, I fished 4 Cat6 E wires and had to buy a $50 dollar converter.

For the AUDIO I currently have a SONY 5.1 surround sound system that was 300 bucks about 4 years ago. It has a build in DVD/BlueRay player. I was planning on wiring that up to the speaker outlets in the cabinet, but I don't think it can handle all 12 speakers... what do yo think?

I was thinking I may need to purchase something like this. What do you think?

My dad also gave me this pre amplifier Rotel RC 972.... do you think I can use it at all? I tried hooking it up but it was really quiet.

If you only have one source, then you don't need a matrix switcher but I do recommend getting a switcher so you can switch to logo when you change presentations or video so the audience doesn't see the desktop or you launching the file. Also, having a switcher will allow you to add more computers if need be.

What you need is a solution for your long video runs and a way to distribute that signal.

The cheapest route would be to use 75ohm Coaxial Cable with BNC connectors but we'll call that HD-SDI cable for short.

So what you're going to need is:

[SDI to HDMI converter] (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1375619-REG/blackmagic_design_convcmic_sh_micro_converter_sdi.html)

[HDMI to SDI converter] (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1375618-REG/blackmagic_design_convcmic_hs_micro_converter_hdmi_to.html)

[SDI Distribution Amplifier] (https://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-Premium-Splitter-supports/dp/B015ET5VWI/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-c2RpIHNwbGl0dGVy-ac_d_rm&crid=1O6MZKDQNYYUJ&keywords=sdi+splitter&pd_rd_i=B015ET5VWI&pd_rd_r=6ed42a76-e3f1-4d51-bfca-9997666160c6&pd_rd_w=iVX96&pd_rd_wg=1FPMT&pf_rd_p=2938a786-9bec-4d37-8c06-456e3edce5d1&pf_rd_r=FEPD27FDME5QGXJ044CC&psc=1&qid=1572314404&sprefix=sdi+s%2Caps%2C198)

HD-SDI Cable

BNC Couplers

You can only couple HD-SDI two times before you lose signal. Also, HD-SDI is good for up to 300 feet so I suggest getting some 1x2 SDI Distribution Amplifiers and put them inline at 300ft if you need a cable run longer than 300ft.

Also, the converters I linked to don't include power supplies. You can buy them with power supplies but it's cheaper if you buy some generic power supplies and Micro USB cables. Also, if the TVs have USB ports, you can power the converters off the TV so you don't need power supplies for those.

The HD-SDI cable is probably going to be a few hundred dollars. The couplers are cheap.

I just picked the first speakers that came up on Amazon but any speaker that has its own power, and RCA connectors should work.

Edifier R1280DB Powered Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers - Optical Input - Wireless Studio Monitors - 4 Inch Near Field Speaker - 42w RMS - Wood Grain https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0719C132V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LAoYCbKRRTDKV







You could also connect to an amplifier that has RCA connectors and use that to power speakers that don't have their own power. Like this:

Wireless Bluetooth Power Amplifier System - 200W Dual Channel Sound Audio Stereo Receiver w/ USB, SD, AUX, MIC IN w/ Echo, Radio, LCD - For Home Theater Entertainment via RCA, Studio Use - Pyle PDA6BU https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A6ND1LU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FEoYCb069XCGP




Again, I'm not endorsing these products, I'm just using them as an example.

What you need is a set top box media player.

I own the older version of one of these and it plays practically any type of video file except the new 4k stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WDBYMN0000NBK-Streaming-Refurbished/dp/B00X60CGSU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473291442&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+tv+live

Western Digital doesn't make these anymore so you're going to have to look around a little if you want a new one.

You could also try a different media player but I can't vouch for anything other than the WD TV Live. What I suggest is to read the reviews on the other media players that Amazon carries and buy the one where the least amount of people complain about.

What it the length of each CAT 6 run?

Do you need a Seamless Switcher, if most of the time you have the same image on both screens?

What is your budget?

Sounds like a HDBaseT 4x4 Matrix might be a cheaper solution for you.

4 HDMI inputs, and 4 HDBaseT Outputs, with a HDBaseT receiver at each projector, (option for 2 more outputs, possibly 1 for a confidence monitor near the pulpit for special occasions).

Then at any time you can route any of the 4 inputs to any of the 4 outputs, same or different.

Something like this (but doesn't have to be this particularly - will send 1080p up to 164 feet):
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Blackbird-Matrix-Extender-Receivers/dp/B071KJ7BYM/

There are other HDBaseT devices out there that will do longer distances, but for more money.

And you could just get 2 pair of HDBaseT Transmitter/Receiver sets, and do something else to switch and route the video.

There are a lot of options, it really kind of depends on your budget.

https://www.amazon.com/Micca-Full-HD-Portable-Digital-Player/dp/B008NO9RRM

We've got four of these. They work great.
One word of caution the output is exactly 60 fps NOT 59.94.
Your monitor won't care but if you try to feed something that needs 59.94 you are out of luck.

Thanks for the info. Will a product like below do what I need to connect from my cable box to the device via hdmi, then over cat 5 and back to HDMI into the tv?

https://www.amazon.com/gofanco-395ft-1080p-HDMI-Extender/dp/B01HHHI5NW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1538622864&sr=8-4&keywords=HDbitT

You know, I didn't see any summing boxes with phantom power but I did see one or two that say "allow phantom power from source".

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If the my source provides enough to power one mic, do you think a summing box would work?

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Like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-Audio-JIBC-XLR-Combiner/dp/B00079OUNM

That Edifier one looks like its exactly what I am looking for! However it is much too expensive. I have a few of these displays that I want audio on but I don't care about the quality. Small size and low cost speaker would be ideal.


What keywords did you use to find a speaker with that connectivity?


If I use a lowcost amp like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019MBUX40/ -- i still run into the issue of finding speakers to connect to it. I haven't seen any small and low cost speakers that have this type of connection to an amp.

Is this the Behringer one you're talking about? Is $250 what I can expect to pay for something like that or does it go any lower?

I guess what I'm looking for then is just a "digital mixer" with enough XLR inputs to accept however many mics I need.

Yeah, wireless definitely not required for the panel but it's much more convenient that way.

Those are speaker outputs not line level. You will need to find the speakers that suit the display or use an HDMI audio extractor and some self powered speakers.

Or you could get something like these 8ohm passive speakers and make a cable. Would need to know what size jack that is and get some speaker wire.

I have 6 guitar cabinet stands I had made for this 6 years or so ago.

Bought 6 of these.
https://www.amazon.com/Stage-RS7000-Stage-Monitor-Guitar/dp/B0002GY7MO

Cut the top part off, welded it to the triangle on the bottom. And now I have Confidence Monitor stands.

I use some 55" LG's and some 42" LG's on them. Here's a picture of a board meeting setup for example.
https://imgur.com/Eh9rkUm