Replacement Speakers

[Brandon Wood]

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum section, and apologies for the long explanation. We have a very small (approx. 100 seats) auditorium that has not been used since our nonprofit took over the theater. This is our second auditorium so it hasn't been a huge deal to us that we haven't reopened it, since the larger auditorium is fine, and we're currently under a very slow renovation process (raising money is hard, ya know?)

Anyway, during some HVAC and electrical renovations, the construction company needed to get behind the screen, so they ended up tearing the screen off, as well as removing the speakers from the front (LRC and SUB). The screen and speakers are long gone now.

This space is going to be renovated eventually with brand new equipment installed, but I was curious if we could make it work at all until that time comes, since that's a few years away at least. The projector and server still work just fine, and before the speakers were taken away, all the sound was good too.

I already have a line on a screen, but I was curious as to what I should be looking for in speakers. Could decent used home theater speakers work? Any particular models I should be looking for? The surround speakers are still hooked up, so it would just be the fronts and the subwoofer.

It would probably have to be pretty cheap for us to justify it, since it's going to be taken away anyway, though we would eventually move whatever speakers we get into a new multipurpose space that's in the plans. The experience doesn't have to be fantastic, just somewhat decent, as this space would be used pretty much exclusively for cult films and the like.

If it helps, our amp is a SMART TA6300.

Any advice is appreciated, and I absolutely understand if it's not worth it, but I wanted to at least give it a shot.

[Marco Giustini]

I appreciate money is tight but I would avoid consumer speakers - chances are you're going to break them very easily.

If proper cinema speakers are out of the budget, I'd consider some PA active speakers (or passive if you have the amps).

There are pretty small cinema speakers available now, maybe the cost is not too high?

Just out of curiosity, what happened exactly to the existing speakers?

[Ryan Gallagher]

I appreciate money is tight but I would avoid consumer speakers - chances are you're going to break them very easily.

If proper cinema speakers are out of the budget, I'd consider some PA active speakers (or passive if you have the amps).

There are pretty small cinema speakers available now, maybe the cost is not too high?

Just out of curiosity, what happened exactly to the existing speakers?

Was gonna ask the same question. LOL. Perhaps this HVAC rehab was before the current owners and it's a big mystery. Might have ended up in a storage unit that didn't transfer with the sale of the business etc.

[Brandon Wood]

I appreciate money is tight but I would avoid consumer speakers - chances are you're going to break them very easily.
...
Just out of curiosity, what happened exactly to the existing speakers?

Thanks for the response. What do you mean by break easily? As in blowing them out? Or just audience members breaking them? Or something else?

Unfortunately the existing speakers were tossed by the construction company. We are working on retribution but we're not going to get them back. All the wiring is still there so if I had them I would just hook them back up.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Thanks for the response. What do you mean by break easily? As in blowing them out? Or just audience members breaking them? Or something else?

Unfortunately the existing speakers were tossed by the construction company. We are working on retribution but we're not going to get them back. All the wiring is still there so if I had them I would just hook them back up.

Ahh. Do you at least know what you had? Maybe seeking 2nd hand spec matched units would be the most painless?

Records of who the original integrators were? etc.

[Brandon Wood]

Ahh. Do you at least know what you had? Maybe seeking 2nd hand spec matched units would be the most painless?

Records of who the original integrators were? etc.

I don't know exactly what was there, unfortunately. Should've taken pictures. I believe I know which company installed the projector and server in that room. Not sure if they did the sound at the same time but my guess would be that they did. That's not a bad thought; I'll shoot them an email. Though I believe it was done in 2015 so not sure if they'll have records for it, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I don't know exactly what was there, unfortunately. Should've taken pictures. I believe I know which company installed the projector and server in that room. Not sure if they did the sound at the same time but my guess would be that they did. That's not a bad thought; I'll shoot them an email. Though I believe it was done in 2015 so not sure if they'll have records for it, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Even if they don't have exact records, knowing what amps are paired or what the surround cabinet brands etc might help them deduce which of a handful of fairly standard packages they were dealing with at the time for rooms that size. Assuming they are still around of course!

If they turn up nothing share what brand the surrounds are here.

[Ed Gordon]

There are used theater speakers on Ebay. Finding them is difficult because they are buried in "home theater" so searching for "used theater speakers" will give you mostly speakers designed for living rooms, not theaters. The few actual theater speakers will still set you back three to four thousand dollars.

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[Brandon Wood]

There are used theater speakers on Ebay. Finding them is difficult because they are buried in "home theater" so searching for "used theater speakers" will give you mostly speakers designed for living rooms, not theaters. The few actual theater speakers will still set you back three to four thousand dollars.

Yeah I saw those. Those would be way out of budget. The speakers that were there before were way smaller than that too. I'm going to see what info I can gather about what was there

[Marco Giustini]

Thanks for the response. What do you mean by break easily? As in blowing them out? Or just audience members breaking them? Or something else?

Speakers can only handle a specific power. Over that power, they distort and then break.
The needed power can be calculated based on the soundtrack requirements (this is fixed) and the size of the room. No home theatre speaker can handle the SPL required to properly cover a 100 seats auditorium. You'll soon overload those speakers and they'll fail.

PA speakers are usually more sturdy and powerful - though might not deliver the nicest sound. But they're a better choice than home theatre speakers for sure if budget is tight.
Failing that, with very limited budget I might consider DIY speakers? You'd need someone with some skills but you can probably build some decent speakers yourself. But speakers are not just some drivers in a random box so I say this again: you'd need someone with some skills. ?

The important question is: do you have a sound processor? You didn't mention one ?

[Brandon Wood]

All the original equipment is there except for the screen and the front speakers. The sound processor is a USL JSD-60.

[Carsten Kurz]

You should try to source some second hand PA or DJ speakers.

[Tj Hopland]

Are you working with a local(ish) cinema dealer / service company? That would usually be your best source for used stuff even if they don't directly deal with used stuff. They will know where the used stuff is or will be from sales of new stuff or just knowing their area and what's closing. Got any AMC Classic's in your region? Keep an eye on those. Being a 'classic' means it could just close any time either for good or a new owner and big remodel, both ways usually mean a bunch of surplus speakers often times headed straight to the dumpster, sometimes where they belong but sometimes there is decent stuff.

Your dealer can also help with a screen. If you have a frame and especially if its not very big screens themselves are one of the least expensive items we are dealing with these days so its often not worth wasting time screwing around with something improvised or used. From what you have said I'm assuming this is a fixed screen and that's why it was in the way of the HVAC project.

How big is this small room? And is the original screen frame still in place and if so is there still room for speakers with the changes to the HVAC system? Or did this HVAC project use some or all of the back screen space so you now need a new frame in a different location to leave room for speakers? If the screen will have to move be sure to fire up the projector and maybe prop up some cardboard where the new screen location will be and make sure the existing lens can zoom to cover the new screen. If it doesn't a different lens has to be worked into the budget and depending on the projector model/size you could be anywhere between like $3k to $10k if you had to buy a new lens. It would not make sense to buy a new lens for big old S1 projector that's on a small screen because if/when you finally get a new projector its most likely going to be one or even 2 families smaller thus requiring another new lens and thats if you are staying with the same brand, if you change brands you are changing lenses anyway.

Why would anything you get now 'go away' if/when the official remodel of the small space happens? Even if the remodel is that extensive that the stuff can't live under a tarp in the building a non profit community oriented group should be able to get someone to donate some storage space for a few months. Non profits usually have a wish list that possible donors can look at so have the group get storage space during remodel on that list. There is likely someone that doesn't want or have cash to give but they may have vacant space and can then get a tax write off for the market value of what that space would normally rent for.

If everything that is there now and that you are trying to get now really deserves to be in the dumpster the you really should be asking the question is it even worth trying to do anything in the space the way it is or would be with a bunch more junk added to it? If everything is that bad its likely going to lead to a bad experience for the customers so its that then going to damage your 'brand'? Possibly to the point that even after a big budget remodel they will not give it a try because they remember how it was last time? From the little clues you have given I'm gonna guess the site didn't have the best reputation recently anyway so you are going to be fighting that. They remember it being not so great and hear 'new management' and give it another try and its still not great that's now 2 strikes you have to overcome when and if it does get fixed up.

[Brian Vita]

I think that I might know the theater that you are talking about. We service several locations in your area. I have some used speakers and other equipment in stock. PM Me.

[Brandon Wood]

The rear speakers are JBL Control 25's.