Gym Audio Thread

[bachatero]

I'm making a single thread for this topic so I don't have to keep making more.

Context:
I do judo (a sport where you throw people) in a huge gym which used to be a steel warehouse. Right now, I've got a "hi-fi" sound system for one half of it which is two Electro-Voice ZLX PA speakers and an ETX subwoofer. It works just fine but the situation there has changed. So, I need to move everything to the other half of the gym, and I want to shake things up.

The latest problem:
I've been having a whole bunch of trouble with the gym audio setup. It seems downright cursed with me going through THREE different subwoofers before settling on one that actually works. The ZLX speakers are good, but only good. They, like all PA speakers, are designed to be durable and really loud. Unfortunately, the gym has never actually needed their loudness, so that's a bit of wasted potential. What about frequency response? All I can find is the provided graphs on EV's datasheets, and although they are basically flat, they don't sound that way. There's also the issue of distortion. It can be hard to hear with the high noise floor with tons of swamp cooler fans going almost all day, but it's there. Finally, PA speakers are generally highly directional, and these are no different. It's hard to cover all the mat space with such a narrow beam of sound.

Now let's consider something crazy. When I got my Kali LP-6v2 studio speakers for my desk setup, I couldn't get over how good they sounded and how much more I could enjoy the music. I also recently connected a power meter to the gym setup and found the ZLX speakers were using only about 18w at idle and 22w when playing real content at a typical volume. That's not much! Considering that the Kalis are rated at 80w EACH, what if I just sold the PA speakers and subbed in studio monitors? I went back with a sound meter and got some readings. We're looking at about 90-95dBC from around a meter away worst case, and that's with the subwoofer and all the extra fan noise. A pure studio monitor setup is looking even better than before.

So, my question is if it would actually be practical to use studio monitors in a warehouse gym. The math says it should work great with lower distortion, better frequency response, and wider directivity all at a lower cost. All I'd need to do is make sure they are securely mounted to something and protected from people touching the dials. However, there has to be a reason nobody else is doing so. Are they just that ignorant?

 

[Doodski]

Hello I too have studied Judo. Great experience that changed me and still decades later is very useful to me.
What is your budget?
What are the dimensions of the room.
What amplifier do you have that you will be using?

 

[bachatero]

What is your budget?

The ZLX speakers were $550 each new, so maybe worth $400 now and $800 in total. For the sub, it was $2000 new and is probably worth $1500 now. That's $2300 in total value and is the most I'm willing to pay because this setup has sucked so much money already. Note that acoustic treatment is off limits because it's not absolutely needed here (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/perceptual-effects-of-room-reflections.13/) and not easily portable in case I need to pack everything up and leave.

What are the dimensions of the room.

About 60ft wide and 150ft long but only one half needs my attention, so 75ft long, and 25ft high

What amplifier do you have that you will be using?

I'm hoping none by using all active speakers, but I'm open to an amplifier + passive speaker setup if it's cheaper, sounds better, or is otherwise a better option.

 

[Doodski]

The ZLX speakers were $550 each new, so maybe worth $400 now and $800 in total. For the sub, it was $2000 new and is probably worth $1500 now. That's $2300 in total value and is the most I'm willing to pay because this setup has sucked so much money already. Note that acoustic treatment is off limits because it's not absolutely needed here (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/perceptual-effects-of-room-reflections.13/) and not easily portable in case I need to pack everything up and leave.

About 60ft wide and 150ft long but only one half needs my attention, so 75ft long, and 25ft high

I'm hoping none by using all active speakers, but I'm open to an amplifier + passive speaker setup if it's cheaper, sounds better, or is otherwise a better option.

What volume will you require. Loud, medium, soft and subtle or do you want to crank Pantera and have everybody go hardcore serious about the workouts? That room is huge and will require solid sound reinforcement. I am going to suggest more than a single pair of speakers, balanced connections is suitable for the lengths of the runs so active speakers should work that way if they have balanced terminations. But your price range may be a limiting factor. Let's get some other peeps here that are the speaker experts and know all about the active speakers that are current and available. There are also 70 Volt systems where the installation uses a ton of speakers all over the place. One thing for sure is you will want Parametric Equalization (PEQ). What source(s) will this system be using?

 

[Doodski]

Keeping in mind that this system needs to be removable in short order, I think the wires will have to be run in the room. Perhaps under the mats if the wires are flat and not making the mats bulge and have a lump under them..

 

[bachatero]

I think I covered the basics in these older threads:

Generational losses

I'm interested in the idea of generational losses with regards to overall audio quality. I know Audiophiles (with a capital A) love to harp on tiny differences in THD, IMD, frequency response, and so on. However, it seems like if you have a lot of components with barely imperfect performance...

www.audiosciencereview.com

A simple inline DSP equalizer: is it possible?

Hi everyone, I'm stuck in a weird position with an audio setup of mine. I go to a gym which offers judo on a long foam mat, and we like to listen to music while practicing judo on it. On the other side of this mat is a fitness area of around the same size. Because I basically live for music, I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Wall counterweight to reduce LF room mode

I'm working on my gym hifi's acoustics and I'm tackling the LF range. When its subwoofer makes sound, the gym's corrugated steel walls literally vibrate like a house in an earthquake. I know this is due to a room mode down in the low range (the space is a hundred feet wide), but covering...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Summary: Cables are an irrelevant implementation detail and I've already got long balanced XLRs on tap. PEQ would be great, but isn't feasible due to there being no good, zero-fuss way to implement it without paying megabucks for a boutique gadget that works with arbitrary inputs. The source is a simple Bluetooth receiver going into an audio mixer to convert it to balanced.

That room is huge and will require solid sound reinforcement.

From the sound and power measurements I did before, it doesn't seem infeasible to use a couple studio monitors here. My Kalis can do 96dB from 1 meter easily but that's ANECHOICALLY. Since we've got lots of reflections to play with, we can get away with smaller speakers because they'll essentially be amplified, and we know it's not a bad thing due to Amir's awesome article.

 

[Doodski]

You have good information. I'm going to leave this thread for the speaker and PA peeps that are knowledgeable in current gear. I just wanted to get the basic details sorted so they can read it when they do. Goood Luckkkk!... LoL.

 

[Waxx]

For such a space, i would get something like the JBL cinema systems, like a pair of 4722's and 4246A subs (if you feel the need for sub). They can go loud enough to fill a space like that while still being low distotion and relative flat in FR (full flat if you use dsp). They are also made to fill a space like that, so the dispertion is aquedate. A system like that could easely cost over 10K altough. Higher end dj systems like a Function One Evolution or Resolution series speakers are also great for that, but as expensive. I know the belgian importer (personal friend) and he actually did some installs of those in higher end gyms and sprort arena's (most famous install: the stadion of Club Brugge KV, one of the major clubs of the Belgian footbal). But those are big budget higher end facilities, not your average gym.

The problem you may have is that they are big, heavy and expensive and need quiet a lot of power, especially the subs. But PA equipment will be similar. That's why you don't see them in gyms mostly.