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Suggestions on a nice Wireless Speaker Setup + Wireless IEMs for Elderly

Jimster480

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Hey everyone,
I have been tasked with upgrading the sound system in my small church. Mostly elderly people there and some of them are now hard of hearing.
They are asking me to do a wireless rear speaker system + upgrade the main speakers + provide wireless monitors for hard of hearing people to be able to hear the pastor.

I need a system with a nice wireless Mic system with 3-4 channels inbound to be mixed from the Choir and then outbound channels for the front and rear of the church.
Overall the church isn't very big (maybe 1600 sq foot interior) so I don't need the craziest speakers for the rear.

I found a few systems like this:
But I was looking for something that is more geared toward elderly who are just going to listen.

A few amp systems that are affordable:

It doesn't have to specifically be in this price range, there are just so many systems out there.... and almost all of them have no reviews or information here at all.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
There isn't any specific budget, but we also don't want to spend a huge amount of money.... it is a small church after all.
This is what we currently have:

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Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no such thing as cheap wireless with pro audio. You just can’t have a cheap system crapping out during a performance with dropped signals, picket-fencing and the like. What a wonderful thing during the sermon!

As such, reliability is a drop-dead requirement for pro audio wireless. A cheap, unreliable wireless system wouldn’t last 10 minutes on the market because it would be drowning in bad reviews and returns to the seller (who would rightly quit offering it).

Regarding the system for the elderly, what you need is an ADA compliant Assistive Listening System.

Here’s a link with some info.

B&H Photo has a number of options, including bundles of replacement headphones (which will likely be a high-causality item in a system of this type).

This kit from Vocopro might be your most economical option, depending on how many potential users you have. We use Vocopro wireless handheld mics at our church, and I’ve been impressed with how good they are for the money – this from a guy who’s a Sennheiser fanboy.

Vocopro’s web page for these devices:

However - for the rear speakers, wireless is definitely not the way to go. For starters, wireless requires active speakers. Which requires a power cable to make them work. Which basically means, there’s no such thing as a wireless PA speaker.

But if you insist on active speakers, to make them wireless will require an outboard system to get signal to them from your mixing console. That’s gonna cost you $400 right out of the hole for something like the Alto Stealth system, which transmits a signal from the console to receivers that are located at each speaker. The receivers will require constant attention and maintenance – i.e. checking and replacing the batteries.

NOTE: It should be easy to find Alto’s legacy Stealth system used on ebay or the like for under $200.

The next issue with active speakers is that the built-in amplifiers or other electronics will eventually fail. It might go for 5, 10 years, who knows? (I’d be shocked if anything at the lower end of the market where you’re looking will last that long.) But when the amp dies, the whole thing is junk. There will be no replacement amplifier modules available many years down the road.

Thus, I’d recommend standard passive speakers, which should last close to forever. You can find a nice used stereo amp from Crown, QSC, Peavey, Ashly, Yamaha or the like on ebay or Marketplace to power them.

Here’s a link to the PA speakers Sweetwater sells. Something with an 8” or 10” woofer should be sufficient for your needs.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
I appreciate the response, you make some good points.

The only reason I mentioned wireless speakers for the rear is because we don't have full wiring that reaches the rear of the church at this point in time. So we would have to install said wiring if we wanted to truly do rear speakers that are directly powered. Obviously those would be cheaper and basically maintenance free. So it's a cost debate on running the wiring.
You make a good case though for a wired solution, which is probably the best considering that most of the older people have no technical knowledge, so everything needs to "just work".

Our current system is mostly quite cheap and it was put here about 15 years ago when the church had very little funding. Thankfully everything still works, but the speakers are starting to buzz and crack and the mic drops out (as you mentioned) and is such not used very often.
The speakers are used to play songs along with the projector being used for a short video, especially as the church building itself is in use almost every day of every week for various functions.

Thank you so much for all of your recommendations. I will check into everything in a little while.
 
have you considered the effect of multipath when having both front and rear speakers? A person in the congregation will hear the person at the mic, a second version from the front speakers, and a third version from the rear speakers. Sound travels about one foot per millisecond, and differences of 20ms are easily noticeable and can affect intelligibility. You can tune this by carefully adjusting the delay for each speaker, but that adds more equipment and setup cost.

Many churches near me have been replacing all their small side speakers with just one or two white column array speakers at the front. These column arrays are about 8 inches wide by 8 feet tall, wall mounted and canted slightly forward. They sound clear and articulate from every seat in the church (but probably aren't cheap.)

JBL makes a portable powered column speaker (PRX ONE) that you might be able to rent to try in your space (or some large online retailers have free returns...)
 
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For assisted listening, there are "silent disco" headphones which can be customized with your logo. I believe they are 900MHz analog FM, often 3 stereo channels. There would be similar systems, maybe less obtrusive for yoga, personal trainer, exercise classes, and tour guides. There are large numbers of bluetooth earbuds, which you would have to clean, but are easy to lose.

On film sats, many people have to listen to a channel, so there are companies like Comtek who make wireless IFB or IEM "body pack receivers." I use B&H a lot and they have a relatively inexpensive body pack system https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...bmx59hJ-vMdTf-XF3wxdEpZIk0gdsHbsaAkWuEALw_wcB.

Some wireless microphones and IFB receivers are on old frequency bands that have been taken over for cell phone use. So check what frequencies can be used in your area, it varies by country. Sometimes the used ones are cheap, but not legal.

The other route is to get a bunch of cell phones and run IFB software on them.

For your mixer, look up automix systems.
 
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For assisted listening, there are "silent disco" headphones which can be customized with your logo. I believe they are 900MHz analog FM, often 3 stereo channels. There would be similar systems, maybe less obtrusive for yoga, personal trainer, exercise classes, and tour guides. There are large numbers of bluetooth earbuds, which you would have to clean, but are easy to lose.

On film sats, many people have to listen to a channel, so there are companies like Comtek who make wireless IFB or IEM "body pack receivers." I use B&H a lot and they have a relatively inexpensive body pack system https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...bmx59hJ-vMdTf-XF3wxdEpZIk0gdsHbsaAkWuEALw_wcB.

Some wireless microphones and IFB receivers are on old frequency bands that have been taken over for cell phone use. So check what frequencies can be used in your area, it varies by country. Sometimes the used ones are cheap, but not legal.

The other route is to get a bunch of cell phones and run IFB software on them.

For your mixer, look up automix systems.

Taking a look at all the systems on the market: I think either the Vocopro you shared or https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...n_buhl_als700_assistive_listening_system.html is what I am going to go with. I think we will only have 2-4 people who need these systems at this point in time.

When I searched Automix Audio Systems I found this: https://www.roexaudio.com/
Seems like some AI DJ and sound generation software, I don't think this is what you were talking about...

have you considered the effect of multipath when having both front and rear speakers? A person in the congregation will hear the person at the mic, a second version from the front speakers, and a third version from the rear speakers. Sound travels about one foot per millisecond, and differences of 20ms are easily noticeable and can affect intelligibility. You can tune this by carefully adjusting the delay for each speaker, but that adds more equipment and setup cost.

Many churches near me have been replacing all their small side speakers with just one or two white column array speakers at the front. These column arrays are about 8 inches wide by 8 feet tall, wall mounted and canted slightly forward. They sound clear and articulate from every seat in the church (but probably aren't cheap.)

JBL makes a portable powered column speaker (PRX ONE) that you might be able to rent to try in your space (or some large online retailers have free returns...)
I have also considered this and forgot about sound delay. I think it would be better if I just get a new set of front speakers.
The ones we have right now are attached to this post and they are worn out and sometimes buzz or crack now so we don't use any mics.

I also need a couple of nice wireless Mics that I can add into the system, we have a couple of them but they are 12+ years old and aren't very good.
Behringer has a few good mics that I have personally used, just not sure if they make anything decent that is wireless.

I'm also looking for a couple boom mic's for the choir, one for front row and one for back row that would be wired and on pedestals in front of each row.
Again any suggestions would be very helpful.
 

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When I searched Automix Audio Systems I found this: https://www.roexaudio.com/
Seems like some AI DJ and sound generation software, I don't think this is what you were talking about...
The classic solution for operator-less is the Dan Dugan automix software. So search for "Dugan automix hardware." I would guess JBL Pro, Shure, or many "conference room" or "house of worship" sound companies would have mixers with automix, not specifically Dugan, on 8 or under input mixers. Shure's IntelliMix might be one. Maybe voice phone Sweetwater Sound with your browser open to their website and see what they suggest. There have to be worship sound forums as well.
 
I also need a couple of nice wireless Mics that I can add into the system, we have a couple of them but they are 12+ years old and aren't very good.
Behringer has a few good mics that I have personally used, just not sure if they make anything decent that is wireless.
Do not cheap out on wireless Mics. This is one area you definitely get what you pay for. Also you will need to do some frequency planning depending on what spectrum is available in your area. (Sennheiser or Shure are safe picks, but pricey. I have been happy with the Shure wireless mics I got on eBay, but they're for infrequent events.)

I second the recommendation for prosoundweb. They will have all the expertise you need.
 
The classic solution for operator-less is the Dan Dugan automix software. So search for "Dugan automix hardware." I would guess JBL Pro, Shure, or many "conference room" or "house of worship" sound companies would have mixers with automix, not specifically Dugan, on 8 or under input mixers. Shure's IntelliMix might be one. Maybe voice phone Sweetwater Sound with your browser open to their website and see what they suggest. There have to be worship sound forums as well.
Dan Dugan looks to be gone. Nothing updated on the site since 2020 and there are broken links on there. I don't find the hardware for sale via any website either which shows "in stock". Looks like its Waves Audio and the original products are discontinued. There is a software they call Dugan Speech which mixes mics. Looks to be like a digital sound board, not sure though if that would be better than just having an analog sound board like we have today.... it is a small church and most things people don't even use Mics these days.
You might want to check out prosoundweb.com. They have a forum specifically for houses of worship
Thanks for the recommendation. Looks like a quite serious forum for professional audio. Not sure though if I need to get that serious, our church is so small and what we have been using for the last 15 years is so cheap and yet has worked fine that if I just buy some decent hardware it should be fine for the next 15 years.
Do not cheap out on wireless Mics. This is one area you definitely get what you pay for. Also you will need to do some frequency planning depending on what spectrum is available in your area. (Sennheiser or Shure are safe picks, but pricey. I have been happy with the Shure wireless mics I got on eBay, but they're for infrequent events.)

I second the recommendation for prosoundweb. They will have all the expertise you need.
I'll check and see what is available from Shure for a reasonable price.
 
Something to keep in mind if you get newspeakers: The pro world has largely moved on to Speakon connections for the cabinets and cables, which are far superior to the old 1/4” fare. Make sure your replacements will accommodate 1/4" plugs in addition to Speakons. If not, you will have to replace the plugs on your existing wiring.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
Something to keep in mind if you get newspeakers: The pro world has largely moved on to Speakon connections for the cabinets and cables, which are far superior to the old 1/4” fare. Make sure your replacements will accommodate 1/4" plugs in addition to Speakons. If not, you will have to replace the plugs on your existing wiring.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
The current speakers seem to just use XLR and it is powered directly from the amplifiier.
I will unplug one next time I am at church and see if it is indeed a 1/4 connector on the back of the speaker.
 
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