2 questions (speakers and validator) 1

[cycochris]

1. I've never had to wire speakers from scratch in a building, only maintained what was there. I now have been tasked with putting 36 speakers in a new construction. All but 8 are in acoustic drop ceiling. The others are on slanted sheetrock ceiling. The phone system is a small key system, but they want a pristine wiring job. Seeing as how I've never done this, I'm asking for some guidance. I have to use plenum wire in a cable tray for the phone system, same for the data guys.
What wire should I use for the speakers? SHould the be daisy chained?
I know these are newbie questions, but I am kind of a newb at this.

2. Is the validator a decent cable certifier? This job that has been assigned to me requires that I certify each wire run.

I'm not new to the phone business, but I am new to having to wire things according to strict standards. My experience lies in maintaining existing systems, installing fresh is all new to me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bkrike]

The first thing to find out is what type of speaker system they want, or what you are going to install. For instance Valcom makes the standard 24 volt system that works just fine with normal cat3 phone cable. They also make a 70 watt system under the name Clarity, which is similar to the most common type of Bogen products. The cabling requirements for the two systems are different, and it must be decided in advance.

I recommend you go to Valcom, Clarity, and Bogens websites. They have a bunch of tech info to read.

As for the validator- I don’t know why anyone would ask to have speaker cable certified. But- the validator is not a certifier. It is a tester/ qualifier. Certifiers cost a few thousand dollars more. I think I remember a thread on the validator here a few months ago if you want to do a search.

 

[phuzzy42]

I like the Valcoms because you don't need a separate PA amplifier to drive them - just the output from the PBX. They make acoustic tile and box-type. You daisy-chain speakers up to the rating of the power supply you're using - visit Valcom's site for a rating chart. Of course, that means you need two pairs going to each speaker - signal and power - I used CAT5 because we already had it, and I doubled each pair blue & green, orange and brown. Everything's terminated on 110 blocks with a master volume control for each zone (many Valcom models have individual volume controls too). These speakers are sturdy and reliable - no failures in 6 years.

I haven't used Clarity, but the Bogens I looked at required a separate PA amplifier and the speakers didn't cost much less than the Valcoms - the final cost would have been much higher, especially since I had 12 buildings to hook together.

Steve Harmon
Greenfield, Indiana

 

[cycochris]

Did you double up just for redundancy?

 

[skip555]

if you go to the valcom website they will design the system for you .

 

[phuzzy42]

I doubled up for several reasons:
[ul][li]The more pathway for current the better, and when you daisy-chain 15 or 20 speakers off one power supply...[/li]
[li]They were there, why not use them? They won't be used for anything else.[/li]
[li]Cleaner and no extra wires hanging about to short-circuit something.[/li][/ul]

Steve Harmon
Greenfield, Indiana