Sound system for a village hall

Roland

@Sporky can probably answer this without pausing to think.

My village hall wants to replace its sound system. Uses are:

1. Monthly film show, from dvd, where we need to separate the speech from the music so that pensioners with hearing aids can hear what’s being said.
2. Microphone (Sennheiser e825) for sound reinforcement when we have a visiting speaker.
3. Exercise classes where the instructor plugs a mini jack into her ‘phone and uses iTunes or similar.
4. Private parties where the customer will plug the mini jack into something.

The current set up is pre-amp, stereo power amp, and two wall mounted speakers. I don’t know what they are, but could find out if keeping some of them is an option. Sound quality is not great, but probably suffices for everything except the films.

What are the options? How much of that could they achieve for around £600?

Sporky

£600 wouldn't get you anywhere with the kit I use at work, I'm afraid. How big is the space? 

Roland

It’s around 15m x 12m

ICBM

Would adding a couple of powered bass bins for use with the films be enough? That's probably going to be within budget and might be all you really need if it's just the lack of 'cinema sound experience' which is the problem.

LooseMoose

More is more in terms of speakers - more of them but smaller would be fine. At that kind of size I’d even consider a 100v system and go for 3 or 4 pairs to give a nice spread of sound wherever you are in the room? 

Roland

What should they use to separate out the film sound channels? They’re currently using a domestic DVD player. Was Sony. I think the current one is Panasonic. 

Danny1969

The trouble with 100V line is the fidelity is terrible, even for speach. I've just replaced such a system in a large social club with a zone mixer and a bunch of FBT active monitors in the various zones. This has made an immense improvement to everything but the cost is something like 4K in parts alone. 

I would probably go with something powerful but relatively cheap up front like a pair of JBL JRX225 to cover the bombastic movie experience and iPod dances and some small active speakers placed in pairs along the length of the hall for speech. 

ESBlonde

Some tidy Ex hire 1x10s and a sub with a cheap Heavy old power amp or two. Small analoge mixer and some laminated 'Idiot guide' instructions on how to use and what not to touch. Those big old amps sound lovely, are very cheap and you don't have to move them in an install. Mount on a suitable shelf or properly suspend (H&S rules) the cabs. With adequate power and proper gain stages that will be clear and thunderous. maybe use the old/present amp to create a simple Loop for those with hearing aids, Caution some Induction Loops and some old radio mics/links will cause low howling like feedback so make both independently switchable. Is there a local Tech you can appeal to to guide you and do the initial setup?