ceiling speakers / mixer-amp

[brad14]

I'm working on a new church build (old church burned down). The church is on the small side (7000 sqft) with the usual tight budget, especially when it comes to AV equipment. We have a fellowship hall that has wall dividers that can be split into three rooms. I'm looking at putting in two zones. Room A and Room B+C. The rooms are each 14'x20' or 42'x20' when the room is opened up. The ceilings are 9' tall. I'm currently thinking about putting two ceiling speakers in each room. I had originally planned on a 70v system but due to price and equipment selection, I'm now leaning towards the more traditional 8ohm system.

My quesion is if anyone had recommendations on cheap yet decent (I'm aware of the oxymoron) ceiling speakers. The area above the ceiling will have blown-in insulation so I'm stuck looking for speakers with back-cans. I can't afford the JBL control series which seems to be a popular choice. My budget for speakers is around $50/speaker. OSD audio seems to carry what I'm looking for but I've never heard to them and can't find a lot of reviews so I'm a little leery about buying them.

I'm also looking for a decent mixer/amplifier to go with the system. For a mixer/amp combo unit, my budget is in the under $200 range. I just need something simple, probably two mic and 2 rca inputs would be fine. I've been looking at the Pyle brands but buying Pyle also scares me.

Thanks for any help or recommendations. (I'm also not opposed to buying something used that may be of better quality)

[cmchamp]

You may have to look to used TOA, Bogen, Yorkville, EV for a 70v mixer/amp.
New, Yorkville or Austrailian Monitor for a 70v mixer amp.
Speakers, Yorkville's got some decent ones. 2 way's would run you around $70 each though. Their 4" version would run about $25.00. Both have sealed backs. You'll have to look at additional mounting hardware if you're workign with a dropped ceiling.
C.

[bpalermini]

I've had good luck with TOA equipment for a job like that. Check out ebay. There are always a number of used units there.

[Brad Weber]

TOA for 70V mixer/amps and maybe Atlas Sound (http://www.atlassound.com/ProductCat...d=1311&pI=1210) for the speakers. OSD Audio looks like a consumer/residential product.

Two speakers may be pushing it for 14'x20' rooms with 9' ceilings. By the time you account for sitting or standing ear height that's maybe 4' to 5' from ceiling to ear and I'm afraid you might have some gaps at the room divisions when the rooms are combined.

Just curious, but what inputs and what divide/combine functionality are desired? Do all three rooms need to be able to operate independently or is simply turning off speakers in some rooms acceptable?

[Esoteric]

There are some good used Atals 70v speakers for sale in the classifieds.

[brad14]

Thanks for the responses. Brad, to answer your question, the inputs would be maybe 1-2 mics and probably 2 rca inputs for a dvd player or mp3 player. The room will be used mostly for showing video, maybe announcements with a mic, or possibly overflow from the sanctuary. The rooms do not need to operate independently. I was going to have two volume controls so someone could use one of the rooms without broadcasting to the other two rooms. One room has a projector which can be used both for a single room or the entire area when the walls are open. Because of that I was splitting the sound into two zones.

I've been doing some more research online. It seems that some people have used the open back speakers and covered them with fiberglass batt insulation and then put the blow-in insulation on top of that. The fiberglass would protect the speaker from getting filled with the cellulose. Apparently the fiberglass also increases the bass response. Does anyone have any experience with that technique? Does it work well? That would certainly open up the number of speakers available.