Wireless Audio Distribution System Brings Ambiance to Historic Downtown

To further the ambiance of historic downtown, officials had wanted to provide audio programming to a rather remote location of the village for a number of years. The ultimate goal was to make Christmas music available during the holiday season, as well as audio reinforcement for various presentations by local dignitaries throughout the year. However, due to the isolated location of the courtyard, village personnel were just not able to find an economical solution. One possible approach discussed was the use of fiber-optic cabling over which to route the audio signal. However, the cost of running new fiber alone would have overwhelmed the available budget. Furthermore, the cost of additional equipment needed to perform the analog/digital conversion which allowed for transmission over fiber made the final estimated project cost look quite prohibitive.

Adding complexity to an already potentially expensive system, the courtyard was located across a set of busy commuter train tracks from the closest village owned building in which to house equipment. Thus it was not feasible to simply run a new distributed speaker system or fiber network from this building to the courtyard. The village needed a cost effective solution and they needed it quickly since the new holiday season was rapidly approaching.

Enter Pace Systems, a full service systems integrator focused on providing design and design/build for a wide range of services. After discussing the issues with one of its key suppliers, Pace personnel decided the best way to approach the situation was to utilize a wireless audio system from Listen Technologies Corporation. The supplier had seen the effectiveness of distributing audio via FM wireless firsthand. They were familiar with an installation at a local zoo which had utilized a Listen FM wireless system for the distribution of audio program material to each of the animal exhibits.

Utilizing this information, Pace was able to design a Wireless Audio Distribution System utilizing Listen’s LT-800 Stationary FM Transmitter and LR-100 Stationary FM Receiver/Power Amplifier.

Getting the audio out to the courtyard was only the beginning of the process. The signal was then translated to sound via several Electro Voice loudspeakers. Electro Voice was able to supply speaker systems that were weatherproof enough to survive the harsh Chicago land winters while still providing pristine audio quality. The small 4.2” satellite speakers were also small and unobtrusive when installed. This was an important consideration since village management desired to keep the visual impact of audio equipment to a minimum. The LR-100 receiver/power amplifiers were installed in a weatherproof, heated enclosure which kept the audio equipment at a comfortable operating temperature.

Installation of the wireless system turned out to be a breeze. Once power was run to the new enclosure, Pace engineers merely installed amps, transmitter, receivers and speakers, and the would-be complex installation was nearly licked. The only adjustment needed was to lower the power of the remote transmitter residing in the local building since it tended to overpower the mic transmitter used for the village’s holiday celebrations.

Once the installation was completed, village employees were quickly able to pipe Christmas music over the tracks to the courtyard speakers. Citizen feedback toward the added audio programming was enthusiastic and positive. The village was so impressed with the solution that talk has even started regarding an expansion of the wireless network out to the local farmers market at some point in the future.