Looking for decent speaker system for a small restaurant.

[esi225]

Hey there,

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong thread but I didn't know where else to post it.

I was asked by my friend recently to help him with the sound system in a Spanish restaurant he is opening. He already has the location and it's pretty small with a maximum capacity of 18 people so it doesn't need to be a massive system, but when it comes to audio I'm at a loss of what might be needed. I was thinking a 4-6 speaker 5.1 system hooked up to a small MacBook would do the trick, but I don't know if I need something more than that? If someone could offer suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated.

P.S - I've looked into which permits are necessary to play licensed music, so all the legal nonesense is out of the way, I just need help on the hardware itself.

Thanks.

 

[A_Goat]

What is your/ your friends budget?

Do you want them mounted or on the floor?
And are there multiple rooms or is it an open concept type deal?

is the main seating area L shaped, a square, sectioned off, etc?

 

[esi225]

What is your/ your friends budget?

Do you want them mounted or on the floor?
And are there multiple rooms or is it an open concept type deal?

is the main seating area L shaped, a square, sectioned off, etc?

We are trying to keep the sound system under $500.

Would prefer to have them mounted.

Just one room (aside from kitchen and washroom, but they don't need speakers) and the room is square shaped.

Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

Do you have a suspended ceiling? If so then flat (in wall) type speakers would be a good choice. If you need something that will mount to a hard surface then something like these Polk Audio on-wall speakers -- www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio--Wall-Speaker-White/dp/B0018QNYXA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1418929180&sr=1-1

 

[esi225]

Do you have a suspended ceiling? If so then flat (in wall) type speakers would be a good choice. If you need something that will mount to a hard surface then something like these Polk Audio on-wall speakers -- www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio--Wall-Speaker-White/dp/B0018QNYXA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1418929180&sr=1-1

No the ceiling isn't suspended so I think they would have to be wall mounted. There's also the issue of we are having trouble with our ISP not wanting to install internet infrastructure due to the location being in a "cold spot" that would be far too costly to put in the work for them. So basically what this means is there is no internet on the property so WiFi speakers won't work. (Even though I don't think the ones you linked are, just something I should note.)

If I got wired speakers, would I need a mixer or an amplifier like I have heard from a bit of the research I have done on it?

 

[kanewolf]

Depends on how many speakers you believe you will have. A multi-channel amp that is designed for a situation like this allows you to independently balance the loudness of each speaker (or pair). You then control the master volume with your input source.

 

[esi225]

I was planning on using 6 speakers, since the building is slightly rectangular so I wanted the sound to be able to reach the whole building evenly. But to be fair it's all just background noise, so would a 6 speaker system with a small multi channel amplifier work then?

 

[madmatt30]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00J5CHXRW/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1418930494&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

Everything you need apart from decent lengths of speaker cable
These speakers are amazing for the size (around the size of a cooking apple) - trapezoid shaped and come with both flat wall & corner wall mounts (2 screws per mount as they weigh virtually nothing).
They're really home cinema speakers but work very very well for music too.
The sub is completely nondirectional - you just need somewhere solid to place it out of the way.
The demon amp is a thoroughly decent budget job - I would suggest just using 4 speakers in the corners of a square room (keep one as a spare) & set the amp to run in dual stereo.
They'll make an ideal system for background music IMO.
The sub does the majority of the work ,the sound from the satellites is crystal clear but unobtrusive.

 

[kanewolf]

I was planning on using 6 speakers, since the building is slightly rectangular so I wanted the sound to be able to reach the whole building evenly. But to be fair it's all just background noise, so would a 6 speaker system with a small multi channel amplifier work then?

If you can find a slightly larger amp (8 to 12 channel) you would have room to expand (patio?).
Something like this -- www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio-MA1240a-Multi-Zone-Amplifier/dp/B003DKVZHQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418932735&sr=8-2