Loudspeakers Volume Control Speakon

[Call911]

Hey all,

Basically I have an amp feeding a monitor in my greenroom. I want the greenroom to be able to switch on/off the monitor and be able to control volume from the greenroom.

So I need a volume control for speakon able to handle a 500w amp send.

Anywhere I can buy this, or can this be made from parts at RadioShack?

Thanks!

 

[Chris15]

500 watts is a LOT of power for a greenroom send.
At that degree of power you would be much better off controlling the input to the amp level wise, you will potentially need to dissipate a lot of heat if you are trying to drop up to 500w of power away from the monitor if you do it at speaker level.

Can you give us some more details on the current setup? Amp model, speaker rating and impedance, etc?

 

[MisterTim]

I would recommend you move the amp to the green room, then just send an unpowered signal to it. It'd make controlling the volume simpler.

 

[jbrem003]

I agree with the last suggestion. Find a place out of the way to mount your Amp, the volume control will be there with it and you won't be running a high current cable run (which gets into electrical coding issues and the like.) You can power it locally to the Green room, I wouldn't worry about conditioning the power if it's just to be used as a monitor, and just send line level signal to the amp through your run. (make sure it's balanced.) Another option if you're looking to get fancy is to invest in a self powered speaker and find a new home for the Amp. Even computer speakers can be used for green room monitors. All you need to do is have the right adaptors.

 

[terminalpharmacy]

Have you thought about buying a small powered speaker and regaining your amp channel for yourself.

Have a look at the

Jolly 5BA Active Powered 2 way - Biamped, 5" Woofer + 1" HF, 60 w RMS LF + 20W RMS HF, XLR/1/4"combo connector, mic/line switch, 2 Band EQ, Volume Control

Then you only need to send signal.

 

[Chris15]

Folks, it's been a few weeks since the original post and we haven't yet heard back from the OP.

For all we know the speaker cable may be buried in inaccessible places and so moving to a powered system may not be feasible. Until we know what we're actually up against, there's no point suggesting particular products... We might be talking about a green room for a small theatre or one for a large performing arts complex, I can see the Sydney Opera House GR getting through 500w of amp power easily...

 

[Call911]

Hey Folks,

I finally respond a few months later. Sorry for the delay, been super busy with shows and rentals.

To answer questions, this is a 1,500 seat house, with a 100' pros. Greenroom is very spacious, and extremely open. It's about 250' by 100'

The original room was not wired with speakers, not even cheap 70v ceiling speakers. This was built 15 years ago, and budget was cut at the start of construction. Long story.

Anyways, right now we're taking a speaker line from the orchestra pit, hooking a 50' speaking cable to it, and dropping it down the pit wheelchair elevator to the greenroom, and daisychaining two monitors to it.

This runs upstairs to a monitor amp. Not 100% sure on the watts, but it's 1 of 6 monitor amps, all the same make and model.

Problem now is we have no way to tell from FOH how loud it is in the greenroom. I would like a way for the actors/staff to be able to control volume remotely.

This seems like a stupid question, but would a light dimmer from home depot work to control sound levels?

Thanks.

 

[museav]

To answer questions, this is a 1,500 seat house, with a 100' pros. Greenroom is very spacious, and extremely open. It's about 250' by 100'

Are you sure on those dimensions? 250'x100' would indeed be a very spacious Green Room as it is about the size of five basketball courts. And a 100' proscenium width is about that of Radio City Music Hall or the Elliott Hall of Music, 10' wider than the Arie Crown and 20' wider than The Fox Theatre, all of which are 4,000+ capacity venues. For comparison, the 1,500 seat Harris Theatre, which is apparently in your area and about the same age, has a 45' wide proscenium. This is important because you might need to approach a 25,000 square foot Green Room much differently than you would a typical Green Room.

The original room was not wired with speakers, not even cheap 70v ceiling speakers. This was built 15 years ago, and budget was cut at the start of construction. Long story.

Anyways, right now we're taking a speaker line from the orchestra pit, hooking a 50' speaking cable to it, and dropping it down the pit wheelchair elevator to the greenroom, and daisychaining two monitors to it.

This runs upstairs to a monitor amp. Not 100% sure on the watts, but it's 1 of 6 monitor amps, all the same make and model.

Problem now is we have no way to tell from FOH how loud it is in the greenroom. I would like a way for the actors/staff to be able to control volume remotely.

Sounds like maybe it is time to try to implement a more permanent solution. The speaker line running down the wheelchair elevator could be a problem if the cable is not properly rated or potentially interferes with the elevator operation while the long run probably incurs large losses. You might want to consider either installing a 70V speaker system in the Green Room with a limited total wattage or providing a self contained system for the Green Room with a line level input from the theatre.

 

[derekleffew]

... would a light dimmer from home depot work to control sound levels?

No, a triac based lighting dimmer would not work. You'd need an L-pad, as one solution.