Ceiling speakers and 100V line

blast06

Hi,
I want to fit 4 speakers into my kitchen ceiling (all wired - recent self-build). There are a few compact speaker options that tick all the boxes but they are all '100V line'.
I have tried reading up on this but am still not 100% of what it really means. What i want (very simply) is that the 4 speaker cables 'merge' into 1 and i can connect it a simple radio/CD player (and will in time no doubt change to a device that streams radio and own cloud stored music files plus iTunes .. side note - any suggestions?!). However, the "100V line" seems to suggest i would need an amplifier but i don't want this.
Can anyone elaborate/clarify ?

Cheers.

ZENER

100 Volt line allows for multiple speakers which can be individually "tapped" to reduce the level. They are commonly installed in hotels, airports, churches etc. The advantage of this is that the impedance of the individual speakers can be ignored. Each of the speakers is fitted with a small transformer which allows all this.

The amplifier also must offer this functionality and will have a transformer on its output and terminals marked for various output voltage standards. So if you buy the 100V line speakers you will need an amplifier with 100V line output. These can be pricy though and the audio quality won't too great and they are generally only mono.

Have you considered using car speakers instead ? The grilles can be sprayed white and an acoustically transparent cloth can be used to hide the cones. Of course you will still need some type of amplifier to drive them but it should be much cheaper than the 100V option. You could also use a car stereo unit nicely concealed under a cupboard. The stereo could have USB, Bluetooth and AUX inputs to cater for most sources.

For reference:

Constant Voltage speaker systems.

Using Car speakers in a ceiling.

Ken

blast06

Thanks for the reply Zener !
I am looking at something fairly simple like this ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Compact-ceiling-speaker-100V-chrome/dp/B00P9818DQ/ref=sr_1_1/275-4496115-5211153?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1427793186&sr=1-1&keywords=ceiling+speakers+chrome ...... i am constrained by needing to have the speakers same size and colour as the recessed lights in the ceiling - or so said the boss !!

What i am not clear on is whether i still need an amplifier with these .... i.e.: all i want to do is have a simple mini Hifi system where i can merge 2 of the wires from the speakers to be the 'left stereo' and the other 2 to be the 'right stereo'. Or perhaps i can get a mini hifi with an in-built amp -
i hope that even makes sense !!
Thanks (and apolgies for my complete ignorance on this!!)

ZENER

As for the speakers you've linked to, although they are 100V, you only need to bypass the transformer and connect directly to the actual speaker itself. That should sort that issue. However I think you will be sacrificing sound quality with a speaker that small - something "bosses" tend not to understand . They are meant for Public Address not music. Little or no bass response so they'll sound like you have the bass controll turned down to -11.

As for the amplifier - yes you will need a seperate amplifier to drive these. You mention a mini hi-fi unit, assuming it can drive a set of speakers then no reason why it can't drive these if you just connect them to the speaker output terminals on the hifi. How you connect them is kind of important so get back to us if you decide to buy them.

Could you not stretch to even a small car speaker ? Even a 4" unit would be a vast improvement over these !

Ken