100 V speaker systems have been around for a long time. To call them \u2018outdated\u2018 would be too short-sighted and not really correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we look at an oil and gas industrial plant, for example, we have a wide variety of areas. An adapted, safe and standard-compliant sound system is required here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s take a brief look at the requirements and challenges that need to be met for this type of sound system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Potentially explosive areas<\/strong> > Ex-approved speakers<\/li>
- Very loud areas<\/strong> > speakers with high sound pressure and corresponding output<\/li>
- Office environments<\/strong> > many small speakers with low output and individually adjustable volume<\/li>
- Workshops, storage areas<\/strong> > weatherproof speakers, high volume levels<\/li>
- Spacious areas<\/strong> > long cable runs<\/li>
- Remote areas<\/strong> > a few speakers<\/li>
- Monitoring the cable route and impedances<\/strong> > high integrity requirements<\/li>
- Cabling as a ring structure<\/strong> > high reliability<\/li>
- Standard speakers, e.g. EN54-24<\/strong> > assured audio and long-term quality<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/100VSpeakerLinesVSIPSpeaker-1024x390.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n100 V advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- The range of 100 V speaker types available is large and varied to meet all the above requirements.<\/li>
- A 100 V speaker cabling system can supply practically all areas with the same cable.<\/li>
- Long cable runs, e.g. 1 km and more, can be realized with 100 V cabling.<\/li>
- The 100 V cabling can be implemented with inexpensive cables.<\/li>
- A typical industrial 300 watt PA\/GA amplifier can supply 50 6 watt speakers (at 80% load this would still be 40 speakers).<\/li>
- MTBF times of a standard 100 V industrial speaker are several 100,000 hours.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
100 V disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Volume settings are difficult to implement:
- Amplifier only (many speakers)<\/li><\/ul>
- Line only (many speakers)<\/li><\/ul>
- Volume control (complex installation, poor accessibility)
<\/li><\/ul><\/li> - Small, self-sufficient sound zones with few speakers
- An entire amplifier channel may have to be added<\/li><\/ul>
- Cabling is complex and therefore possibly expensive<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
IP speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
IP speakers have established themselves on the market in a relatively short space of time. This also applies to the industrial PA\/GA system environment.
Basically, an IP speaker is an active speaker with a network connection (LAN\/WLAN). There are differences in terms of the protocol that the speaker ‘speaks’ and the power supply.
This turns such a sound system from a centrally controlled and supplied system into a decentralized one.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe challenges here are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Power supply, whether PoE (Power over Ethernet) or external<\/li>
- Dedicated cable: Network switch \u00e0 (Injector) \u00e0 Speakers<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
These conclusions result in the corresponding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IP speaker advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Any, even small-scale sound zones and individual (volume) settings
- Individual access to the speakers means that, for example, volume settings and other individual settings can be easily made.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Can be integrated into existing network infrastructure, making it more cost-effective for small systems.<\/li>
- Additional hardware functions such as inputs and outputs or microphones are more easily possible on the speaker.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
IP speaker disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- May be expensive and complex for large systems with many speakers, e.g. 50 6-watt IP speakers require at least 750 watts of PoE power and 50 Ethernet cables to the individual speakers.<\/li>
- At best, an Ethernet cable can reach a length of 100 meters.<\/li>
- No standard-compliant sound reinforcement possible yet, e.g. in accordance with EN54-24.<\/li>
- Single point of failure, as only 1 network port is available in the end device.<\/li>
- MTBF times significantly reduced compared to pure speakers, as active electronics are also used.<\/li>
- Synchronization between the IP speakers and the classic PA\/GA speakers is practically non-existent or difficult to achieve.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Beitragsbild-IPLautsprecher-1011x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nConclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are the classic 100 V speaker networks obsolete today?
Are IP speakers replacing this ‘old’ technology?
The answer to both questions is clearly NO<\/strong>.
It is much more correct to smartly combine the two technologies in order to implement a functional, hybrid speaker network.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUltimately, the intelligent use of both technologies will benefit you – both in terms of your investment and in terms of reliability and standardization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
100 V speaker systems have been around for a long time. To call them \u2018outdated\u2018 would be too short-sighted and not really correct.<\/p>\n
Let’s take a brief look at the requirements and challenges that need to be met for this type of sound system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[85,201],"class_list":["post-5236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-ip","tag-speaker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5236"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5250,"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5236\/revisions\/5250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.industronic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Any, even small-scale sound zones and individual (volume) settings
- Cabling is complex and therefore possibly expensive<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- An entire amplifier channel may have to be added<\/li><\/ul>
- Volume control (complex installation, poor accessibility)
- Line only (many speakers)<\/li><\/ul>
- Amplifier only (many speakers)<\/li><\/ul>
- Volume settings are difficult to implement:
- Very loud areas<\/strong> > speakers with high sound pressure and corresponding output<\/li>