Spinning Exercise Room Installation

Bennett Prescott

Bennett Prescott

Just This Guy, You Know?
Staff member
Jan 10, 2011
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Wallingford, CT
www.bennettprescott.com
Hey Everybody!

A friend of mine is expanding his personal training and exercise business. He's already got a studio he uses for TRX and other kinds of "in a box" exercise regimens, but he has rented a space above his current studio to install 18 spin bikes. He's asked me if I can advise on a "better, best" kind of installation he could do to cover the area with intelligible audio. I know a few speakers that could get the job done, but I really don't know much about the best in the world of control and amplification in this case. Does anyone have a favorite product or product family they could share with me?

Details:
  1. Sources will be one or two wireless headset mics and an iPod.
  2. Not a lot of power needed (250w into 8Ω plenty), but I would like something that can function as a proper loudspeaker DSP.
  3. Big bonus if it has real power limiters so his trainers can't blow the PA up.
  4. Room is an old bank office, 18' ceilings, all exposed brick. He can do whatever he likes with the space physically, mounting options are unlimited.
  5. Across the hallway is a law office, so LF will be kept moderate.
  6. Control is the most important part - it should be possible for someone armed with no knowledge of audio and barely the ability to operate an iPod to adjust levels and run this system.
  7. Budget is moderate, not first class stuff but something better than a pair of $400 powered speakers and an analog mixer.
  8. I'll be helping install and tune myself, so the setup doesn't have to be idiot proof, but he's a 5 hour drive away so I won't be able to help in an emergency.
 
Re: Spinning Exercise Room Installation

for idiot-proof in fitness applications like this we usually go with a Shure SCM262. half-rack 2 mic +2 stereo line inputs and nothing but volume controls and bass/treble on the front. not even a power switch.
put a 2U rack drawer under it and land the ipod input cable in there, then they can plug in the ipod and leave it in the drawer (no cables dangling on the front of the rack)
Up that to a 3U drawer and the wireless mics can all go in there too. (some brands of headsets don't quite fit in a 2U

I would only go with a DSP+controller setup if they want to keep the rack elsewhere, but then you still need an ipod input at the controller. or worse, a CD player if they are still hooked on CDs like a lot of fitness centers are

Pair that with whatever AMP/DSP combo the installer prefers. QSC CXD series is a great value for the processing options and channel combining depending on what power you need (can do 2ch for the mains and then pair (not bridge) the remaining 2 channels for a sub)

Jason
 
Re: Spinning Exercise Room Installation

Bennett Prescott said:
Hey Everybody!

A friend of mine is expanding his personal training and exercise business. He's already got a studio he uses for TRX and other kinds of "in a box" exercise regimens, but he has rented a space above his current studio to install 18 spin bikes. He's asked me if I can advise on a "better, best" kind of installation he could do to cover the area with intelligible audio. I know a few speakers that could get the job done, but I really don't know much about the best in the world of control and amplification in this case. Does anyone have a favorite product or product family they could share with me?

Details:
  1. Sources will be one or two wireless headset mics and an iPod.
  2. Not a lot of power needed (250w into 8Ω plenty), but I would like something that can function as a proper loudspeaker DSP.
  3. Big bonus if it has real power limiters so his trainers can't blow the PA up.
  4. Room is an old bank office, 18' ceilings, all exposed brick. He can do whatever he likes with the space physically, mounting options are unlimited.
  5. Across the hallway is a law office, so LF will be kept moderate.
  6. Control is the most important part - it should be possible for someone armed with no knowledge of audio and barely the ability to operate an iPod to adjust levels and run this system.
  7. Budget is moderate, not first class stuff but something better than a pair of $400 powered speakers and an analog mixer.
  8. I'll be helping install and tune myself, so the setup doesn't have to be idiot proof, but he's a 5 hour drive away so I won't be able to help in an emergency.
Click to expand...
Trust me, from experience, you should go with BSS BLU-series for open-architecture loudspeaker control. It is better than all the other options mentioned in terms of remote support. I have worked with both Rane and Symetrix products (albeit older products), and BSS is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of the robustness of their ethernet control protocols. Anything you can do on-site, you can do remotely as long as you set up a VPN. The BSS BLU-100 is pre-configured for 12inx8out and so is a bit cheaper. There is also the BLU-50 if you don't need that much i/O. PM if you have questions.
 
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Re: Spinning Exercise Room Installation

Hey Dan,

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think having to get the BSS processor and an amplifier will likely put this project over budget. We'll see, I've sent a spec to my friend with a few options ranging from about $6.5K to $11K.
 
Re: Spinning Exercise Room Installation

Back at this one, putting together some options. I may have found some good amplifiers at a reasonable price, so my plan is to use a Symetrix Jupiter 4 and then consider one of their nice wall plates to idiot proof it. Amps and DSP can live locked in a rack in a nearby closet.

I need to get iPod level signal from the middle of the room to the amp room about 60' away, and I'd prefer to shove it through a decent DI so it gets a little padding and is less likely to experience hums or buzzes. Does anyone have a clean solution for that that I could mount in a 1- or 2-gang box? I'd like stereo RCA and/or 1/8" through a transformer that can handle a few volts, to balanced. If I thought I could just leave something like a Radial ProAV2 lying around I would just terminate to XLR on the wall but I don't, and I don't like the idea of leaving XLRs there for any idiot to send an unexpectedly hot signal down later.
 
Re: Spinning Exercise Room Installation

If you could make a regular style DI box work - the stereo Peavey STI is around half the cost of that Radial.

It has 1/8" stereo input, and passive transformers with XLR and line level balanced 1/4" jack outs, plus a volume control, mono sum and ground lift switches.

Sent from my GT-I8160
 
Re: Spinning Exercise Room Installation

Bennett Prescott said:
I was also looking at the Ashley PEMA 4250, which is a little more money but would probably end up cheaper because I could combine DSP and matrix and amp in one package.
Click to expand...


This is my go to for small installs like this, Ashly makes a great selection of peripherals as well.

RDL also makes some decent decor input panels. http://www.rdlnet.com/product.php?page=487
 
Hello,

I would go Sonos Connect . It will allow you play your music on your Ipod or anything else under the sun and you will not be tethered to the wall or anything else for that matter . The Sonos interface on the app is probably the best in the Biz. Just put in your rack or with wired or wireless connection to the network and your set. Also the idea of the symetrix is nice but if your not worried about controlling individual zones and your gonna control the volume from your ipod or sonos i would save yourself a lot of money and just buy a used symetrix symnet controller from ebay like one thats on there for $99.00 4X4 dsp cobra express and just use that. Its mostly the same without the internal gateway. Just my 2 cents.

Good Luck
 
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