This weekend, with help from Ben and Bryant, I set up a new sound system
for the space. It consists of a two-channel amplifier and four JBL outdoor
speakers. The amp is located underneath the file server and stereo, and the
speakers are in the 4 corners of the main room, wired to the amp through
the ceiling. There are two speakers on each channel, left being the side of
the room with the arcade game, and right being the side with the main
entrance.
The amp has two 1/4" mono inputs on the back of the amp. I've included some
audio adapters to convert this to a standard 1/8" stereo plug for a laptop,
MP3 player, etc. Right now it's plugged into the file server, so you can
play music on the system using MPD from your phone or laptop (thanks Ben!).
The interface on the amp is dead simple: a power switch and two gain
controls, one for each channel. With the current setup, the amp is capable
of outputting 540 W (!) of total power. This is at the upper limit of the
speakers' power handling capabilities, so you must be careful with the
gain. As a general rule, *never turn the gain up past 8*, or you will run
the risk of blowing the speakers. At 8, the system is already incredibly
loud. For casual listening, a gain of 4 or 5 should suffice.
And one last thing: please remember to turn off power to the amp when
you're done using it.
The amp and the speakers are my own; they are not for hacking on. I'm happy
to let them live at the space for general use, but please treat them as you
would treat anyone's personal property. At the end of August, I'll be
taking them to Burning Man for use in an art installation. After that,
they'll be back in the space.
All that said, enjoy using the sound system in all the creative ways you
hackers can think of! I'm particularly looking forward to the next SSD
audio jam :)
_chris
