Party setup in banquet hall

  • 20 August 2017
  • 10 replies
  • 1390 views

Having a birthday party in a banquet hall. It seats about 250 (have no measurements). One big room. Dance floor on one side which is about a third of the room but want to setup music throughout. I have 3 Play:1s now.

I know this isn't a lot of info to go on, but I wanted to add to my setup and hope for the best. I was thinking of taking the 3 Play:1s and using them for the back wall and two side walls. For the dance floor area, should I purchase a single Play:3 (mono) or two more Play:1s and put them in stereo mode? I can't do two Play:3s in stereo so don't go there. 🙂 Any other suggestions? Thanks!!

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10 replies

Without knowing the exact room dimensions and acustic environment it's a shot in the dark. Nevertheless my gut tells me this: rent a proper PA system. Three Play:1's are just not cutting it.
I'd agree with passopp. I don't think that the speakers you have could cover 250 people. Rent that PA system, and you'll be able to use the microphone associated for announcements and speeches.
I meant to put in that it will probably only be around 100 people attending. Also, I can purchase more Play:1s or a Play:3 like I mentioned. It will just be for music. If I need to make an announcement of some sort I have a big enough mouth. But you have me thinking that's for sure.
I once had the case of a birthday party in a 50sqm room with about 40 guests. Four Play:1s (one in each corner of the room) were barely audible at full volume when everyone was chatting. The players are designed for small to medium-sized rooms, not for a dancefloor.
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Rent either a DJ or PA system, preferably with the person to operate them. Even the Connect:Amp lacks the power at full volume to drive loudspeakers to cover even that size of dance floor, let alone about the idea of Play:1 and Play:3 doing it. If you want to use Sonos as a source, use the line out to something designed for the room.

A pair of Play:1's won't even cover my dining room properly with guests talking, let alone a venue larger than I had for my wedding.

Have you asked the venue if they have a built-in audio system you can tap into?
The other two things to consider are how human bodies that are bags of water are obstacles to WiFi signals when many of them are together in a space. Coupled with Murphy's Law which says that if any failure could arise it will, leads me to suggest that Sonos via WiFi may not be a good idea for special occasions such as these, outside the home.
Can only echo the others, here... There is no way that the Sonos kit would be adequate - it's not what it was designed for. Hire the proper kit and/or a DJ and then you don't have to worry.
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Connect attached to a external amp and speakers. That way you have Sonos and plenty of power.
Connect attached to a external amp and speakers. That way you have Sonos and plenty of power.
I would then also ensure a wired connection of the Connect to the music source to rule out music drops via WiFi caused issues.

But not many people have such Sonos kit these days, which circles this back to the renting of a wired PA/party system option. As long as that has aux inputs, and the hall has a broadband supply, music choices are unlimited too with a handheld that can access these when wired to the PA system. Even in the absence of WiFi, downloaded to device offline content from someone like Apple Music ought to be more than adequate for the event.
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Connect attached to a external amp and speakers. That way you have Sonos and plenty of power.
I would then also ensure a wired connection of the Connect to the music source to rule out music drops via WiFi caused issues.

But not many people have such Sonos kit these days, which circles this back to the renting of a wired PA/party system option. As long as that has aux inputs, and the hall has a broadband supply, music choices are unlimited too with a handheld that can access these when wired to the PA system. Even in the absence of WiFi, downloaded to device offline content from someone like Apple Music ought to be more than adequate for the event.

This is why professionals use laptops, not something like Sonos - the internet connection is optional (though useful).