Coopersale and Theydon Garnon C.E. Primary School, Kent – Moose Audio Wall Mount School PA System

The team at Audio Installations were asked to supply and install a suitable PA system for the main hall of the Coopersale and Theydon Garnon C.E. Primary School in Kent.

School PA System

The system was required to be multi-purpose, as the hall acts as the hub for both day to day use and for special events such as drama performances, live music, and awards or presentations. It would include wireless hand microphones and headset mics, and be capable of operating at various volume levels, from a standard assembly to louder music for the school discos and functions.

Working closely with the budget available, a superb PA system was put together using several of our trusted equipment brands to provide a detailed and powerful sound system, with versatile inputs and simple, user friendly controls.

School Sound System Installation

The discreet installation utilised four Moose Sound i8 full range wall mount speakers, one in each corner of the hall to give optimum coverage. These classic wood box PA speakers offer fantastic performance and bass response for their small size, especially when being driven from the Amate Audio HD800 power amplifier that was supplied, which is a hugely capable and ultra-reliable unit that we have used to great effect in many previous installations.

Housed in a smart looking, and more importantly, child proof locking rack enclosure, the amplifier is joined with a pair of QWM dual-channel wireless microphone receivers, which are a favourite of ours due to their robust design and excellent clarity with both speech and singing, be it from the handheld microphones, or the headset and beltpack units that were supplied.

For music playback, the Fonestar media player provides all the options the school would require, with MP3 file playback from both USB and SD card, inbuilt FM radio, and several line inputs for more traditional equipment such as CD Player or even cassette tape if needed.

Output control for the microphones and audio are via a slimline rack mount Fonestar MX-862 mixer unit, which was chosen for its sheer simplicity of operation, with all eq and gain setup done before handover, and these controls covered with an anti-tamper plate to ensure the speakers are never overdriven.

Along with the microphones and music playback, we also provided a stereo audio feed to the system, stripped from the hall’s HDMI equipped television using a converter unit, and an audio line for connection to a laptop or PC when the hall projector is in use.

Professional Audio Installation

The system is as simple as can be (as was the school’s wishes), and is operated from the clearly labeled volume dials on the front of the mixer, just turning your chosen inputs up or down, and that’s it. No frills, confusing settings, or unnecessary gadgets that will never be needed. 

Our installation team wall mounted the Moose Sound speakers at a height to avoid any unwanted prodding by enquiring children, and the cables were run around the hall to the rack enclosure using the existing wall-mounted cable trunking to keep everything neat and accessible if ever needed.

Prior to handover, the system was run up fully to ensure correct operation, with the amplifiers master volumes and mixers main eq settings being adjusted to their optimum performance points, then covered over to avoid any chance of potential damage to the speakers from the wrong pots being turned up.

The finished installation was then handed over to staff, with a demonstration and explanation of the functions and controls, along with the equipment manuals and accessories. 

The Equipment Supplied:

• 4 x Moose i8 Black Performance 8” speakers with Wall Mount Hardware
• 1 x Amate HD800 High Performance Amplifier
• 1 x QWM 1960 Wireless Microphone System with Handheld Mics
• 1 x QWM 1960 Wireless Microphone System with Headset Mics
• 1 x Fonestar MX-862 Mixer/Preamplifier
• 1 x Fonestar FS-3000RGUB Media Player 
• 1 x 8U Rack Equipment Cabinet with Locking Glass Door
• 1 x HDMI to RCA Stereo Audio Extractor

Plus all required Speaker Cable and Audio Interconnects.

The speakers are wired to allow volume adjustment of each pair individually, meaning for smaller gatherings the front pair can be used alone.