Any 100 Volt sound system built out of 100 Volt speakers needs to be driven by a matching 100 Volt amplifier or mixer, otherwise it just wouldn't work. 100V systems have a lot of advantages over regular passive sound systems driven by normal amplifiers. For example, you can run cables over much longer distances and can connect multiple speakers up to a single amplifier and run them at a lower volume.
Picking Out a Professional 100 Volt PA system with an Amplifier/Mixer & Speakers
A 100 Volt amplifier or a 100 Volt mixer with a built-in amplifier is an essential part of any 100 Volt system. From there, you can connect up as many 100 Volt speakers as you need, as long as the wattage of your amplifier isn't exceeded. With this kind of system, there's no need to make any complex calculations to match the right impedance. It's basically a great solution for spaces in need of a lot of speakers and long connection cables.
Multiple Zones
Because 100V systems are able to accommodate a large number of speakers set up in large, multi-room spaces, it can be a good idea to go for an amplifier that's able to distribute sound to different zones. This simply means that the amplifier has a full set of controls for multiple groups of speakers and that each group of speakers makes up one zone. This gives you full control over the sound in each individual room.
Amplifiers with Built-in DAB Radio & Media Player
If you want an all-in-one solution, then a 100 Volt amplifier or mixer with an integrated tuner or media player (or both) will do it for you. With this kind of amplifier, you're able to tune into a radio station, plug in a USB stick to play back audio files, or even hook up a microphone to make announcements - you name it.
How Do You Connect 100 Volt Speakers to an Amplifier?
100 Volt speakers are connected up to an amplifier via stripped speaker cables, which can be ordered by the metre so you can get the length you need. The core thickness of speaker cable dictates how much power it's able to send over longer distances. A standard speaker cable with a 1.5mm2 core can, for example, carry around 30 Watts over a 1,600 metre bridge, or 240 Watts over a 200 metre bridge. However, because of the long distances these cables need to bridge, we recommend going for speaker cable with dual mantle to prevent as much signal loss and/or noise as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions About 100V Amplifiers
Why use 100V speakers?
Using a 100V speaker system comes with a few advantages. For a start, the built-in transformer means that a large quantity of speakers can be hooked up to a single amplifier without causing any issues. You can also use much longer cables to connect 100V speakers than you could when hooking up standard passive speakers.
Can I connect 100V speakers up to a normal amplifier?
Normally, you couldn't connect a 100 Volt speaker up to a standard 4 or 8 Ohm amplifier. But with any 100 Volt speakers that features a built-in transformer for 8 Ohm systems, you can.
