The normal configuration we use for weddings provides a total of 1000-1400 RMS Watts (500-700 to each speaker).

We use height-adjustable tripod speaker stands, which allow us to project the sound out over your guests’ heads. Using tripods also allows us to quickly change where our sound is going by rotating the speaker on the tripod. During dinner, we rotate the speakers to they cover the entire room for announcements and background music. Once the dance starts, we adjust the speakers to focus the sound on the dance floor so guests who aren’t dancing can still talk comfortably elsewhere in the room.

During dinner, we adjust the music volume so that the background music is just perceptible in the back of the room. Microphone volume will normally be set louder in order to cut through conversations and ensure everyone can clearly hear all announcements, toasts, etc.

Once the dance starts, we normally increase the volume somewhat and reconfigure the speakers so that it is reasonably loud on the dance floor without affecting people who would prefer to chat in other parts of the room. The specifics are largely left up to the judgment of the DJ based on the mood of the reception and demographic present. If you have a specific desire for the music to be louder or quieter at any point during the evening, let us know. It’s your wedding, so we want to deliver what you want.

The first step of getting good sound is speaker placement—through experience and experimentation, we start by finding speaker location and aiming that provides coverage of the whole room while minimizing echo. We also try to avoid placing speakers directly in front of a guest table where it will interfere with their ability to converse.

The sound processor we utilize with all our systems also has an auto-EQ function we can utilize with a calibrated RTA mic (RTA stands for Real Time Analyzer) to automatically adjust the frequency response of our speaker system to a preset curve to compensate for room acoustics. This helps improve the quality and consistency of our sound whether we’re playing in a Legion hall or a ritzy hotel. This, again, is something that is performed before guests arrive, which we feel is very important in providing the best service possible to our clients.

Have you ever been to a wedding where the wireless microphone stopped working in the middle of the toasts? It’s not pretty, and can be easily prevented by using professional-quality equipment. We primarily use Sennheiser UHF wireless systems that are engineered in Germany and manufactured in the U.S. They feature over 1400 user-selectable frequencies and dual receivers to ensure there is no interference or audio drop outs. We switched to these systems for the 2004 wedding season and have yet to find a reception hall that we couldn’t walk around at will dropout-free (even in the far corners of really big ones).

The most important step in preventing feedback is performing a sound check before an event starts. Once we set our volume levels we walk around the room (specifically including the area where people will be giving toasts) to make sure we don’t get any feedback. If we do get feedback, the sound processor we use has a couple of very useful feedback elimination functions.

The first provides very narrow band notch filters to cut out offending frequencies. This is an automated routine built into the sound processor that we run before your event starts. It works by putting the microphone out in the room and turning up the volume until the processor detects feedback and then it places a filter at that frequency. Because the volume in actual use is lower thanthat during the test, this also allows some margin for error if the room acoustics change once it’s full of guests.

The second function is automatic feedback elimination. Usually, most of the people giving toasts or speeches at a wedding aren’t experienced sound techs-- if they were, they’d know not to walk directly in front of the speakers at close range, because the less distance there is between the speaker and the microphone the more likely feedback is to occur. The automatic feedback elimination function will detect any feedback that happens in real time and immediately enable a notch filter at that frequency. So even if someone makes a major microphone snafu like walking directly in front of the speaker, the most you’ll hear is a split-second squeak before the filter kicks in.

Yes! The karaoke add-on includes audio and video monitors for the singer(s), four microphones, and over 1200 songs from the 50’s to present. Use the Availability & Pricing tool to get a personalized quote for your event!