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Originally Posted by CanyonShuttle
Hey Skoolies,
New guy here with not a lot of experience but a lot of drive! Our business runs a 97' Blue Bird bus that takes drunken individuals from a concert venue to home.
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What type of bus are you running? If not the specific type, then just the engine location and bus type will do. There are short buses, flat nose (transit), dognose, and a few oddities. Here's an illustration
This isn't too important unless you have a rear engine, thus we can factor out a lot of the engine noise and likely get away with a slightly cheaper sound system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CanyonShuttle
In order to provide a quality experience we've been entertaining the idea of implementing a sound system that plays music of upcoming shows. We don't want it too loud to hurt the patrons ears or bother the driver, but loud enough for everyone hear.
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This depends on passenger distribution and speaker location, but luckily you have a LOOOOOT of options and lots of space, even with a shuttle bus.
In the event you have a front engine, you'll also have to account for the additional noise of the engine in the cab, at least for the front area. In my case (Vista, engine halfway in cab) the decibel level hovers in the 70's standing still, but with a front engine transit style you'll be looking at the 80's. In a dognose where the engine is outside of the cab in front, you'll get 60-70.
Of course, this is from the drivers seat right by the engine compartment.
Once you've decided on a system (most if not all will be louder than the engine) just do some tests with the engine running at different locations and find the best suitable sound level (by the radio's volume control). Remember, human hearing starts to be damaged at 85 decibels.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CanyonShuttle
Recently we looked at installing a home theatre sound system throughout the bus; using 6 speakers and a subwoofer was the route but i'm intrigued to hear other routes!
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Unless you already have a home theater system to use, I'd suggest a basic car radio that has auxiliary input in the rear (or the front, if you don't mind the cable).
A home theater system would be great to use if you have a TV area in a specific area of the bus, and only a few seats. With a home theater, the sound is going to be different for each speaker since it's trying to create a sound environment around you. For a few people on a couch or two in a living room, that's great and immersible. But if you were to pull a chair to the back of the room and only listen to the rear speakers, it wouldn't sound right at all.
Just speculating on this portion, but I'd recommend against using a home theater system in a bus based on the durability of the device. Most vehicle based electronics have additional protection against vibration and shock whereas home consumer products may not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CanyonShuttle
Seeing as how i have no experience doing this. What areas should i look into? Power? Sound Systems? Etc. What do you all recommend and where do i start?
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Even the most basic vehicle radio can be mounted into a skoolie, and as long as it has auxiliary input you can pipe in whatever audio you wish. It also has audio balancing; front - rear & left-right. Not quite surround sound, but perfect for this application.
You can wire multiple speakers to the same output as long as you match or stay under the max wattage per speaker. Depending on seating you can still tweak the left/right and front/rear audio balance. This would be helpful for front area passengers if you have a front engine - louder in the front, softer in the back since it doesn't have to compensate for the engine as much.
Just my two cents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CanyonShuttle
Thanks again and hope i'm not asking a lot. Glad to be here!
CanyonShuttle  |
No problem, that's what we're here for!
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