Elk Speakers/Sirens

johngalt

Active Member
I thought I was pretty clever having my Elk annunciation and siren play through our whole home audio Nuvo system. I have rules that whenever the Audio Amplifier turns on to set the Nuvo to paging mode and it works great.

Then our power went out the last week. The Nuvo is on a UPS but it only lasts minutes.

I then went to sleep with the power out and the house armed. However if the alarm went off the only way I would know is from my keypads beeping.

I want to keep things simple now and get some standard speaker/sirens to wire up. Any suggestions? Elk and my wife disagree on the aesthetics of Echo 73. Any tricks?

Covert speakers in closets? Hidden speakers in ceiling/wall? Mount the speaker on the wall under the bed? A separate amp to drive the home audio speakers? Massive UPS for Nuvo?
 
You could use an Elk SP12F flush mount speaker.  Smaller and not quite as ugly as the Echo 73. 
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If you have KP2 keypads, you can remove the SP12F speaker from its cover plate and mount it in a M1BBK2 flush mount back box and the speaker will then be completely hidden behind the keypad.
 
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SP12F's set at outlet height and scattered, they blend in. They're 32 Ohms, so 4 in parallel get the impedance down to where it's supposed to be and generally disperse the sound quite well, I've found in practice.
 
I use Elk 73's and SP12F's in keypads. Most of my 73's are hidden from view - such as on top of cabinets in the kitchen and office. I did the same thing with my piezo screamers.
 
Thanks everyone. I had looked at the SP12F but wasn't considering outlet height. That is a great idea. I have a 73 and might try to find a spot to hide it.

I will pick up a few. 18/2 CL2 wire? Without doing the math that seems sufficient for the small runs I will be doing.

Any suggestions for a terminal block that mounts in an Elk can if I am going to have 4-6 speakers in parallel. That number of connections seems ugly for wire nuts.
 
18/2 is fine.
 
I'd probably stick to 4 SPF's otherwise you're going to have to start considering the total observed impedance. 
 
I don't see a fault with a pigtail or scrap of 2 conductor and wire nuts. I'd go that way before a terminal strip, otherwise you need to consider the clamping method or if there's the requirement for terminals.....more things to go wrong.
 
johngalt said:
Any suggestions for a terminal block that mounts in an Elk can if I am going to have 4-6 speakers in parallel. That number of connections seems ugly for wire nuts.
 
 
If you don't like regular wire nuts, you could use Wago Lever-Nut or Push Wire connectors.  The Push Wire connectors are good for 12-18 gauge wire, and can connect up to 8 wires,  while the Lever Nuts can connect up to 5  12-28 gauge wires.  
 
I would only recommend those with solid cable.
 
We have rack mounted panels that use similar connections and if there's any sort of loading on them, they're less than reliable.
 
DELInstallations said:
I would only recommend those with solid cable.
 
We have rack mounted panels that use similar connections and if there's any sort of loading on them, they're less than reliable.
 
I've never tried them with stranded wire, but the manufacturer says they are spec'd for both solid and stranded.  Still, good to know some real world experience.
 
Something also worth noting... you don't have to get the backbox for the KP2 to mount speakers behind it. The standard surface mount enclosure for the KP2 has the perforated cutout for the SP12F as well.
 
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I never wanted to get into the back boxes because the wall cutout required would likely mean that I'd have to leave (or patch & paint) when we moved. We just sold our home a couple of weeks ago and I was able to remove all HA equipment without leaving any visual evidence.
 
Also, the KP2's aren't a standard electrical sized cutout or box, only with the surface backbox, so even a blank plate isn't possible (you're committed).
 
I've installed them over the years by request, but I'm not a fan of them personally.
 
johngalt said:
Any suggestions for a terminal block that mounts in an Elk can if I am going to have 4-6 speakers in parallel. That number of connections seems ugly for wire nuts.
 
Since I have a mix of mis-matched impedance speakers I decided to use a terminal strip where each speaker terminates on 1 side then a single pair of wiring goes to the Elk panel. I then jump a combination of parallel & series wiring on the other end to bring it all together. The strip is mounted securely via glued on rare earth magnets.
 
video321 said:
Since I have a mix of mis-matched impedance speakers I decided to use a terminal strip where each speaker terminates on 1 side then a single pair of wiring goes to the Elk panel. I then jump a combination of parallel & series wiring on the other end to bring it all together. The strip is mounted securely via glued on rare earth magnets.
 
Can we get a picture?  This sounds like something I may try.
 
I too had a couple of different impedance speakers. I wired them to get an ~8-ohm load (don't recall what my final load metered out to be but it was slightly above 9-ohms IIRC) and used wire nuts to connect the bulk of the wiring to a jumper, which connected to the OUT terminals on the Elk board.
 
jon102034050 said:
Can we get a picture?  This sounds like something I may try.
I still have more speakers to add so I'll use a bigger strip... and I forgot to replace the tape with a label.
 

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