M1 Voice Quality

[kwschumm]

I just installed a new M1 system and am disappointed with the quality of voice announcements. They sound muddy and sometimes the words could not be understood at all.

System has five MiKP2 ketpads, each with an SPF12 32 ohm speaker mounted in the flush mount enclosure.

I thought the closed enclosure could be the cause of lack of clarity but they sound about the same if they are in the open.

Is this typical of M1 systems? Are the words just overcompressed?

Reading here some have implemented their own voice callouts. Is that the only option to clearer voice?

 

[42etus]

Do all speakers sound muddy or just a few?
How is the sound with just one speaker connected?
How are the speakers wired?  series, parallel?
IIRC, the Elk output needs to see about 8 ohms.

 

[kwschumm]

Thanks for the response, they are wired five speakers in parallel to Out2 using stranded 16awg audio cable. I think impedance is OK, volume is strong and set to mid range.
 
I'll connect just one speaker and see how that sounds.

 

[RAL]

5 speakers in parallel gets you to 6.4 ohms, so that should be ok.  
 
Those SP12F speakers are pretty small and inexpensive, so I don't expect great sound quality from them. I think of them as transistor radio class speakers (if you are old enough to remember what a transistor radio is).   Another thing to try would be a higher quality speaker just to see if it sounds better.