Newbie Elk install questions...

[etc6849]

I have my Elk M1G system up and running... Just a few little items to figure out:

1. Does Elk make a metal strucutured wiring mount for the M1XEP? I have the 3" mounts and used them on everything else, but the M1XEP is too small to fit am I missing something?

2. What amp is available that would increase the volume of the system? I have two KP2's with 32ohm speakers and use the speaker that came with the M1G kit. I noticed the volume dropped some when I added the two keypad speakers eventhough I wired them accordingly to keep impedance between 4-8 ohms. I plan to also add an outdoor speaker and another KP2 speaker so it appears I need an external amp. I saw the ELK-M1TWA, but I don't need two listen in...

 

[tmbrown97]

The Elk-800 is a 10-watt amp that should give you plenty of power; but honestly, with only 3 speakers, you should be just fine. I had just 3 sp12's in my last house and I had to keep them turned down to 3. How do you have them wired exactly? Also, for the outdoor speaker, is this to mirror what's played inside, or to act as the siren? If it's for voice but outside, I'd definitely use an Elk800 - along with a relay and output on the elk to turn it on/off as desired and provide additional protection (if someone tampers with the speaker and shorts it out, it'd be better to short only the outside speaker, not lose announcements inside too). For inside though, with the right combination of series/parallel wiring, I think you'd be OK with just the internal amp in most cases.

For the xep, I gave up and put double-sided tape on the back of the plastic enclosure; though I'm about to remount it and may look for something cleaner - I'll try to remember to check back with what I find.

 

[etc6849]

The Elk-800 appears to be designed with a high input impedance (1000 Ohms Nominal). I'm not sure if one could connect the Elk-800 directly to the Elk M1G's sound output without some modifications such as figuring out what voltage divider (resistor combination) will change the M1G's output to a level compatible with the Elk-800 (has anyone tried this before?).

That said, I like your suggestion as I could also use the Elk-800 along with a relay to output messages from either my PC or the M1G as outlined here: http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?p=911228

For the speakers that are connected, I used parallel/series cominations to ensure impedance was 4-8 ohms. I had planned on doing the same as I added more speakers and utilizing a couple terminal blocks to make the series/parallel connections look nice. As you state, I'm not sure I could add two more speakers (another KP2 speaker and the outdoor speaker) and live with another volume reduction...

EDIT - Looks like there's a great post here on using the Elk-800 and the Elk-M1G along with a PC's output:
http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3950&hl=speaker

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

EDIT - Looks like there's a great post here on using the Elk-800 and the Elk-M1G along with a PC's output:
http://www.cocoontec...3950&hl=speaker

FYI, I 'think' I wound up not using the capacitor in that schematic (did this for a friend).

 

[tmbrown97]

I saw that you split into a new post - but by experimenting with other combinations, you may be able to alter the volume one way or the other; or of course you can just move to an amp... in that case, I'd personally do two 800's... keep the SP12's on one channel, the outside speaker on its own, and the other speakers on one channel (one of these three would be the built in one)... then you can adjust the volume of each to your liking and affect them all the same.

I saw those articles when I was first hooking things up And to BSR's point - I didn't use the capacitor either... I have an Elk124 hooked into my speakers along side the Elk. If I do something that causes both amps to feed the speakers at once it sounds like crap because they're both driving at once... I didn't use a relay to switch between them like I should've - but this only occurs during system bootup when Channel 1 of the 124 goes off at the same time as the panel is booting up.

The Elk124 is similar in concept to what you're trying to do - it's just a self contained recordable module. I use it to record custom doorbell sounds, creepy halloween sounds, and a few custom chimes for the doors. It works quite well directly attached to the 8 unused voltage outputs on the panel.

 

[wuench]

I agree with the above statements, you really should not need to amplify, I have 1 sp12 and 2 normal speakers and they are all plenty loud. Make sure you have your volume turned up. If that doesn't work, post how you wired these and maybe we can suggest another way, there are multiple ways to wire them up and that will impact your volume level. Also, what gauge wire did you use?

 

[etc6849]

Thanks guys, the volume level fixed the volume issue in the short term I don't know how much volume output I'll lose when I add the additional speakers, but we'll see. Now that I've seen what BSR and others are able to do with PC output, it sounds worth while to try an Elk-800 as I use Motorola Premise with the Elk and it makes use of MS SAPI.

After researching how to use the Elk speakers with my PC, I started a new thread since there appear to be two conflicting ways on how to add PC output; not sure if this was the best approach as everyone has replied to this thread now ;P

EDIT: 22 guage solid wire was used for the speakers.

 

[tmbrown97]

as wuench stated, if you want us to take a look at the hookup of the speakers, you'd need to give us a diagram of *exactly* how everything is hooked up (what's series, what's parallel)... I have an office full of SP12's and a few Elk speakers, and for another week or so, my M1 is still on the bench (read: kitchen island) - and a whole lot of experience with the wiring differences for speakers... so if you want me to experiment, I need a starting point.