— Speaker Coverage · Auditorium
300-seat conference auditorium — speech-priority line array
Problem. A 300-seat corporate auditorium needs 85 dB of intelligible speech at the rear row with even SPL across the seating bowl and minimal visual impact.
Answer. A narrow-vertical install line-array (here a K-array Pinnacle KR202) hung from the stage edge delivers controlled vertical dispersion that reaches the rear without exciting the ceiling. The planner sizes box count against the rectangular seating footprint.
02 / In depth
How this preset reads — the engineering view.
Speech in a 300-seat room is a dispersion problem before a power problem. A point-source cabinet will reach the rear but light up the ceiling on the way (causing slap-back and reducing STI); an install line-array trades a slightly more involved rigging plan for the vertical control that keeps the speech wavefront pointed at heads, not at the ceiling plane.
This preset assumes a 25 × 14 m room (300 seats at the usual 1.2 m² per seat plus aisles), a 20 m listener distance to the back row, and 50 % power. The Pinnacle KR202 referenced is one of the architectural install columns; the same input shape works for d&b 24S, L-Acoustics A15 Focus, JBL Pro CBT series or QSC AcousticDesign — switch in the dropdown to compare SPL and box count.
Expect the planner to report SPL at the listener around the 85 dB target with comfortable headroom (the install line-array is over-spec for pure speech, but the dispersion control is what justifies it). The recommended quantity should land at 2 (left + right of stage) for this geometry; a single box would centre-image but the L/R is the convention for stereo program material as well as speech.
What this preset can't see: ceiling-reflection problems in a glass-and-concrete auditorium, the subwoofer requirement for program material above speech (the cabinet rolls off above 70–90 Hz depending on model), and the DSP / processor configuration that actually delivers the predicted dispersion at the listener.
What this preset deliberately does not solve
- Subwoofer pairing is not modelled — most install columns need a sub above ~80 Hz for music program.
- Acoustic treatment (RT60) determines whether the dispersion calculation survives contact with the room.
- Real auditorium designs use measurement + simulation (EASE / MAPP / SoundVision) — the planner is a triage tool, not a final design.
How this preset differs from its siblings
The hotel-lobby preset solves a small-room, low-SPL background problem with a point-source cabinet. The 500-cap worship preset solves a large-room, high-SPL music-programme problem with a touring-grade line-array. This preset sits between them: medium-sized room, speech-priority (not music), and the choice of an install column over a point-source is driven by dispersion control rather than SPL — the calculator will show comfortable SPL headroom and the engineering value is in the vertical beam pattern, not the dB figure.
03 / Hydrated calculator
Try the configuration — live.
The calculator below is preloaded with this preset’s state. Adjust any input — your URL stays shareable.
— Planner · speaker coverage
SPL, coverage radius and quantity, resolved.
Pick a brand, model and application. Predicted SPL at the listener, coverage radius on the -6 dB axis and quantity needed for the room. K-array, KGEAR, JBL Pro, d&b, L-Acoustics, Fonestar, Ecler.
SPL at listener
98.0
dB · target 85 dB · headroom +13.0 dB
Coverage radius
5.4
metres · -6 dB axis
Quantity
4
boxes for 350.0 m²
- model
- K-array Pinnacle KR202
- sensitivity
- 100 dB @1W/1m
- max spl
- 132 dB
- dispersion
- H 100° · V 30°
- power
- 250 W applied · 500 W RMS
- bandwidth
- 75-20000 Hz
- impedance
- 8 ohm
- coverage
- r ≈ 5.36 m · area 90.2 m²
Architectural line-array — ultra-low visual profile (carbon-fibre cabinet) with full-range output. Default for premium house-of-worship and lecture-hall installations where speakers should disappear.
Feasibility
98.0 dB carries ample headroom against 85 dB target — a smaller cabinet may be more cost-effective.
· Other presets for speaker coverage planner
Speaker Coverage · Hospitality
Hotel lobby — background music, 20 × 12 m
A premium hotel lobby needs even, conversation-friendly background audio at 70–75 dB without ceiling speakers that visibly puncture the architecture.
Speaker Coverage · House of Worship
500-capacity house of worship — touring-grade headroom
A 500-capacity worship space needs 90 dB of headroom for music programme plus speech, even coverage across pews and a system that won't be the visual subject.
· Next
Brief us on the project — with this configuration.
Presets are a typology starting point. The brief wizard captures the room geometry, programme and constraints we need to translate this configuration into a real design.