— Speaker Coverage · Hospitality
Hotel lobby — background music, 20 × 12 m
Problem. A premium hotel lobby needs even, conversation-friendly background audio at 70–75 dB without ceiling speakers that visibly puncture the architecture.
Answer. An ultra-compact full-range cabinet (here a K-array Lyzard KZ1 point source) covers the seating zone from a discreet mount; the planner shows SPL at the typical listener distance and the rectangular coverage radius the cabinet's dispersion can serve.
02 / In depth
How this preset reads — the engineering view.
Hotel lobby audio is a hospitality decision before it is an audio decision. The brief is the opposite of a concert hall — speech and music must be present but never the subject of attention. The standard target is 70–75 dB at the listener, calibrated against a noise floor of HVAC, fountains, conversation and footfall.
This preset configures the planner for a typical 20 × 12 m lobby with a listener distance of around 6 m from the nearest cabinet, a 50 % power setting on the speaker (BGM headroom, not peak) and a point-source dispersion that suits the open ceiling plane. The cabinet shown — a K-array Lyzard KZ1 — is one of several valid choices; swap to any other point-source in the dropdown to see the SPL and quantity implications.
The output you should read: SPL at listener (target 70 dB, the planner flags ≥ 12 dB headroom as wasteful in this application), coverage radius on the −6 dB axis (use it to step out the cabinet spacing along the lobby ceiling), and quantity (the planner divides room area by per-cabinet coverage to suggest a baseline count — a real design will then account for obstructions and zone boundaries).
Note what the calculator deliberately doesn't show: it doesn't model the reverberant field of a hard-floored marble lobby (reverb time will inflate effective SPL by 3–6 dB and demand more directional cabinets), and it doesn't allocate audio to zones (entry foyer vs lounge vs reception desk — usually separate amp channels with separate volume profiles).
What this preset deliberately does not solve
- Reverberant field of hard-floor lobbies is not modelled — expect 3–6 dB inflation in real rooms.
- Zoning (entry vs lounge vs reception) is a downstream amplifier-channel decision, not a coverage one.
- Coverage uses the narrower of horizontal / vertical dispersion — ceiling-mounted cabinets behave differently in vertical reach than wall-mounted.
How this preset differs from its siblings
Sibling presets for this tool target much larger rooms with much higher SPL targets — a 300-seat auditorium (85 dB speech, dispersion problem) and a 500-cap worship hall (90 dB music headroom, touring-grade cabinet). This preset is the small-room, low-SPL, conversation-friendly end of the calculator's scope: 70 dB target, point-source cabinet, no line-array, no subwoofer pairing. Use this preset when the brief is 'audio should be heard but not noticed'.
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, estimated.
Pick a brand, model and application. An indicative free-field SPL at the listener, coverage radius on the -6 dB axis and a planning-level box count for the room — a starting point for design, not a final specification. K-array, KGEAR, JBL Pro, d&b, L-Acoustics, Fonestar, Ecler.
Max SPL at listener
70
dB · target 75 dB · headroom -8 dB
Coverage radius
16.5
metres · -6 dB axis
Quantity
1
boxes for 240.0 m²
A planning link — not a quote.
- model
- K-array Lyzard-KZ1 I
- max spl
- 86 dB @1m
- spl at listener
- 67 dB · max 70 dB
- dispersion
- H 140° · V 140°
- power
- 2 W applied · 3.5 W RMS
- bandwidth
- 500-18000 Hz
- impedance
- 16 ohm
- coverage
- r ≈ 16.48 m · area 853.7 m²
Single 0.5-inch driver in an aluminium body barely wider than a fingertip. The most discreet cabinet in the range — specified where the speaker must vanish into premium retail, museum or hospitality interiors. Always paired with a sub for any real bandwidth.
What changes this estimate
- Room drawings & obstructions
- Confirmed ceiling height
- Finishes & absorption in the space
- Final loudspeaker model & dispersion
Feasibility
Even at full output this cabinet reaches only 70 dB at 6 m — below the 75 dB target for Restaurant BGM. Reduce the distance, add boxes, or choose a higher-output model.
A planning link — not a quote.
· Other presets for speaker coverage planner
Speaker Coverage · Auditorium
300-seat conference auditorium — speech-priority line array
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.
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.