Whether you’re planning a wedding, corporate event, school fair or your own music festival, renting loudspeakers could be one of the first problems you have to solve. It’s not as simple as picking the most expensive or loudest speaker system you can fit within your budget – although obviously you’re looking for value for money. There are other considerations to take into account such as the acoustics of the venue, whether it’s a music or speaking event and more. Here, we take you through some of the things you might want to consider before you make that all-important decision.
What’s Your Purpose?
The speakers you will need will largely depend on what kind of sound you’re hoping to get across to your audience. If, for example, you’re playing music outside, you’re going to need speakers that carry the music to all corners of the event without too much distortion. If you’re running a speaking event inside, zero distortion is acceptable but your audience will largely be in one seated section, so perhaps the volume needs wouldn’t be as important. No event planner wants their carefully crafted event to fall on its face because the audience couldn’t understand what was being said or because the music wasn’t loud enough to dance to!
Acoustics
There’s no one-size-fits-all option when it comes to speaker hire. Every space is different, and getting the right sound to all the right places is a finely tuned art. If you have absolutely no idea about the acoustics of the space you’re trying to fill with sound then you have two options. You could either ask the venue for their recommendations as to which kind of system has worked well in the past, or you could rely on a professional sound services company who may be able to make recommendations as to the right speaker hire for your event.
What Other Equipment Are You Using?
If you’re running a corporate event that incorporates the input of several different sources, then you need to ensure that your speakers can take that input. You may be surprised to know that some speaker systems do not allow certain types of input and you don’t want to get to the day of the event only to realise that your carefully-put-together soundtrack for your presentation won’t go through the speakers.
Have You Got the Power?
Another headache for outdoor event planners is working out how to safely power the speakers they’re looking to hire. Some speaker systems come with their own battery power, while others might need the help of a generator to provide the power needed for your event’s audio.
Budget
Setting a budget for your event is one of the first things you should do, but how much do you really need to spend on renting loudspeakers? When setting a budget for your sound services, it might be a good idea to take a look at a few different suppliers to get an idea of how much the average setup costs, then see if you have the budget to push it a little further – sound is so important to the success of an event and it shouldn’t really be something you scrimp on.
There’s not just the matter of the speaker rental budget either, you should also consider that the speakers will need setting up and configuring. While some sound services companies will include setup with the price of a package, others might not so do check the small print. One tip we’d advise you to take note of – if a price seems too good to be true, it probably is – and you may find that you’ve paid for a stripped-back rental service that, unless you’re a trained sound engineer yourself, you might find difficult to work with. True Sound Hire Company provide production hire services across Surrey, Hampshire and London. They can cater for all types of events whether this be a small house party, corporate function, wedding or outdoor festival.
Professional events are only as good as their suppliers, so do your research carefully, and you should be able to find a speaker hire supplier that wants to make your event as successful as you want it to be.
