Sound Advice - PA not life...

Since the earlier sound reinforcement question had been answered in about 2.5 hours. I pose a question to the hive.

I'm a member at a club that hosts a dinner annually.  Our hall has an intercom/school/office (70v) setup that is fine for our regular meetings, background music, etc. consisting of speakers mounted in the ceiling tiles of the drop ceiling, but struggles when we get a larger or more talkative crowd.

I'm looking for recommendations for a system that isn't too complicated for amateurs to use.  Doesn't break the bank,  and will do the job, when we get 200 plus people in the hall.

The main area is 40 ft x 120 ft, epoxied concrete floor, wood and drywall walls, with a standard drop ceiling (10 ft)

The plan would be to use two pair, daisy-chained to be able to adjust volume  so that we won't break eardrums of those sitting close, but still be able have everyone hear.

There are three other events annually that would also use the system, as a complete setup or individually.

I've been looking at:

The cheap route, but a similar setup is used and liked by a local church,  Rockville 15" 2000w  pair,

https://a.co/bpYpHWb

More cost, but a known brand:  Electrovoice 12" 1000w pair

https://a.co/gFe2k9O

Another known brand:  JBL EON712 pair:

https://a.co/2Dks9qe

Highly reviewed but even more cost:  QSC 12" 1000w pair

https://a.co/cxt6Nyi

I’m fond of this brand for bang-for-buck

Small and easy to transport, and there are smaller/less powerful versions. My only other input is to get a set of speaker mounts. Getting the drivers off the floor can really help the sound carry. 

I have a pair of the QSC K12.2 speakers. They are superb but probably a lot more wattage than you need at 2000 watts each. They are also a good bit more expensive. 

I ended up with QSC speakers on the recommendation of a local sound company. It was the only brand of speaker they would buy due to its durability and sound quality. They provide sound for local bands as well as corporate and municipal events. I borrowed a speaker from him to do a friend's wedding and was impressed with the quality. 

Don't cheap out on the stands. The local SCCA bought some cheap ones and they sucked to use and didn't last long. The same guy that recommended the QSC speakers recommended Ultimate Support TS90B stands. They are awesome and well worth the extra money over cheap stands. 

First, is this for spoken voice and some fill-in music during dinner, or does this need to pull double duty for a DJ/dance party?

The reason I ask is that many of your choices are great for full-range response, but if you're just doing a microphone for a speech and then some jazz while people converse over their filet and asparagus, you don't need anything that monstrous.  As a generalization, size doesn't equal decibels.  It equals more decibels in lower frequencies.  I have some QSC wedges with four 4.5" drivers that can render you deaf at 100'.... but only above about 250Hz.  Try putting a bass drum or some dance music through it and it will sound like a $20 bluetooth speaker.

For a light-duty use, I wouldn't hesitate to use Rockville.  Much of their stuff makes bulk sound but they aren't necessarily good, flat response.  When you get up to Yamaha, EV, and QSC, that's one of the things you're paying for... good flat response.  The other thing you're paying for it that you can jam it in a truck for a 30-city tour and know that it will perform the same on the first day and the last after abusing the snot out of it.

The JBL Eon line has gotten better, but we call them tupperwares for a reason.  They're plastic and do a job, but they're a utility-level appliance.

In your price range, I might consider Behringer.  Pros will shy away from them, but their sound reproduction is very good, it's just that they aren't very abuse-able.

Also, pay attention to your waveform guides on the horns.  Do you set up with the stage only on the 40' wall, or does it sometimes get set up on the 120' wall?

You'll need a broad dispersion if you set up on the long wall, otherwise you'll only send treble to the middle of the room.  You need a narrow dispersion if you set up on the short wall, otherwise you'll be wasting sound pressure to the walls and it won't reach very far.

This is why places like fairgrounds use multiple "horns" around a pole.  They are narrow dispersion (maybe 75 degrees) so that you can hear them from 200' away while using minimal power.

Long story short... if you're getting 4 you should be fine with a more narrow dispersion.  For events set up along the short wall, put the other pair half way back (like you mentioned) so you're covering the skinny length of the room.  If you set up on the long wall, point two of them at 11 and 1 o'clock, and the other two at 10 and 2 o'clock.

I'll add that if you want to do the "two pair" idea (if I'm understanding you correctly), you will need a way to delay the signal to the pair that is further away from the stage (which are sometimes referred to as down fills or delay speakers). Without that, the folks who are in the back half of the room will end up with sound from each pair arriving at their ears at different times, which sounds bad. I believe the simplest way to accomplish that currently is via a digital mixer, but you're looking at several hundred dollars to go there. 

Edit - or you can get one of these secondhand and put it in your output chain:

Peavey IDL 1000 Multi-Tap Delay Link

In reply to Sunflowerbw :

Good call.  I have also done rooms like this with more than two pair, which still sounds bad but it tricks the ear into blending them together.  A room like this could also do two larger speakers pointed up a bit to shoot over the first several rows attenuating what they hear (so it's not too loud for the front) but with only 10' ceilings it's not likely ideal.

I would vote for more, smaller speakers than fewer big ones, especially given the long/skinny combo.  That was the original reason behind the designer putting a bunch of 70V drop-ceiling speakers.  I would say you could just upgrade those, but sound coming from over your head can be really wonky.  Trying to make ceiling speakers sound good is a challenge.

My dream setup for my 50 x 60 black box theater is to have about 10 powered mini wedges in the grid shooting down about 45 degrees.  Next to zero chance for feedback, and even less room reverb.  It's typically referred to as discretion.  You can do a bunch of quiet speakers closer to an audience, or fewer big/loud speakers further away.  In a big auditorium, it's pretty easy.  Hang some big honking blasters 20' in the air to get them as equidistant as possible from the ears.

Ever notice on an amusement park ride where there are speakers in your headrest?  The cars in front of you get the audio a bit earlier to be in time with when they pass an event but you can't really hear anything but your speakers because they're close so they don't need to be loud.  Have you also noticed on a roller coaster when you go through a tunnel and suddenly hear everyone on the ride screaming?  You're actually hearing an array of sequential speakers putting out a scream track and it's delayed by a few milliseconds.  The track is played so that the delayed audio "follows" the speakers as you go through.  That way you hear the same screams as you go past the speakers and any other audio you might hear from the speakers ahead or behind make your brain just think it's reverb in the tunnel.  I never noticed it until I rode the same coaster several times and the screams were always identical every time.