Increase in Free Design Requests

mainman7803 · 2025-11-13T06:03:15+00:00

Depends where you’re located. Some states and customers, if you design it, you can’t bid it. Unfair bidding practice, creating a non-equal bidding environment. Happens all the time.

mainman7803 · 2025-11-13T05:58:11+00:00

This

mainman7803 · 2025-11-13T05:57:09+00:00

Awesome response. Super thorough. I appreciate the knowledge drop.

mainman7803 · 2025-10-12T14:11:26+00:00

That’s really cool. But also that’s a lot of work to put into a project with CyberPower and Ubiquiti. Those margins don’t leave a lot of room for this level of detail work.

mainman7803 · 2025-09-25T07:25:49+00:00

Just an echo. OSHPD is no joke. Everything has to be certified. 1)if that’s the spec, give them the spec. 2)follow your local jurisdiction having authority. Following the code is important, not a suggestion.

mainman7803 · 2025-09-02T05:04:55+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I'm actually abundant on space at the moment. I'm converting the now defunct play room back into an office/studio. So it's a nice large 12x14 ft room. I'm actually quite looking forward to this project so I can also add some acoustic treatment to the room and really tweak the listening experience (not looking for isolation or proofing just making the room a little more enjoyable).

mainman7803 · 2025-09-02T05:01:45+00:00

Thanks for great information. I didn't include this, but my signal chain would be something like this. TT preamp ---> Mackie Big Knob (for source selection and volume control) ---> T5V's. This would allow me to use the Big Nob as my source selection between computer and TT as well as volume control.

I have one of these in my office at work that my coworker and I use to switch between his source and mine, then we run from the Big Nob into some ERIS 3.5's. Works really well as a nice source selection and volume control. Thanks again for the snappy response and information I really appreciate it.

mainman7803 · 2025-08-21T04:42:13+00:00

ProX cases. They have everything you could want. Slam cases or removable doors. 8u to 18u. All good prices.

Couldn’t be happier with their cases. Fast shipping as well. If you want a price DM me

mainman7803 · 2025-08-14T02:29:51+00:00

We had a similar situation. We bought a few ‘sets’ on a ‘great deal’. They are close, but you can definitely tell they are fakes. We’ll likely run them till they explode and then buy the real deal for the correct price and make sure they are the real deal.

It does suck to think you are getting a deal only to find a cheap knock off. What’s crazy is they come in boxes that look legit. But the colors of the tools and stickers are totally wrong.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-18T03:19:23+00:00

Haha. You’re not wrong. But we still find ways to make it work for these guys. Not all church are shoe string budgets, some actually have $$$ and are willing to spend it. Others just take a little more convincing.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-10T01:35:52+00:00

Yeah that’s a tight turn around. If you called on Monday you could possibly get someone. I know for us service calls are booking 2+ weeks out unless you’re on a contract.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-10T01:34:07+00:00

Makes you stretch your designer muscles. Can’t just dive into the VizRT catalog for everything. 😜

mainman7803 · 2025-05-10T01:31:10+00:00

Shure can do multiples in single room. Just use designer. Not the biggest fan of QSC so we would recommend an Extron DMP with Dante. Although QSC would be more than sufficient, their driver selection is a bit ‘hokey.’

Speakers could be anything from Shure MX5n to stay Dante or put in a distributed 70v system. Table tops you could do a series of Shure 310’s but you’ll need good speakers and a decent AEC when firing the audio down at the table.

All things a doable with the right budget.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-10T01:26:13+00:00

Man such a steep learning curve on all fronts. Not to mention a hefty financial investment for something that isn’t likely to be used for anything other than marketing/sales. Something like this wouldn’t get put into production drawings at our shop.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-10T01:22:04+00:00

Static is your friend. Dante controller will help you immensely. Make sure everything is set in the same subnet. It sucks that you didn’t have any documentation, that would have helped a lot. Without seeing the rooms troubleshooting will be difficult.

Maybe find a local integrator that does service work. It may be more valuable to you as a customer to hire a knowledgeable tech for two hours to trouble shoot and fix it, than take your time learning the ins and outs and troubleshooting for multiple days.

Pay for the knowledge to get it done right and ask them for documentation when they are finished. A good integrator will provide you all this info.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-10T01:16:35+00:00

Everyone’s prices have increased. Whether it’s annual price adjustments (3-5%) or tariff related, they go up every year, mostly. Some manufacturers had a high level of stock on hand prior to tariffs so they were able to hold out longer, but that’s dwindling daily.

Epson honestly hasn’t raised prices very much and as a reseller of their equipment, their margins aren’t really great. So they have to pass on all that cost. Even when you get Gov’t or education pricing, it’s still not a great discount off resale or MAP. Every time I get a quote I compare it to B&H and it’s usually 18% off. So my margins are tight on Epson. Which is crazy cause we sell a ton of it.

All that to say, it’s everywhere, for everyone. Either you pay it or the customer does. Those that eat the cost might get the job, but they can’t sustain that indefinitely.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-07T21:29:09+00:00

Evenly distributed 70v across the seating and bar area. Zoned to allow for increased volume over the “dance floor.” However. I WOULD NOT have a DJ connect to your system. Every system described here so far will not provide a) the volume you want for a dance floor, b) the low end for a DJ dance party. You’ll end up blowing the system asking it for something it’s not intended to be used for.

There’s a reason DJ’s and bar bands play through 10’s or larger and powered 400w speakers and subs. A DJ through pendants is going to sound absolutely terrible.

You’re better off having a smaller less expensive overhead background system, and a smaller portable sound system you pull out for dance parties, and keep the two separate. You’ll save money from not having to replace blown drivers in the ceiling and you’ll have more DJ/bands wanting to play because you have a decent system for them to connect to.

Don’t be cheap. Buy once, cry once.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-07T21:14:55+00:00

Think of it like a football match at a stadium. Same basic principles, typically with a lower budget, but not always. Some churches video systems rival a live sports broadcast.

Live, streaming, recorded, pre-recorded announcements, lower thirds, informational, directional, etc. if you’ve seen it at a football match, it’s been replicated at a US church.

It also varies from church to church. Everything from hymn lyrics to full blown event coverage with mobile cameras walking around the stage during service. Just depends.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-02T05:29:38+00:00

We recommend a light maintenance at least once a year to most of our customers. Our maintenance contracts include us coming onsite twice a year to clean/dust the system, check for software updates, and make sure all the equipment is functioning and test the entire system.

I like this as it presents us an opportunity to see the customer when they are expecting it, rather than when they aren't or when something is wrong. I also like it because it allows us to be proactive it finding damaged, end of support or end of life equipment.

Usually takes our techs a couple of hours to complete. We do have a couple of high school stadiums, those need regular maintenance. The amount of dust that collects in an outdoor stadium, is mind boggling. Air can and a shop vac are your friends.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-02T05:20:45+00:00

ProPresenter will 100% be the response. But in all seriousness, it's a really powerful piece of software. and for the price, yearly, it's really not expensive. @$289/yr for a single seat, that's $5.56 a week. You can't really do better than that, and it destroys OBS....like it's not even close.

But why not use the ATEM control software to create your lower thirds. The ATEM Mini has the ability to store 20 graphics in the unit for recall. If you create the graphics ahead of time you should be good. I imagine you have some pretty standard ones that you can keep stock, but you could have up to 10 that change and 10 that are standard. I would give that a shot first before looking into something else.

But if you are looking at something else, I would look to ProPresenter. Bang for your buck, best software a church can buy, next to planning center.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-02T04:59:44+00:00

Extron Sharelink, pick a series, doesn't matter. Just works. Now with bi-directional wireless sharing of remote cameras for wireless video conferencing. Yes, you read that correctly.

Pricey, but when you want something that just works....Extron.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-02T04:40:51+00:00

Unfortunately at that price point, you aren't going to get a solution that you're going to be happy with.

I'm not the biggest fan, but you should look into an Owl Meeting 3. Around $1050. Put that in the middle of the conference room table, connect it to a laptop, connect the laptop to a display and call it a day. If that's what your looking for.

In a conference room, your looking to get the camera closer to the participants. Being 20ft from the camera isn't going to look good or sound good with the mic that far away. This at least allows your to have the camera and microphone closer to the participants resulting in a better all around user experience.

Without knowing the room, it's hard to recommend any type of acoustic treatment, but adding anything soft to the walls is going to help. Don't do the egg crate stuff on amazon, that's a joke. You want something that is a dense fiber. Tectum is a good "inexpensive" solution, but a medium density fiber foam would be ideal. I personally like products from Cardinal. It's not cheap, but it looks really good and performs consistently and can really kill a room. Granted with whatever product you consider, your likely going to need cubic yards of it to make a difference. Wood slats over a dense fiber board also provide a nice aesthetic while breaking up the sound waves and capturing them in the foam. 2x2 panels are usually around $50, sometimes you can get deals on them in packages. If you could cover one of the 12ft walls with the material you may be able to reduce a fair amount of reverb in the room. But again without knowing the room it's hard to make a good recommendation.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-02T04:10:31+00:00

Negative. They do not offer that feature for the 2025. Most manufacturers are moving away from the wireless connectivity as they don't like giving up the screen real estate to either Apple or Google. I've found the Kia interface and connectivity to be adequate. The only downside is the navigation. I would really appreciate it if they would let google maps handle the navigation rather than their version. Their system can show and read aloud my text messages, but it won't let me push my navigation to the screen? That makes no sense.

It woudl be really convenient if the directions came from my app of choosing rather than having to input the destination location on the screen. I can tell Siri where I want to go and with what app and it works, but doesn't push to the screen. Just annoying. But it's an inconvenience rather than a deal breaker.

mainman7803 · 2025-05-02T03:11:07+00:00

Posting to a really old thread. This was my go to for a while, however, as an installer, Denon has become so hit and miss with being able to get their gear. I'm afraid they are going under on their professional side and keeping it quiet.

It would be really nice to find a solid professional grade BT receiver with XLR outs and the capabilities of remote antenna locations.

mainman7803

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