How does a Public Address system work? Part 1 – Overview
A Public Address(PA) or Sound reinforcement(SR) system is a collection of equipment that is used to amplify(make louder) or distribute music or speech to an audience. It usually has the following components:
- One or more microphones. A microphone converts sound waves into an electrical current. The electrical signal can then be processed in a variety of ways such as mixing it with other microphone signals.
- A power supply. This could be anything from a battery to a generator but is more commonly just a mains power supply.
- One or more amplifiers. An amplifier takes the basic electrical signal from our microphone or other sources, and multiplies(amplifies) it greatly. The electrical signal then has the necessary current to move a speaker.
- One or more speakers. The speaker converts the amplified electrical signal back into sound waves by vibrating back and forth.
Consider the PA system in it’s simplest form, the megaphone.
The megaphone has a microphone at the very back which you speak into. It has batteries for a power supply. It has a small amplifier which feeds into a speaker at the front. The whole system is built into the one unit.
All PA systems, from the humble megaphone to the largest concert or stadium system, follow that basic format. In our next look at PA systems I will explain a bit more about the first step in the chain, the microphone.
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