VPL’s Alice MacKay Room
July 2016 – Back in 1994, Sound Solutions supplied all sound systems to the Vancouver Public Library during construction. Systems included the general paging/announcement system throughout the building, which included over 400 ceiling speakers, and an amplifier rack located in the security office. We also have supplied and maintained the sound system in the meeting/gathering rooms, called the Alice MacKay room, and the two smaller Alma and Peter MacKay rooms located on the lower floor.
The Alma and Peter rooms had existing TOA W912 wall amplifiers, providing two and four microphone inputs to the Bose Model 16 speakers in the ceiling. After 20+ years of being on 24/7, (that’s over 175,000 hours!) the amplifiers were showing signs of wear, so it was time to replace them.
After considering the available options, the decision was made to add additional microphone jacks into each room, but to keep the existing TOA wall amplifier models, as they served the intended purpose well, and each amplifier could accommodate the additional microphone jacks. A remote volume control was added so that the sound system could be adjusted from the front of the room, rather than having to run to the amplifiers. TOA makes remote controllable microphone modules, and eight of these were installed so that all microphones could be controlled remotely.
The installation took a day to complete, and the new system is expected to last at least another 20 years.
We kept the existing TOA wall-mount amplifier
New microphone input plates