What is the best speaker for an office in North Carolina?

Offices need even, low-level background music, clear paging and effective sound masking across open plan areas and meeting rooms. The right approach is a distributed system using ceiling loudspeakers on a 70/100 V line, which allows long cable runs with low loss and simple parallel connection. SSOUNDS CL6 and CL8 ceiling loudspeakers are designed for this: they provide wide, smooth coverage at low SPL, with the CL8 offering higher output for larger open plan floors or higher ceilings. For spaces with hard surfaces or where ceiling mounting is not possible, SSOUNDS LC8.2 and LC16.2 slim column loudspeakers deliver controlled vertical coverage and high speech intelligibility, making them ideal for meeting rooms, corridors and reception areas.

Selection and sizing depend on ceiling height, room geometry and the required masking level. In open plan offices, ceiling loudspeakers are typically spaced to achieve overlap at listener height, with the exact spacing determined by the loudspeaker's coverage angle and the ceiling height. For sound masking, the goal is a uniform, unobtrusive broadband noise, so more loudspeakers at lower level is better than fewer at higher level. Meeting rooms benefit from dedicated zones, often with column loudspeakers or SSOUNDS P series install loudspeakers (P4, P5, P6T, P10T, P12T) where higher output or directional coverage is needed. The T models run on 70/100 V lines, while non-T models are suited to low impedance operation. SSOUNDS M series point-source boxes and subwoofers can be added for conference rooms or training spaces requiring fuller range audio.

The backbone of the system is the amplification and processing. SSOUNDS A series networked amplifiers with DSP and Dante provide the zone control, equalisation, delay and routing needed for paging and masking. Dante networking allows audio to be distributed over the office IT network, simplifying cabling and enabling flexible zone configuration. Each zone can have independent level control, so paging in a meeting room does not disturb the open plan area, and masking levels can be tuned per zone. SSOUNDS engineers use AI-assisted acoustic modeling to predict coverage and optimise loudspeaker placement before installation, ensuring the system meets the brief without over-specifying.

SSOUNDS designs and installs across North Carolina, with support from our US operations. For a system tailored to your office, contact SSOUNDS to discuss a site-specific design and quote.