Help me build an audio system

[Emrys]

Hello intelligent people,
I have to buy a new audio system for the military mess where I work and, seeing as I'm not an audiophile, I need some suggestions.
The system needs to have at least a receiver, 4 pairs of speakers (one pair for outdoor use), and a switcher so I can run all or none of the speaker pairs at the same time. I've got about $5000 to build this system.
Can you give me suggestions on what I should buy? Anything else I should include in this system?

Aaaaand this should probably go in the "Tech Talk" section. Mods, would you move it for me?

 

[PatrThom]

Just to clarify, you want to be able to have two sets of stereo speakers (setA and setB) and you want to be able to switch between 4 settings to have a) No speakers (dubbing or just headphones, maybe?) b) Only setA c) Only setB d) Both setA and setB, and setB is going to be for outdoor use, is that right?

How big of an indoor space do you need to fill with sound, and how many people will be occupying it (max)?
How far away do you want to be able to hear the outdoor speakers, and are they going to be near someplace loud (airstrip, mechanic yard) or wet (port, rainy climate)?
Does it need to be 120v? 240v? Or does it have to be able to work on both?
Will the speakers need to be wireless/portable/repositionable, or are you ok with running cables?

--Patrick

 

[Emrys]

Just to clarify, you want to be able to have two sets of stereo speakers (setA and setB) and you want to be able to switch between 4 settings to have a) No speakers (dubbing or just headphones, maybe?) b) Only setA c) Only setB d) Both setA and setB, and setB is going to be for outdoor use, is that right?

How big of an indoor space do you need to fill with sound, and how many people will be occupying it (max)?
How far away do you want to be able to hear the outdoor speakers, and are they going to be near someplace loud (airstrip, mechanic yard) or wet (port, rainy climate)?
Does it need to be 120v? 240v? Or does it have to be able to work on both?
Will the speakers need to be wireless/portable/repositionable, or are you ok with running cables?

• There are 4 different areas that will need speakers, thus the need for 4 pairs (or something similar). Set A would be in the main bar area; set B would be in the Jr Ranks Mess; set C would be in the Sr Ranks Mess; set D would be in the smoking/BBQ area. I want to be able to shut off the speakers to any of the 4 parts of the building. Set D will be outside but in a covered area, so they won't be exposed to rain but they will have to withstand extreme cold temperatures (if not, they will be taken down and stored during the winter months).
• The largest of the 4 spaces is approximately 300 x 100 ft; the smallest is approximately 100 x 100 ft. Maximum occupation of the entire building is 300.
• I don't need a huge range on the outdoor speakers, as the smoking/BBQ area isn't very big. 75 ft would likely be the max. The building is located on a military base but most of the training takes place at the outer limits. The most noise we would have to deal with is muted machine gun fire. And being in the prairies, we don't have to deal with high humidity.
• I think the building is wired for 120V but I would have to check with the engineering department on that.
• Running cables is not a problem. Our Telephone/Information Systems section would have a field day doing that.

Any other information that I can provide?