Buying Guide · Restaurants
This is one of the most common questions we get from restaurant owners planning a sound system, and the honest answer is "it depends on your floor plan" — but there's a reliable rule of thumb to start from, plus the factors that push the number up or down.
As a starting point, one ceiling speaker covers roughly 12-15 square meters of open floor space at a standard ceiling height. That's enough to plan a rough budget or floor layout, but it's a starting point, not a final spec — real rooms have furniture, partial walls, and varying ceiling heights that change the number.
Roughly 4-6 speakers on a single amplifier zone, enough for one consistent background music level across the whole floor.
Typically 10-14 speakers, often split into 1-2 zones so the bar or outdoor seating can run at a different volume than the main dining floor.
20 or more speakers across multiple zones — main dining, private rooms, outdoor terrace — each independently controlled.
| Floor Area | Speakers | Amplifiers | Zones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 m² | 4-6 | 1 | 1 |
| 200 m² | 10-14 | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| 400+ m² | 20+ | 2-3 | 2-4 |
Ceiling height is the biggest variable — a 4-5m ceiling spreads sound less efficiently than a standard 2.7-3m ceiling, so ceilings that high often need closer speaker spacing than the basic rule of thumb suggests. Outdoor seating areas also typically need tighter spacing, since there's no ceiling or walls helping to contain the sound. An open kitchen or bar area generates its own background noise and is usually worth treating as a separate zone with its own volume level.
The reliable way to get this right: send us your floor plan or approximate room dimensions. We'll calculate an exact speaker count and amplifier size for your actual layout, not a generic estimate.
Once you know roughly how many speakers you need, our amplifier and speaker matching guide covers how to size the amplifier correctly for that count.
As a starting point, one ceiling speaker covers roughly 12-15 square meters of open floor space, before adjusting for ceiling height and layout.
Yes — higher ceilings (4m+) spread sound less efficiently than a standard 2.7-3m ceiling, so spacing usually needs to be tighter, meaning more speakers for the same floor area.
Outdoor areas usually need speakers spaced closer together than indoors, since there's no ceiling or walls to help contain and reflect the sound.
Yes — send us your floor plan or room dimensions and we'll calculate the exact speaker count, amplifier size, and zoning rather than a rule-of-thumb estimate.