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I wish people would invest a little more in PA speakers. I can't understand the announcements made half the time,which rather negates the point.
It's not always the speakers; sometimes it's the poor acoustics. In a subway station, for example, you have all those hard surfaces that sound waves bounce off of, frequently making the speech unintelligible.
Howdy Chicken, Cheapo PA speakers can definitely sound mighty crummy. But many times, the root cause of poor vocal intelligibility can also be low quality microphones and/or electronics, or improper equipment settings. Of course, room acoustics are always a huge factor. And, as Nymeria noted, a mediocre PA system in a room with excellent acoustical properties will nearly always sound better than a quality PA in a bad sounding room. Thermionic