BS 6259:1997

Committees responsible
Foreword
Code of practice
1 General
2 Application
3 Guidance for prospective purchasers
4 Planning and contract management of the system
5 Recommended design principles and procedures
6 Installing the system
7 Commissioning the system
8 Operation and maintenance of the system
9 Equipment
10 Special considerations for sound systems for
      emergency purposes
Annexes
A (informative) Example of a plan of work for Project
      Team operation suitable for large projects
B (informative) Project checklist
C (informative) Design checklist
D (informative) Basic concepts for electronics and
      acoustics
E (informative) Consultants for sound systems
F (informative) Example of sound system operating
      instructions for a Scottish court
G (informative) Basic list of characteristics which
      should be included in loudspeaker specifications,
      and references to the relevant methods of measure-
      ment
H (informative) List of characteristics recommended
      to be specified in contracts for headphones and
      headsets, and the relevant methods of measurement
J (informative) Basic list of characteristics
      recommended to be specified for amplifiers, and the
      relevant methods of measurement
K (informative) Attenuators for microphones
L (informative) Bibliography
Tables
1 Basic recommendations for sound system applications
2 Expected sound levels
3 Maximum sound pressure levels for Dolby formats
A.1 Plan of work
A.2 Stage A: Inception
A.3 Stage B: Feasibility
A.4 Stage C: Outline proposals
A.5 Stage D: Scheme design
A.6 Stage E: Detail design
A.7 Stage F: Bills of quantity
A.8 Stage G; Project plan
A.9 Stage H: Operation on site
A.10 Stage I: Completion
B.1 Project checklist for sound system installation
Figures
1 Block diagram of an extensive sound system for a
      large store
2 Block diagram of a sound system for a large church
3 Examples of sound system output levels
4 Empirical rule for estimating pairs of audio band
      limit frequencies which give subjectively balanced
      reproduction of programme signals
5 Sound from film maximum sound pressure levels,
      types A, SR and SR.D
6 Diagram showing the floating-return technique for
      disabling local loudspeaker attenuators in an
      emergency
7 Horizontal directional response of an omnidirectional
      microphone with its axis vertical: decibel scale
8 Directional response of a cardioid microphone:
      decibel scale
9 Directional response of a hypercardioid microphone:
      decibel scale
10 Directional response of a supercardioid microphone
      decibel scale
11 Directional response of a highly directional shotgun
      (rifle) microphone where f = 2.5 Hz and barrel
      length is 275 mm
12 Directional response of a highly directional
      shotgun (rifle) microphone where f = 10 kHz and
      barrel length is 275 mm
13 Directional response of a highly directional shot-
      gun (rifle) microphone where f = 10 kHz and barrel
      length is 275 mm
14 Relative operating distances of microphones for equal
      direct-reverberent signal ratios
15 Two methods for positioning microphones on a
      conference table. The top view observes the 3 to 1
      rule using cardioid microphones. The bottom view
      shows alternative placement using two omni-
      directional microphones
16 The 3-to-1 ratio for microphone positioning
17 A reduced distance ratio using angled microphones
18 Illustrations of 'good' and 'bad' microphone
      placement
19 Optimization of the height of the microphone above
      the table
D.1 Distortion characteristics of a typical amplifier
D.2 Reflection diagram for certain positions of sound
      source and receiver in a rectangular room of 40m x
      25m x 8m
D.3 Level recorder trace of sound decay in a room
D.4 Reverberation time measurement
K.1 Basic-L-type microphone attenuator
K.2 Attenuator configuration
Index
List of references

Gives recommendations for sound systems intended for communicating speech, music and other signals primarily for monaural systems. Simultaneous interpretation systems, some aspects for recording studios, broadcasting studios, and home entertainment systems are not covered by this standard.