[Richard Crowley]

"wardy" wrote ...
Advice needed please from all you experts out there.

I have a decent background in sound engineering and live mic/desk
setups, however I am no expert.
I want to find the best way of installing a particular system in a
public venue.

I am installing a Technics amp with normal Stereo output (+- L and +-
R)
I have to send the audio thru the amp to 12 separate speakers across a
sprawling venue.

I have purchased a mono splitter and a stereo splitter.

Firstly i tried the mono splitter so that each speaker would be mono.
I tried to convert this stereo output from the amp to mono by
combining the cables. firstly i tried to wire both the + outputs from
the amp into the + of 1 speaker cable and both the - into the - of
the cable. this however simply forced the amp to "click" off after a
few seconds of sound so i presume it wasnt happy with the level of
impedance of whatever.
So a mono splitter is out.

I am going to try the 6 way skytronic Stereo splitter next.
I am going to run 2 cables from the amp to the splitter (for L & R)
Then use the L and R channel from each of the 6 "rooms" on the
splitter as a separate L or R speaker on either side of the room thus
giving 12 speakers (6 L and 6 R).

I havent set up a system where this many (12) speakers need to be run
by 1 amp before so need your input please so i can learn as much as i
can about running multiple speakers from 1 amp.

Q - Does this sound like the best (and cheapest) solution?

No

Q - Why did the amp click off when i was trying to join the stereo +
and - outputs to make one mono + cable and one mono - cable?

You either shorted the L and R outputs together, or you shorted
one (or both) to ground. You are lucky the amp protected itself
else you would have an expensive boat anchor.

Q - anything you can teach me about wiring up Multiple speakers from 1
amp using a speaker splitter from your own experience would be great.

Are all the speakers the same?
What is the impedance (in ohms) of the speakers?
What is the amplifier rating in watts?
What is the lowest safe impedance the amplifier is rated for?
Are you trying to make this a "stereo" system or mono?
Do you need to independently control the level of the speakers?
Do you need to independently switch the speakers on/off?
What sound levels are you expecting? Is this background
music in a dentist office? Or is this warm-up music at a rock
concert?

My practice would be to forget the "splitters" and wire the
speakers in series-parallel to create a safe load for the amp.

Note that the "professional" method is to use "constant voltage"
transformers to safely connect many speakers to a single amp.

If you aren't going to provide model numbers and specs, it
doesn't really make much difference what nameplate (brand-
name) is on the equipment.