Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Manufacturer article (blog post on an audio training site)

A Comparison of Loop, FM & IR Technologies for Assistive Listening

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/gentner-2012-loop-fm-ir/ · record checked 9 October 2026

  • Gentner R
  • SynAudCon (prosoundtraining.com)

Manufacturer (written by Russ Gentner, co-founder of Listen Technologies, which then sold RF and infrared assistive listening systems; the article does not state the author's role: a 2017 Hearing Review report on an industry award describes the author as the company's co-founder, president and CEO)

Summary

A short comparison, by the head of an RF and infrared maker, of loops, RF and infrared for venues, giving rough system prices and the reasons it sees for the cost difference.

Key findings

  • Gives the two main advantages of RF and infrared as low cost and the ability to carry several audio sources, and puts a typical RF system at less than $5,000 and an infrared system at less than $10,000 for an average venue, with "Loop systems are much more".
  • Attributes the difference to the building: RF and infrared need no modification of the building, while a loop is typically installed in the floor of the entire venue and must be carefully designed for complete coverage and no interference with equipment, which it says makes loops cost much more, especially in retrofits.
  • Says most facilities need about four infrared radiators, and that one RF transmitter can cover an entire theatre or stadium.
  • Gives the Kennedy Center as a venue that uses infrared for assistive listening, audio description and audio instruction, and says it does not use a loop because it must transmit several sources.
  • Notes that loops let telecoil users listen without a receiver, while everyone else, including hearing-aid users without a telecoil, needs a receiver and earphones; telecoil users can also use RF or infrared through a neckloop.

Limits

A maker's blog post with round figures and no breakdown of what the prices include (receivers, installation, design). By August 2013 the author's company also sold hearing loops: its costed loop examples from that month are a separate record in this library. Prices are US dollars of 2012.

Read the original

www.prosoundtraining.com/2012/05/23/a-comparison-of-loop-fm-ir-technologies-for-assistive-listening

Link checked . We link to the original and do not host copies.

Cited in

Cite this source

Gentner R. A Comparison of Loop, FM & IR Technologies for Assistive Listening. SynAudCon (prosoundtraining.com). 23 May 2012. https://www.prosoundtraining.com/2012/05/23/a-comparison-of-loop-fm-ir-technologies-for-assistive-listening/ (accessed 9 October 2026).

The accessed date is when this library last checked the link; use the date you read it. To point readers to this summary instead, link to https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/gentner-2012-loop-fm-ir/

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