Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Manufacturer guidance (cost examples)

Installing Hearing Loop Systems and Costing

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/listen-2013-loop-costing/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • Listen Technologies
  • SynAudCon (prosoundtraining.com)

Manufacturer (Listen Technologies, which sells the loop drivers, phased array kits and design service priced in the examples; published on the audio training site of SynAudCon)

Summary

A loop seller's worked cost examples showing how metal loss, spill control and floor work raise the installed price of a hearing loop in rooms of the same size.

Key findings

  • Says site factors can change a loop's installed cost by a factor of two to five, and that magnetic background noise should be measured first, ideally with all electrical systems on, then metal loss with a test loop.
  • Treats a room up to about 13.7 x 13.7 m (45 x 45 ft) with no metal as suitable for a simple perimeter loop, and larger rooms or any metal as needing a more complex design such as a phased array with two drivers and a phase shifter, for which the carpet must come up over the whole floor.
  • Says simple perimeter loops radiate fields two to three times their width, so adjacent rooms that may be looped later need spill-control arrays, which cost more in equipment and labour.
  • Prices two 150-seat, 40 x 40 ft (12.19 x 12.19 m) churches at 2013 list prices: a simple perimeter loop at $3,002 (no metal, no neighbouring loops, copper tape under carpet) and a low-spill phased array at $11,731.20 (metal loss, future neighbouring loops and a polished concrete floor needing $3,240 of saw-cutting), nearly four times as much (3.9 times).
  • Prices the main floor of a 1,000-seat performing arts centre with no metal loss at $19,899 with two phased arrays, and the same venue with metal loss and the balcony and boxes added at $43,371, of which $18,000 is concrete cutting; it puts concrete sawing at $2 to $10 per foot or more and says that avoiding it, which brings no technical benefit to the loop, saves significantly.
  • Says that on a new build with no metal loss, installers can lay the loop before the floor covering in two to six hours, while retrofits under existing floors bring hidden costs and risks.
  • Installation Factors gives $100-$140 MSRP for 350 ft of 16 or 14 AWG loop wire and $650-$2,100 MSRP for a single driver, depending on current. Concrete sawing is estimated at $2-$10 per foot or more; the text appends an ambiguous parenthetical metre symbol, while examples 2 and 4 explicitly use lengths in feet at $3 per foot. All four examples assume $100 per technician-hour.
  • Example 1 itemises $250 initial testing, $399 LA-30 basic design, $144 for 164 ft of FB1.8 copper tape, $12 for 30 ft of 14 AWG feeder cable, $98 for 164 ft of PWT tape, $1,499 for one ILD500 driver and $600 for six hours of installation and commissioning labour. The stated total is $3,002.
  • Example 2 itemises $250 testing, $795 LA-31 advanced design, $421.20 for 1,080 ft of 14 AWG loop cable, $24 for 60 ft of feeder cable, $4,901 for an A1000G-RM phased array kit, $3,240 for concrete cutting and $2,100 for 21 hours of installation, filling, finishing and commissioning labour. The stated total is $11,731.20.
  • Example 3 covers only the main floor of the 1,000-seat venue, excluding its two boxes and balcony. It itemises $500 testing for two loops, $795 advanced design, $4,464 for 31 rolls of FB1.8 copper tape, $3,038 for 31 rolls of PWT tape, $9,802 for two A1000G-RM kits ($4,901 each) and $1,300 for 13 hours of labour. The stated total is $19,899.
  • Example 4 covers the main floor, two boxes and balcony with metal loss and wire buried in concrete. It itemises $1,000 for four tests, $1,590 for two advanced design fees, $1,680 for 6,000 ft of 16 AWG wire, $9,802 for two main-floor A1000G-RM kits, $3,701 for a balcony A500-RM kit, $2,988 for two ILD500 box drivers, $18,000 for 6,000 ft of concrete cutting and $4,600 for 46 hours of installation, filling, finishing and calibration labour. It also prints $1,499 per ILD500 driver. The printed components sum to $43,361, $10 below the stated $43,371 total; the driver pair also differs by $10 from twice the printed unit price. These are source inconsistencies, not corrected prices.

Limits

Worked examples, not costs from completed projects: list prices of the seller's own products in 2013, labour at an assumed $100 an hour, and US concrete prices. The page names no individual author; the text speaks for Listen Technologies.

Read the original

www.prosoundtraining.com/2013/08/12/installing-hearing-loop-systems-costing

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Cited in

Cite this source

Listen Technologies. Installing Hearing Loop Systems and Costing. SynAudCon (prosoundtraining.com). 12 August 2013. https://www.prosoundtraining.com/2013/08/12/installing-hearing-loop-systems-costing/ (accessed 13 October 2026).

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