What are delay speakers and when do I need them?

Delay speakers (also called distributed speakers or fill speakers) are additional speakers placed further back in the room, away from the main system. They reinforce the sound for audience members who are too far from the main speakers to hear clearly. Without delays, people in the back of a deep ballroom or large venue experience reduced volume and clarity, especially for speech content.

The critical detail is timing. Delay speakers are electronically time-aligned to the main system so the sound arrives at the listener's position in sync, preventing echo or smearing. The system engineer calculates the distance from the main speakers to each delay position and adds a corresponding digital delay to match. Any event where the audience extends more than about 80-100 feet from the main speakers should be evaluated for delays.