What does a restaurant sound system cost and how should it be zoned?

A restaurant sound system costs £1,500 to £4,000 per zone installed, and most restaurants need 2 to 4 zones: bar, dining room, terrace, and WCs with the kitchen pass. Zoning is what makes the system usable: the bar wants music a few decibels above the dining room, the terrace needs weatherproof speakers at a level that does not reach the neighbours, and the pass needs the chef to hear the printer, not the playlist.

Restaurant speakers by ceiling and wall type

• Ceiling speakers for suspended or plasterboard ceilings; the default in most dining rooms, spaced so no table sits under a hot spot.
• Pendant speakers for exposed services and high ceilings, hung to a consistent height above the tables.
• Surface-mount cabinets for hard walls, feature zones and bars with no ceiling to cut into.
• Outdoor IP-rated speakers for terraces and courtyards, rated for rain and cold, not just marked "outdoor".

Each zone needs its own amplifier channel and a DSP or zone mixer with presets. The practical ones are lunch and evening: a lower level with speech-friendly equalisation when the room is half full and daylight-bright, and a fuller, louder preset for evening service, switched on a schedule. The same DSP balances speech intelligibility versus music: a restaurant that hosts events wants the vocal range kept clear, which means more speakers at lower level rather than fewer turned up.

100V line versus low impedance is the main design choice. 100V line runs many ceiling speakers off one amplifier over long cable runs and suits the dining room, WCs and corridors. Low-impedance zones give the bar more weight and clarity at higher levels and cost more per speaker. Mixed systems are normal.

Licensing is separate from hardware: recorded music in a restaurant needs PRS for Music and PPL (TheMusicLicence), from £100 to £400 a year for a small site, and a business streaming service rather than a consumer account. Restaurants inside hotels and venues are covered on our hospitality AV hub; the audio systems page explains zoning and DSP design.

Quick reference: £1.5k-£4k per zone installed, 2-4 zones (bar, dining, terrace, WCs and kitchen pass); ceiling speakers for suspended ceilings, pendants for exposed, surface-mount for hard walls, IP-rated outdoors; DSP presets for lunch and evening; 100V line for dining, low impedance for the bar; PRS for Music plus PPL £100-£400 a year.