Speakers & Sounders

This page includes all alarms, bells and other sounding devices.

Speakers

The sound made by NZ fire Alarms was standardized in 2003, and it is a legal requirement for all systems post-2003 to use this alert sound. If you ever hear a fire alarm that makes a different sound, then it must be older than 2003.

Old Standard Horn

These are rather Horn-shaped speakers that emit a very loud noise. These are used by all current Fire Alarm companies in NZ. These were made in many colours, including Red, White, Gold, Silver, and Black. The most common one I have seen is the Gold one, followed by red. These photos are of the older version of this horn, which is somewhat less common nowadays. These have a smooth back piece, which is usually black (but not always). Some rare ones use a flat back piece.

Wow! This is in bad shape! (This store just closed, replaced by a brand new building next door)

Wow! This is in bad shape! (This store just closed, replaced by a brand new building next door)

New Standard Horn

This is an updated version of the horn above, which can be distinguished by the lines on the back piece. These are used by all current Fire Alarm companies in NZ. These are usually red, but can sometimes by white. These are actually very cheap - you can buy them for around $60(NZ) online. They are used worldwide for all sorts of things, including emergency vehicle sirens, security systems and more. My school even had some Red ones as Security Alarms in some buildings (even though the were the same colour as fire alarms, they were connected to the security system).

Old and New horns together!

I found an installation here with both an old horn and a new one together, so you can compare!

MPH-5300 Horn

This is a horn that is very rare on New Zealand systems. I found this at a School, which has just one of these connected up to other horns like those above. Pertronic advertises these on their website.

Redback Large Horn

These horns are very big and very loud. They're designed for warehouses and big open spaces (yet somehow they are also often used in places that don't need an alarm this big & loud). These are made by Redback.

Other Horns

Here are a few other various horns that have been used on Fire Alarm systems. It's actually not very common to find this happen.

Branded as "Notifier by Honeywell"

Branded as "Notifier by Honeywell"

Branded as "Notifier by Honeywell"

Ceiling Speakers

These speakers are very common, and come in various designs. sizes and styles. They are always white. Sometimes they are mounted on walls, instead of the ceiling. All current companies, including Wormald and Pertronic use these speakers. For Pertronic, they make up the PSS3 and PSS5 ranges.

Small Speakers

Pertronic offers some small speakers on a rectangle plastic plate (the same that gets used from light switches). These come in either red or white, and can also come with a red light. These make up the PSS1 range. The black-grey one you see below, isn't actually that colour, it's just been painted over.

Mini Speaker

Similar to above, but with only a very tiny speaker.

Small Square Speaker

This is fairly rare square speaker. These look quite old, but I did find this one in an almost-new building, so there's a chance that they still make these (unless it had been recycled form another installation).

Old Speakers

I have only found one installation of these so far. These are on an old Vigilant-Wormald system.

European Speakers

Small speakers such as these are common in very small buildings ans small shops. That said, you can find them in larger applications too (such as Briscoes in Porirua, which uses three of them on the wall of a big warehouse-type shop). These generally come from companies in the UK. Pertronic, Wormald and others all offer these sounders.

Roshni Sounder

These are basic alarm sounders that get used for all kinds of uses, of which fire alarms is just one. These are actually very rare on Fire Alarm systems in New Zealand, but they're quite common here for other uses.

White Square Speakers

These are regular speakers that you find used for all kinds of applications, including PA systems or music players (such as for a mall or shop). However, some Fire Alarm systems have actually used these as fire speakers. This was most commonly done by Guardian Alarms in the 1990's.

Old Red Speakers

Some rather uncommon old speakers.....they are VERY loud! I think these are quite old, and I suspect that many of them have been replaced in a number locations. Most of them appear to have been installed by Guardian alarms....whether or not they actually made them is another question altogether.

Old Red Small Speaker

These old speakers are very rare. They can sometimes be combined with a red light.

Old barrel-shaped Speaker

These speakers are made using the same plastic used on the manufacturer's (who ever they are) Manual Call Points. so far, I have only found one location that has a couple of these (the rest have been replaced with modern sounders).

Bells

Not many places have fire bells any-more, as standard alarms sound shave been required in NZ since 2003. A few old systems still use bells. A lot of schools also use bells, and they are used as the main school bell as well as for fires. Modern Fire Alarm speakers can be programmed with a computer-generated school bell sound to emulate this. Click Here to here it. (My school had this sound!).