What a hearing loop or Auracast™ system costs

The rest of this page explains what moves a project within those ranges, what our quotes include, the honest math on Auracast, and how churches, libraries and public bodies usually pay for it.

How our pricing works

You get one flat price for a defined scope, in writing, after we’ve seen the room. Visit fees are credited toward the work they lead to, and every loop quote also shows an Auracast option, now or as a planned upgrade, so you can compare them side by side.

• A free range first, then a flat price. A written budget range from your photos is free. We quote a fixed scope once a site visit has told us the floor, the metal in the building and your sound system.
• Visits are credited. The full fee comes off the installation, repair or upgrade if you go ahead within 90 days, or within 180 days for grant-funded and board-approved projects when we agree it at booking.
• An Auracast line on every loop quote. Even if you don’t want it yet, you’ll know what it would cost to add.
• No surprise extras. The quote lists what’s included and what isn’t. If the scope changes after we quote, say new flooring or another room, we price the change in writing before doing it.

Price ranges by project type

These are our starting prices and typical ranges as of October 2026, including design, equipment, installation, the commissioning report, signage and staff training. Loop rows don’t include loan receivers; the Auracast system row does. Where you land inside a range depends on the drivers in the next section.

Like for like: a 300-seat public room with its receivers

A public room that’s built or altered needs 12 loan receivers for 300 seats under the 2010 ADA Standards, whichever system it uses. Counting them on both sides:

Senior living communities can see room-by-room prices for chapels, activity rooms and TV lounges. Once both include receivers, the two land in the same range. For the trade-offs beyond cost, see loop, Auracast or both.

What drives the price

Construction matters most: what the floor is made of, how much steel is in the building, and how the wire can go in. After that come width, privacy, the number of areas, your sound system, the receiver count, access and travel.

1. Construction and metalSteel absorbs the loop’s signal. As a rule of thumb from our design software, a standard reinforced concrete floor costs about 3–6 dB at 1 kHz and 9–18 dB at 5 kHz, which can mean more current, a bigger driver or a different layout.
2. Floor and install methodTape laid before new carpet is quickest. Saw-cutting concrete or tile, routing under fixed pews, or working from the ceiling below takes longer.
3. Room width, seats and shapeA simple perimeter loop sags in the middle once a room is wider than about 33–40 ft (10–12 m), so wider rooms need a phased array: more wire, more labor, often two drivers. Balconies add routing.
4. Spill and privacyCourtrooms, side-by-side meeting rooms and rooms near a stage need low-spill layouts, which cost more than a simple loop.
5. Zones and driversEach separately covered area, such as a choir loft, fellowship hall or overflow room, is usually its own loop and often its own driver.
6. Your sound systemA clean speech feed is part of every job. Digital consoles, Dante networks, DSP outputs and conference systems without a line output take more setup.
7. Receivers and the ADA countThe 2010 ADA Standards set the number of loan receivers by seating capacity, a quarter of them with neckloops. A loop serving every seat removes the neckloop share.
8. Access and timingOpen floors and accessible ceilings are quick. Finished spaces, high ceilings and after-hours work around services and events take longer.
9. TravelChicago-based. We work regularly across the Midwest, and farther for the right project. We group visits into region days; longer trips are quoted per project.
10. Public-body requirementsPublic work can bring wage, bidding and paperwork rules that change the price. Tell us at the start.

Want to know how those factors shape a design? See how we design a loop around your floor and building, and use the ADA receiver calculator for your seat count.

The honest cost of an Auracast system

As of October 2026, a professionally designed Auracast system for a 300-seat room typically costs $8,000–12,000, including the receivers the ADA requires. A $60 consumer transmitter is a different product: it can broadcast, but it isn’t designed for a full room, a hearing-aid user or the ADA.

Worked example: 300 seats

• 12 loan receivers, the number the 2010 ADA Standards require for 300 seats, 3 of them used with neckloops: about $4,000–4,500 at $335–377 each
• One venue transmitter: about $1,300–1,900
• Design, installation and commissioning, 16–30 hours: about $2,300–4,400
• Neckloops, charging, signs and any network work: varies by room

Ballpark figures you may hear for a venue Auracast install, often around $2,000–4,000, usually leave out the receiver fleet. That’s the largest line, and the one the ADA doesn’t let a public venue skip.

Why a $60 transmitter isn’t the same thing

Consumer transmitters do what they’re designed for, and some churches start with one. Church users report volume differences between hearing-aid brands and range claims that don’t hold in a full room. When a venue outgrows a consumer unit, these are usually the reasons:

Already have a working loop? Adding Auracast from the same audio feed costs from $2,500. See how we plan and walk-test an Auracast system.

Equipment street prices, for budgeting

If you’re building a budget or checking a quote, these are typical retail prices we saw in October 2026. They’re equipment only: no design, installation, cabling, signs or testing.

What our quotes include

An installed price from us covers the whole job. Electrical work, flooring repair beyond our own channels, and permits are usually separate, and the quote says so.

Visits and travel

The first call and a written budget range from your photos are free. A site visit is $500 within about an hour’s drive of Buffalo Grove, or anywhere on a day we’re already in your area; longer trips are quoted before you book. The full fee comes off the installation, repair or upgrade if you go ahead within 90 days, or within 180 days for grant-funded and board-approved projects when we agree it at booking. The same visit serves a new system or an existing one, where it’s our Loop Health Check visit. You get written findings, a coverage preview and a budget range, and a fixed-price proposal follows at no charge.

Chicago-based. We work regularly across the Midwest, and farther for the right project. We group visits into region days to keep travel fair; see where we work.

Paying for it

Many loops are paid for with gifts and small grants rather than operating budgets. The Center for Hearing Access funding page keeps a current list; these are the sources we see most.

• Memorial and donor gifts. A common way churches fund a loop. We’re glad to explain the project to your committee or donors.
• Service clubs and community grants. Sertoma and Lions clubs have funded loops, and the Center for Hearing Access lists programs such as the AARP Community Challenge and T-Mobile Hometown grants.
• Library grants. Ask your state library whether LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) funds are available this year.
• Tax incentives for businesses. The federal Disabled Access Credit (Section 44) for eligible small businesses, and the Section 190 deduction of up to $15,000 a year for removing barriers. Ask your tax advisor whether either applies.

If your committee sets next year’s budget this fall, our free written range is enough to put the project on the list, and a loop now with Auracast later can fit two budget cycles. If the decision runs past 90 days, tell us when you book a visit and we’ll hold the credit for 180. Churches can find more in our guide to hearing loops for churches.

Public bodies: tell us early

If you’re a city, county, park district, library, school or court, tell us at the start about bid thresholds, grant money and wage requirements such as prevailing wage. They change how a project is scoped, documented and priced, and it’s easier to plan for them than to fix a quote afterward. Grant-funded and board-approved projects can have the visit credit held for 180 days.

Below your bid threshold, we can usually quote directly. If you’d rather bid the work, we can write the scope and specification; under our independence policy, we then don’t bid the installation ourselves. If an integrator already runs your AV upgrade, we’re glad to work through them. More on assistive listening for council chambers, courts and libraries.