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Category: Loudspeakers

  • Thunderbird Café and Music Hall Finds Budget-friendly Solution in Rock-ready L-Acoustics A15i Professional Audio System

    Thunderbird Café and Music Hall Finds Budget-friendly Solution in Rock-ready L-Acoustics A15i Professional Audio System

    “John Pergal is a musician and avid concertgoer and specifically requested L-Acoustics for the Roxian Theatre,” says Hollowood Sound’s Brad Hollowood. “When discussing an upgrade for the Thunderbird, the same brand was at the top of his list once again. John did consider several other manufacturers’ systems; however, the A15 system perfectly met all their needs sonically and did so within budget.”

    Pittsburgh’s Thunderbird Café and Music Hall is a longstanding fixture in the city’s unique and vibrant Lawrenceville neighborhood. First established in 1890 as a bakery, the building was converted in 1933 into a tavern known as Michalski’s Café, which was granted Pittsburgh’s second liquor license following the close of Prohibition. Since 2000, the venue has been owned by John and Ami Pergal, who also own the 1,400-seat Roxian Theatre across town, which put in an L-Acoustics Kara system five years ago. Today, Thunderbird’s 583-capacity Music Hall is an intimate mainstay on the national touring circuit, and it recently bumped up its audio facilities with a new L-Acoustics A Series loudspeaker system designed and installed by McKees Rocks-based Hollowood Sound.

    A Series provides plenty of SPL and low-frequency response

    Nathan Shapert, Hollowood Sound’s lead installer, worked closely with L-Acoustics’ Chris “Sully” Sullivan on a system design that would custom-fit the three-level venue’s unique geometry, which included both a balcony and top-tier VIP area. “We tried to keep sightlines, as well as a custom mural on house right, in mind when designing the system,” Shapert describes. “We were limited to a corner concrete stage with only room for two KS21i per side, so the system features flown subs as well. A15i made the most sense considering the amount of low-frequency response the box provides as well as output. Even though the venue is under 600 capacity, it still required enough SPL to meet the requirements from touring engineers to provide enough headroom as well as the sonic clarity that comes with an L-Acoustics system.”

    The venue’s new left and right main arrays are each comprised of two A15i Focus enclosures over a single A15i Wide and topped by a KS21i sub. A center cluster, used to fill in the balcony, features a similar configuration minus the subwoofer. Four additional KS21i are positioned under the stage, and the entire setup is powered by four LA4X amplified controllers.

    Additionally, four coaxial X8 enclosures, driven by an LA2Xi, deliver supplementary VIP and bar area coverage.

    The right rig for the room

    “A Series was designed for rooms like the Thunderbird,” says Brad Hollowood. “Between our long tenure as a legacy L-Acoustics company and our client’s desire to choose the brand, it was a no-brainer. The low-mid frequency response with A15i coupled with the KS21i made for a great combination for the space. And the system is so budget-friendly for small-medium as well as larger venues that you can’t go wrong. The weight, cost, and sound quality are what makes A Series a win.”

    Thunderbird sound engineer Mike Jantho is jazzed with the venue’s new loudspeaker setup. “When I walk into the room, I am confident that I have the best tools available to make a band or performer sound their best,” he says. “The same goes when I am handing drive lines over to a guest engineer. ‘The room sounds great,’ is a comment I am now hearing over and over. When mixing on the A15 system, the boxes don’t sound constrained. Everything is there to tailor an appropriate mix no matter what genre. And the coverage in the room has immensely improved—from the floor to the third balcony to the back bar, the coverage is smooth. Soundvision really helped nail that.”

    Clarity, coverage, and headroom

    For fellow Thunderbird sound engineer Alex Heard, hearing the room’s transformation from the previous rig to the new one is tremendously satisfying. “The old system could be extremely shrill in the upper mid-range, which could make for a very fatiguing listening experience,” he recalls. “I always felt like the old PA was yelling at me, but the A Series arrays have completely eliminated that problem. I can get the clarity I need but at a lower volume than I was ever able to achieve before. On top of that harshness, we were always pushing against the top of the subs’ abilities, but now we have headroom for days on the low end. And I no longer fear blowing a driver in the subs to get the low end I want.

    “But the biggest difference for me is the even coverage when I walk away from the FOH position. The Thunderbird’s unconventional shape and building materials make for a visually stunning design, but also make the room quite challenging from a mixing perspective. The room is taller than it is long and incorporates two balconies of different shapes, which means several sets of fills had to be employed. In many rooms, I feel like multiple fill zones are a compromise to a problem that never really feels solved, and that was certainly the case with the old system here. But with the new L-Acoustics rig, it just works—left to right, front to back, top to bottom, my mix sounds like my mix. It’s pretty amazing to walk up to the top balcony and have the same clarity and low-end that you experience on the floor.”

    As both a venue owner and a gigging musician, John Pergal has a unique appreciation of the Thunderbird’s sound from multiple perspectives, and he’s proud to bring L-Acoustics to another one of his spaces. “There were many reasons why we went with L-Acoustics, such as the rock-solid reliability of their amplified controllers, which have run flawlessly at the Roxian since 2019,” he says. “Plus, their L-Drive protection system sets our mind at ease knowing that all of our drivers have a serious safeguard. We were looking for a system that would improve our low-end reinforcement and coverage, yet stay within our budget, and the A Series provided a full-coverage solution that was the best option for the room. With the 15-inch drivers in the A15i paired with the 21-inch drivers in the KS21i, we knew they would not fall short, and they haven’t. Plus, the Hollowood team is always great to work with. They have the perfect combination of passion and knowledge, and partnering with them and L-Acoustics again made this project a complete success.”

     

  • Sonos Unveils 8″ in-ceiling Speaker With Bold New Sound and Stunning Performance

    Sonos Unveils 8″ in-ceiling Speaker With Bold New Sound and Stunning Performance

    Sonos, the sound experience company, invented multi-room wireless home audio, offering an unparalleled sound experience, thoughtful design, simplicity, and an open platform, making audio content accessible to anyone.

    Sonos introduced the 8” In-Ceiling Speaker by Sonos and Sonance, expanding their Sonos Architectural line of passive speakers. This speaker offers powerful, balanced, and clear sound, featuring a custom-built woofer, high-excursion motor, optimized waveguide, and Trueplay™ tuning.

    The new 8” In-Ceiling Speaker meets the demand for more size options and flexibility during installation, providing a bold sound profile and stunning performance. It enhances the experience when paired with Sonos Amp, offering benefits like overdrive protection, custom tuning enhancements, and integration with the Sonos ecosystem for seamless multiroom audio.

    Sonos introduced the 8″ In-Ceiling Speaker by Sonos and Sonance in January, extending the highly successful Sonos Architectural line of passive speakers. The 8” In-Ceiling Speaker provides installers and customers with a new size option that sits discreetly within the ceiling and delivers powerful, balanced and clear sound. The 8” In-Ceiling Speakers are available on the website for $999/pair.

    Optimized and powerful In-Ceiling sound

    The 8” In-Ceiling Speaker, designed and tuned in collaboration with Sonance, features a custom-built, enlarged woofer and high-excursion motor for a smooth midrange, stunning deep bass down to 32Hz, and a greater listening area. A 30mm tweeter and newly optimized waveguide ensures natural sounding vocals and better high-frequency dispersion, for wide and even coverage that fills the room with sound.

    While the 8” In-Ceiling Speaker is bigger in size than the 6″, the aesthetics of the magnetic grille are unchanged, ensuring both models can be used seamlessly together in the same space. The grille for both 8” and 6” sizes are available in white for a discreet match with the widest range of ceilings and, thanks to a specially developed steel grille, can be painted to meet the customization needs of every client.

    “The 8” In-Ceiling Speaker has been designed in direct response to the needs of our installers, who asked us for more size options and flexibility during installation.” said Audra Kinsley, VP and GM of Sonos Professional. “This new addition provides a bold sound profile and stunning performance that enhances the experience customers get when Sonos Architectural speakers are paired with Sonos Amp. The addition of the 8” In-Ceiling Speaker provides professional installers and customers the freedom and flexibility to choose the design and sound experience that fits perfectly within their space.”

    Even better when paired with Amp

    In combination with Sonos Amp, the Sonos Architectural line provides crisp and clear multiroom audio. When paired with Sonos Amp, the In-Ceiling or In-Wall speakers unlock even more benefits including overdrive protection and custom tuning enhancements that ensure a fuller sound and a balanced frequency response. In combination with Sonos Amp the 8” speakers also benefit from Trueplay™ tuning which accounts for the size, construction, and furnishings of the room where the speakers are placed, and automatically adjusts the EQ for optimal sound.

    Like all Sonos Architectural speakers, the 8” In-Ceiling Speaker paired with Sonos Amp will benefit from the Sonos ecosystem including an easy-to-use app that works with all of your favorite streaming services, Apple AirPlay 2 control, regular software updates and the ability to add additional Sonos speakers and components over time.

    Sonos 8” In-Ceiling Speaker by Sonos and Sonance is available on the website.

     

  • Boutique 5-Star Hotel Installs AtlasIED Atmosphere to Deliver Uniquely Swiss Experience

    Boutique 5-Star Hotel Installs AtlasIED Atmosphere to Deliver Uniquely Swiss Experience

    The Swiss Alps attract millions of tourists and outdoor enthusiasts each year with majestic peaks, picturesque valleys, and diverse ecosystems. Zernez, Switzerland, about an hour’s drive southeast of Davos, is home to the luxurious boutique IN LAIN Hotel Cadonau. The stunning 5-star modern, rustic hotel features 14 guest rooms, including 11 suites, and is ranked 14th in the top 20 winter holiday hotels in Switzerland in the 5-star category.

    Hotelier and Chef Dario Cadonau and his wife, Tamara, opened the IN LAIN in 2010, remodeling a farmhouse in the Cadonau family from 1590. The Cadonaus wanted to create a memorable guest experience, including the right balance of smells, tastes and sounds. To support their vision, under the recommendation of Jorg Steiger, owner of Switzerland-based AV integration company avidec, Cadonau chose AtlasIED’s Atmosphere audio processing and control system to accentuate the environment with audio.

    The hoteliers wanted to create a modern, authentic, uniquely Swiss experience. A key element was adding various genres of Swiss-originated music to create a unique but cohesive ambiance for guests in the various areas of the hotel. The hotel had several primary areas that needed music, and AtlasIED’s Atmosphere AZM8 digital signal processor was aptly suited to meet their needs.

    Steiger chose the AZM8 paired with an AtlasIED AZA 404 amplifier to help deliver music and create different experiences to eight separate zones across the property. For instance, in the hotel’s reception, office, and Michelin Star-rated Vivanda restaurant, the hotel desired energy and chose Swiss pop music. The Cadonau selected Swiss classical music for the breakfast room, while the lounge broadcasts Swiss Jazz to provide some variety in music genres.

    One of the most unique aspects of the hotel is its cheesemaking room, which Cadonau and his culinary team use to make cheese for dining, but they also teach guests how to make cheese. The hotel plays Swiss holiday music to create a festive feel for guests year-round as they learn the science and art of cheesemaking.

    Hotel staff accesses the Atmosphere in multiple ways, including through the web-based interface on a tablet that management can take throughout the property to adjust music playlists or volume as needed. Also, avidec worked with the hotel to determine a volume schedule to automatically adapt music volume to changing occupancy levels on any given day. In addition, avidec installed AtlasIED C-ZSV zone, source, and volume wall controllers In the lounge, breakfast room, and Vivanda restaurant to allow approved staff to change music and volume in those zones. For instance, as rooms fill with people, the hotel can raise the volume to enhance the space, or conversely, during off-hours, the staff can lower the volume to play music at a more comfortable level.

    “The flexibility of the system was one of the biggest reasons why we chose AtlasIED Atmosphere for the IN LAIN Cadonau,” said Steiger. “With a multiroom property, you can easily play different music, change it at any time, and raise or lower the volume. The flexibility and ease of use is perfect.”

    One additional benefit for Steiger in choosing the Atmosphere platform is that Steiger can access the system remotely from their offices in Zurich. With remote access, Steiger can check and manage the volume remotely as needed and respond to any questions or concerns reported by the hotel staff.

    “By remotely logging in and viewing the system online, we can monitor and address issues without making a three-hour drive from our office to the hotel. Atmosphere saves us time and helps the hotel reduce audio-related service costs.”

     

  • Vanco Unveils Versatile Outdoor Speaker Kit with Landscape Subwoofer

    Vanco Unveils Versatile Outdoor Speaker Kit with Landscape Subwoofer

    Vanco International, LLC offers premium audio/video products and electronic accessories, with four unique brands: Vanco®, Evolution, PulseAudio, and Beale Street Audio. They are QC tested and committed to high-quality customer experiences.

    Vanco International LLC has launched the LSKIT-BSC Beale Street Audio Outdoor Speaker Kit, designed for both commercial and residential use in outdoor settings such as dining areas, beer gardens, patios, and pool decks. The kit includes four WP4V-BSC 4-inch on-wall/pendant speakers, four WPV-LAND speaker mounting kits, and one LS10-BSC 10-inch downfiring subwoofer, providing rich, even coverage for areas up to 900 square feet. The kit can be expanded with additional speakers from the Beale Street Audio outdoor line.

    The Beale Street Outdoor Speaker Kit is engineered for reliability, performance, and value. It offers exceptional sound quality and ease of installation for integrators, with components designed for flexibility in mounting and practicality in outdoor use. The kit stands out for its superior clarity and frequency response, practical form factor of the subwoofer, and durability with IP66 and IP65 ratings for the speakers and subwoofer, respectively. Additionally, Vanco backs the Beale Street Audio outdoor line with a lifetime warranty, ensuring peace of mind for customers.

    Vanco International LLC, an AV industry leader in audio, distribution and electronic accessory products, today announced the launch of the LSKIT-BSC Beale Street Audio Outdoor Speaker Kit. Suitable for both commercial and residential applications, the LSKIT-BSC can be used for applications ranging from al fresco dining areas and beer gardens to patios and pool decks.

    Speaker Kit Components
    LSKIT-BSC includes four WP4V-BSC 4-inch on-wall/pendant speakers, four WPV-LAND speaker mounting kits, and one LS10-BSC 10-inch downfiring subwoofer. This speaker bundle delivers rich, even coverage for areas up to 900 square feet.  The Beale Street Outdoor Speaker Kit can also be easily extended with additional speakers from the Beale Street Audio outdoor line, allowing integrators to cover a wider area or scale the system over time.

    The Beale Street Difference
    Beale Street Audio is engineered for reliability, performance and value.

    “Each element of the Beale Street Outdoor Speaker Kit is designed to deliver incredible sound for the client and exceptional ease for the integrator,” said Tom Oliver, Director of Commercial AV for Vanco. “We created the most flexible products possible so that integrators can confidently spec them for any project.”

    Beale Street 4-inch on-wall/pendant speakers are true two-way speakers, with both a woofer and tweeter, delivering excellent clarity and frequency response relative to their size.  The WPV-LAND speaker mounting kit enables integrators to mount these speakers anywhere, including staking speakers in the turf, mounting them on a concrete deck or brick wall, or suspending them from a covered porch ceiling.

    The LS10-BSC 10-inch landscape subwoofer provides powerful bass in a practical form factor. Unlike typical landscape subwoofers that must be buried, the LS10-BSC can be quickly and easily installed without damage to the landscape. This downfiring subwoofer works equally well on a turf, deck or patio surface.

    All Beale Street Outdoor components are built for year-round outdoor use. The on-wall/pendant speakers have an IP66 rating, and the subwoofer has an IP65 rating. Like all Beale Street speakers, Vanco backs the Beale Street Audio outdoor line with a lifetime warranty.

    “We wanted to create a simple solution that addresses a wide variety of outdoor applications,” said White. “With this kit, Beale Street beats the competition on performance, value, flexibility and simplicity.”

     

  • Making a Splash in Spain: LEA Professional Showcases Latest Technology at ISE 2024

    Making a Splash in Spain: LEA Professional Showcases Latest Technology at ISE 2024

    LEA Professional was founded in 2019 to provide dealer/integrators in the professional AV market with the highest-performing, best-connected amplifier technology, led by industry veterans.

    LEA Professional will return to Spain in 2024 to showcase its smart power, digital signal processing, and IT integration capabilities at Integrated Systems Europe.

    The company will showcase LEA Cloud, WebUI, and SharkWare platforms at booth #7A900. They will also introduce six new Connect Series half-rack models, ranging from 30W to 120W per channel, and the updated LEA Cloud, featuring OTA firmware updates, a new Cloud Dashboard View, and Event and Fault Notifications. The company aims to make customers’ lives easier.

    LEA Professional, a leading manufacturer of innovative, high-quality pro audio amplifiers with cloud- and IoT-based technologies today announces its return to Spain in 2024 to showcase its expansive range of smart power, advanced digital signal processing and intelligible IT integration capabilities at Integrated Systems Europe from January 30 through February 2 at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via venue in Barcelona.

    ISE 2024 attendees will have the opportunity to experience the newest innovations from LEA Professional at booth #7A900, where the team will conduct interactive demonstrations of LEA Cloud, WebUI, and SharkWare platforms. LEA Professional is also launching six new Connect Series half-rack models ranging from 30W to 120W per channel, harnessing all the flexibility of LEA Professional technology, only in a smaller form factor. An updated LEA Cloud will also be premiering in Barcelona with enhanced capabilities, including Over-the-Air (OTA) firmware updates, new Cloud Dashboard View, and Event and Fault Notifications via text or email alerts.

    Members of the LEA Professional team will be on the show floor ready to answer any questions including President and CEO, Blake Augsburger, VP of Marketing, Brian Pickowitz, VP of Sales, Scott Robbins, Director of Business Development, Darrell Champagne, Applications Engineering & Consultant Relations Manager, Nick Mourn, and Marketing Manager, Jeremy Smith.

    “The LEA team is constantly thinking about what’s next,” said Augsburger. “We are looking forward to premiering the all-new Connect Series half-rack amplifiers and the exciting updates we’ve made to the LEA Cloud in Barcelona. Our goal is to never stop making our customers’ lives easier, and these new products and software updates do just that. The year ahead promises to be even more exciting, and we encourage ISE attendees to stop by our booth to learn more.”

     

  • Origin Acoustics Expands and Upgrades Luxury Ambisonic Bollard Landscape Speaker Series

    Origin Acoustics Expands and Upgrades Luxury Ambisonic Bollard Landscape Speaker Series

    Origin Acoustics, a company in home entertainment, has changed the industry with innovations such as in-wall speakers and toolless speaker systems, currently emphasizing Design Centric Technology solutions.

    Origin Acoustics has expanded its high-performance Ambisonic™ Bollard landscape speaker series, featuring ribbon tweeter technology, expanding sizes, and a hexagonal design. These speakers offer a solution for producing bass from individual outdoor speakers in an attractive aesthetic.

    Addressing the challenge of bass production in individual outdoor speakers with an appealing aesthetic, these upgraded speakers are now available in three sizes—Bollard 106, Bollard 85, and Bollard 64. The series includes adjustable impedance settings, compatibility with 70v/100v systems, and features a contemporary hexagonal aluminum sleeve in three colors. Designed for optimal audio performance, these speakers are well-suited for various outdoor settings.

    Origin Acoustics, the leading manufacturer of architectural audio and electronic solutions, is pleased to announce the expansion and acoustic technology upgrades of its high performance Ambisonic™ Bollard landscape speaker solutions. The speakers will feature Ambisonic ribbon tweeter technology, expand from two to three sizes of speakers to complete the series, and introduce a new hexagonal design to complement any residential or commercial outdoor space. The Ambisonic Systems Bollard landscape speakers are a solution to the challenge of producing bass from individual outdoor speakers in an attractive design aesthetic that could withstand the elements.

    All Ambisonic Bollard landscape speakers will now feature high-performance Ambisonic round planar magnetic ribbon tweeter technology for superior high frequency reproduction and clarity with lower distortion at higher power levels.

    As the curator of Design Centric Technology, Origin Acoustics is expanding its Ambisonic Bollard landscape series by adding a medium-sized solution to complete the series for a total of three sizes—Bollard 106 (large), Bollard 85 (medium), and Bollard 64 (small)—for powerful performances in any residential or commercial outdoor application.

    The new Ambisonic Bollard 85 landscape speaker features an easy-to-bury 8” integrated subwoofer, and a 5 ¼” down-firing driver that disperses 360° sound patterns, and a 22” structure that extends out of the ground. The sub is ported out of the same opening as the mid/tweeter for cohesive sound.

    Each Ambisonic Bollard speaker has an adjustable impedance setting for 8Ω, along with 70v/100v. This allows for installation flexibility with nearly 200-800W of peak power handling, depending on the model, and the ability to play from 32Hz to 20kHz. Larger transformers/tap settings on the subwoofer deliver clean and deep bass at louder volumes.

    Additionally, a modern new hexagonal aluminum speaker sleeve will eventually replace the existing round and square options in the series. Bollard speaker sleeves are designed to withstand harsh outdoor elements, including moisture, heat, and the sun while maintaining the aluminum’s natural beauty. The sleeve styles are available in three colors to complement any outdoor environment—Midnight Black, Stargazing Silver, and Champaign—and are backed by a five-year warranty.

    The Origin Acoustic Ambisonic Bollard Landscape Speaker series will be available in Q2 of 2024.

  • HOLOPLOT X1 makes musical theater debut for Atlantic Theatre Company’s Buena Vista Social Club

    HOLOPLOT X1 makes musical theater debut for Atlantic Theatre Company’s Buena Vista Social Club

    A combination of HOLOPLOT’s unique sound control capabilities and creative sound design by Jonathan Deans let the vocals shine for this brand new off-Broadway production. Based on the true story of the legendary Cuban ensemble, Buena Vista Social Club (BVSC) brings the iconic 1966 Grammy-winning album, rich with pulsating Afro-Cuban music, to the Atlantic Theater Company. Produced by Cuban American playwright Marco Ramirez, the show debuted mid-December at the Linda Gross Theater and has received rave reviews in publications from the New York Times to Rolling Stone Magazine. Highly acclaimed sound designer, Jonathan Deans, known for work on Broadway hits and Cirque du Soleil productions, collaborated with music supervisor Dean Sharenow and director Saheem Ali to create an unforgettable auditory experience, with global technology provider PRG furnishing a comprehensive audio and lighting solution for the production, including the first HOLOPOT X1 system to grace a musical theater production.

    Deans recalls Sharenow reaching out about the project, piquing his interest because of his familiarity with the Buena Vista Social Club album. Working with a new team and venue, Deans aim was to gain both a deep understanding and respect of the music’s origins, blending this with his expertise in theater sound design to create a cohesive audio experience.

    “My role is to take the musical ideas, performance ideas, and actors, and put it into some kind of shape and structure for the audience to respond to,” Deans says. “I specify the equipment, make it work for the production, and work with everyone involved.

    The Atlantic Theater is a converted church, with architecture that poses acoustic challenges. “The theater itself has undergone significant modifications to become a delightful space for any show,” continues Deans. “However, accommodating live percussion instruments on stage, including congas, bongos, and timbales, sometimes just six feet away from the audience, means it inevitably gets loud. The one thing that I was very concerned about was the vocal presence of the actors.”

    Deans needed precise audio control over the seating area, with vocal clarity amid live percussion being his main priority, which is why he specified HOLOPLOT. “I’d been watching, learning, and going to the demos from HOLOPLOT for some time and arranged for us to see if they could shape and create localization that was available within the coverage of the whole seating area.”

    Utilizing their proprietary 3D Audio-Beamforming and Wave Field Synthesis technology, X1 allows for the creation of precise coverage zones for the audience as well as sound localization in 3D space. The combination of this proved essential for managing vocal presence in a tight and potentially loud space without overwhelming the audience and led to Jonathan Deans using the small X1 deployment in a unique, creative and impactful way.

    “HOLOPLOT has a different approach to line array and point source speaker coverage that’s very successful for treating our vocals in this very tight space and, potentially, very loud situation, ” Deans notes. “Our audience is a full demographic, so we can’t just turn it up; We wanted to make sure that we had the best coverage and the highest level of control. So, I reached out to Holoplot to see if they could make their system work in a theater environment.”

    HOLOPLOT technology allows the user to optimize the sound within a room so intelligibility is increased without needing to increase the volume, making for a comfortable listening experience that allows for all elements of the show to be audible.

    Reese Kirsh, Segment Manager of Performing Arts and Live at HOLOPLOT, explains the system setup: “A single central mono cluster of three X1 modules is configured horizontally, and exclusively designated for vocal reinforcement. Jonathan opted to trial HOLOPLOT in this way due to the theater’s compact size and the steeply raked seating, employing HOLOPLOT 3D Audio-Beamforming to minimize space requirements. Three beams are formed from the cluster – One Optimized Coverage Beam covers the entire audience area, while two further beams function as Virtual Sources placed behind and alongside the array, delivering stereo ensemble vocals. This approach produces subtle yet impactful results. The system design creates space within the mix, letting the vocals shine within a complex musical arrangement. It’s a unique concept for a traditional mono cluster and something no other system could achieve.”

    Deans acknowledges PRG’s pivotal role, ensuring the availability and suitability of equipment within budgets and timelines. “PRG not only supplied all requested equipment but also provided essential support. They always adapt to the needs of the built environment, supporting designers, crews, assistants, and the intricate process of assembling a show.”

    “We were so excited to work with Jonathan Deans and the team from the Atlantic Theater Company to bring the first theatrical application of Holoplot to life,” said Alex Donnelly, VP and General Manager, Theatre at PRG.  “In the last 18 months, PRG has redoubled its commitment to the audio segment of the business with sustained investments across facility, equipment, and of course our people. This collaboration exemplifies our steadfast commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the theatre and actively contributing to the realization of our designers’ ambitious visions.”

    Timothy Jarrell, A1 production mix engineer and in charge of mixing each performance was pleased with the system. “X1 allows us to get multiple audio fields to the audience so we can provide a lot more clarity. Matched with the microphones that are right at the actor’s mouths, it provides separation from the instruments, which are right behind them,” he explains. “HOLOPLOT’s technology is an interesting concept and very cool. It was great to work with their engineers to get insight into both the software and hardware. It keeps our audio pattern tight in the room, not bouncing off the walls and we’re able to control the image to cover the seating area and get separation so that we’re not having to deal with reflections.”

    “Working with Jonathan Deans and PRG on this project was exceptional. The show has achieved precisely what it was intended to from a HOLOPLOT standpoint,” Kirsh concludes. “What Jonathan has created with X1 for vocal reinforcement is truly remarkable. The organizers, production crew, and PRG team have all worked together to deliver an amazing show. We’re thrilled to have introduced HOLOPLOT to musical theater for the very first time. It has demonstrated our value and our pioneering technology to the performing arts sector.”

    Buena Vista Social Club has already been extended and is playing at The Atlantic Theater through January 28, 2024.

  • The Sonic Alchemy Behind HARMAN’s JBL Speakers – A Musical Journey through Cutting-Edge Sound Engineering

    The Sonic Alchemy Behind HARMAN’s JBL Speakers – A Musical Journey through Cutting-Edge Sound Engineering

    HARMAN’s Global Center of Acoustic Excellence in Northridge, California, is where some of the finest audio engineers and product managers in the world conduct research, development, and design for future JBL speakers. In the dozens of labs and listening rooms throughout the campus, voicing, and tuning techniques are used to create the perfect audio experience for our customers.

    What music do we use at HARMAN to tune or demonstrate loudspeakers and headphones? We had our engineer and product teams from HARMAN Luxury Audio and HARMAN Professional share with us a few of their audiophile test tracks. We’ve compiled some of them for you.

    Products tested with these tracks include Luxury Audio’s JBL 4349, 4329P, L82, L52, and our legendary L100 Classic loudspeakers. Our Professional Solutions group has used some of these tracks to test and demo our large format JBL SRX900 and JBL VTX A-Series line array systems that are sound-supporting live concerts around the world, in addition to our JBL Professional 700- and 300-Series studio monitors found in recording studios. If you’re not listening to the tracks on these products, you might on the JBL Tour Pro M2 or Mark Levinson No. 5909 headphones, which were also developed with cuts from this playlist.

    While different genres and styles, what all these tracks have in common is that their foundational recording techniques and playback quality contain, among many things, a wide and dense spectrum that makes it possible to hear any resonances, bandwidth limitations, spectral imbalances in the device. This allows the listener to appreciate nuances of our loudspeakers and headphones best.

    If you’re interested in why Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car made this playlist and has been a staple in testing speakers for 35 years, HARMAN’S Senior Fellow and Past President of the Audio Engineering Society, Dr. Sean Olive explains in this SoundStage! Access article.

    Brand Products Title Artist
    JBL 4349
    Rise Dominique Fils-Aimé
    Trouble’s What You’re In Fink (live version)
    Babe I’m Gonna Leave You Led Zeppelin
    Saeed (Paranormal Attack & Skazi remix)  

    Infected Mushroom
    JBL L100 Classic/ L82, L52 Title Artist
    Mariage D’amour Jonas Kvarnström
    Billie Bossa Nova Billie Eilish
    Thanks to You Boz Scaggs
    My Bass Brian Bromberg
    More of Just the Same Infected Mushroom
    JBL 700/300 Studio Monitors Title Artist
    Human Nature Michael Jackson
    Like A Stone Audioslave[MT3] [DG4]
    Oh, Please We Are King
    Light Em Up James Taylor
    Welcome to Jurassic Park John Willams
    JBL Loudspeaker and headphones Title Artist
    Don’t Believe in Love Dido
    The Firebird (L’oiseau de feu) Stravinsky, Mariinky Orchestra
    Roxbury Park Ola Gjeilo
    Magnetic Lies Malia, Boris Blank
    Fast Car Tracy Chapman
    JBL Line Arrays Title Artist
    Roadhouses & Automobiles Chris Jones
    Saint James Infirmary Blues Jon Batiste
    Tin Pan Alley (AKA Roughest Place in Town) Stevie Ray Vaughan
    Grace’s Amazing Hands Dave Barnes
    When I’m Gone Bernard Allison
    Money Pink Floyd
    Los Rammstein
    Trance Party Infected Mushroom
    Fragments of Time Daft Punk, Todd Edwards
    JBL 4329P Title Artist
    Honey Party Madeleine Peyroux
    Yesterday When I was Young Willy Nelson
    Concerto for 2 chellos in G Minor, RV 531 I. Allegro, Vivaldi Pulcinella Orchestra
    Steer Your Way Leonard Cohen
    Balcoon Bachar Mar-Khalife
    Chicken Teriyaki Rosalia
    Heartaches Dexter Gordon

     

  • LEA Professional Connect Series Amplifiers Elevate Guest Experiences at the Luxurious W Hoboken Hotel

    LEA Professional Connect Series Amplifiers Elevate Guest Experiences at the Luxurious W Hoboken Hotel

    Perched on the Hoboken, New Jersey waterfront, the W Hotel offers stunning views of the New York City skyline across the Hudson River. The pet-friendly hotel is steps away from the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) and New York Waterway Ferry, enabling easy access to Manhattan. Built in the early 2000s, W Hoboken is an architectural gem with modern styling and many unique design features, like the extremely high ceilings in the colorfully lit lobby. Unfortunately, the original sound system was beginning to show its age and started to experience failures, so the hotel turned to LEA Professional to rectify the problem.

    Hotel staff contracted Ron Lorman of Busy Puppy Productions, as audio consultant, to design a robust audio distribution system for the hotel’s common areas and meeting rooms. Lorman specified LEA Professional amplifiers based on a recommendation from Doug Asher of Essential Communications. To minimize disruptions to guests and staff, the existing loudspeakers would remain in place for the foreseeable future.

    “We discovered the existing loudspeakers were low impedance speakers; some were wired in series and other sets in series-parallel,” said Asher. “They were running at less than two ohms because they had so many eight ohms speakers on a line. That can tax normal amplifiers quite a bit, leading to burnout. Lorman re-designed the wiring schemes to achieve more balanced operational loads. We felt that the LEA amplifiers were the best solution because we knew they could handle a two-ohm load and operated at very reasonable temperatures. Add in all the other advanced features like the web interface, ease of setup, and control of the amplifiers, and it was a no-brainer.”

    Asher’s team decided to use an LEA Connect Series 704D to power the loudspeakers in the Ballroom. The 704 is a Dante-enabled 4-channel amplifier with 700 watts per channel, perfectly suited for small to medium-scale installations. The 704 supports high-Z (70V or 100V) and low-Z selectable by channel, giving the hotel excess capabilities for possible future expansion.

    For the meeting rooms and remaining common areas and hallways, several LEA Connect Series 168D amplifiers were installed to run the remaining speaker lines. The larger ballroom is divisible, so care had to be taken to set the zones up properly, given the possible various room combinations. The 168D is a Dante-enabled 8-channel amplifier offering 160 watts per channel, which was an excellent fit for the common areas, hallways, and meeting rooms. Like the 704D, the 168D also supports high-Z (70V or 100V) and low-Z selectable by channel.

    While all the loudspeaker processing happens in the LEA amplifiers via the built-in DSP, hotel staff wanted complete control of background audio throughout the building. Essential Communications deployed a Symetrix DSP in the rack room to control the system. Control pages were created in the Symetrix software that could be accessed via a web browser. Hotel management was provided with two iPads — one for the common areas and the other for the meeting rooms — that allow staff to manage all the zones, select the music, and control volume levels.

    The hotel staff was so happy with the upgrade that Lorman and Essential Communications were commissioned to retrofit the restaurant as well, again with LEA amplification. Additionally, plans are being implemented to upgrade the audio systems in the former nightclub, which is now the hotel’s premier event space with Manhattan skyline views, using LEA Professional amplifiers.

    “Commissioning the LEA amplifiers was flawless,” said Asher. “We test everything in our shop before it gets to a client site. All we did on-site was make sure we connected the more than 60 speaker runs to the right amplifiers. Everything worked when we turned on the system and started walking around the hotel, checking all the controls and the zones. Everything came up the first time; the music was playing, and it was playing in the correct zones. Everyone was really pleased about the transition from the old to the new system and how smoothly it went.”

  • BYU’s New School of Music Building Doubles the Immersive Sound Experience with Two L-ISA Systems

    BYU’s New School of Music Building Doubles the Immersive Sound Experience with Two L-ISA Systems

    Construction of Brigham Young University’s new School of Music Building took two years to complete, and it was worth the wait. The 170,000-square-foot center was built to house BYU School of Music’s performance and academic spaces and relieve some of the burden on the university’s Harris Fine Arts Center, which hosted over 500 performances a year before its demolition this past March, paving the way for a new Arts Building to be completed on the same site in 2025.

    The new Music Building has four levels and features several mid-sized spaces for rehearsals and recitals, including practice rooms on the upper floor. The cornerstone of the facility is a 1,000-seat Concert Hall built in the vineyard style in which the performance space takes center stage, with tiers of audience seating rising above them.

    Helping to put this new center, which is part of BYU’s College of Fine Arts and Communications, at the cutting edge of music performance is the inclusion of two L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive sound systems: one in the Recital Hall performance space and the other in a teaching space, The Box, both installed by Salt Lake City-based Poll Sound Integration, who also installed an L-Acoustics Kiva II system into the building’s new Concert Hall. The ability to move between teaching and performance spaces and remain in a fully immersive environment sets a new benchmark for immersive audio in education.

    Both the Recital Hall and The Box are fitted with L-ISA immersive audio technology. The Box was initially envisioned as an opera rehearsal room, but including L-ISA has allowed it become a much more versatile performance space, now used for classes, rehearsals, and immersive audio composition groups. Kevin Anthony, assistant professor in the composition department and an electronic music composer, says the decision to outfit both spaces with immersive audio emerged from discussions amongst the AV team and faculty members who saw that L-ISA technology could greatly increase the flexibility of those spaces.

    “It was exactly what we need for much of the electronic music that our students produce,” he says. “And we also want to be able to host electronic music conferences here, so having L-ISA immersive sound was precisely what we required.” Asked if immersive audio had made inroads into academic settings yet, as it has in cinema and other sectors, Anthony replied that this was the first such installation he’d seen. “It’s a dream setup to have,” he says.

    That “dream setup” in the Recital Hall consists of five A10i Focus and ten A10i Wide loudspeakers plus six KS21 subs, eight coaxial X8, and 15 ultra-shallow Soka colinear enclosures, collectively driven by a combination of LA12X and LA4X amplified controllers and an L-ISA Processor. In The Box, the immersive speaker array comprises five Syva colinear loudspeakers, two KS21 subs, and 21 X8, all controlled by an L-ISA Processor and powered by LA4X amplified controllers. Equally nice is the new Concert Hall’s sound system, with its 24 flown Kiva II speakers buttressed by five A10i Focus, five A10i Wide, and six SB15m subs, all driven by LA12X amps and a P1 processor. In addition, four rehearsal rooms each utilize two self-powered 108P and a pair of SB15P subs; a dozen classrooms all feature two 108P; and a portable PA system comprising a combination of X8, X12, and KS21, powered via LA12X and LA4X, is ready for deployment as needed.

    BYU Director of Audio Visual Services Brad Streeter, who designed all of the new facility’s sound systems in concert with L-Acoustics technicians and Poll Sound AV System Designer/Project Engineers Neil Yates and Bryce Stettler, and PM Dan Salmond, noted that research around immersive sound for the new facility extended beyond the new music facility.

    “We were doing AV design work for two buildings concurrently: the Music Building, which was begun and completed first, and a new Arts Building currently under construction. We were also researching immersive systems for the Arts Building, experiencing different manufacturers’ demos at trade shows,” he explains. “We had evaluated several of the products, and we all felt the L-Acoustics L-ISA technology was the best fit for the proscenium theater in the new Arts Building, and the research showed it was also relevant to the spaces in the Music Building.”

    Reaction to the new immersive audio capabilities in the facility has been highly positive. Anthony says they’ve been used for applications ranging from teaching to composition to performance, all while introducing students to the concept of immersive audio. “One of our grad students, Jinxin Fu, is composing a piece specifically to be performed using L-ISA, and several other music students are taking advantage of its real-time spatialization capabilities in an upcoming concert,” he says. “Composition faculty member Steve Ricks just staged a large-scale opera performance in The Box where I designed a ‘weather’ system with sounds of trees and other natural effects that were spatialized throughout the space. It was cool to see that space and the sound system used to its full measure.”

    BYU is far from finished with L-Acoustics technology. Bryce Stettler, in charge of commercial sales at Poll Sound, noted that the company is gearing up to install a new K2 system in the Marriott Center, the multipurpose arena on the university’s Provo campus that is home to BYU Cougars men’s and women’s basketball teams. With seating for nearly 18,000 people, it is the largest venue in the entire Big 12 Conference and among the largest on-campus basketball arenas in the nation. “We look forward to doing it again when we finish the new K2 system with all of the required rigging and support gear in the Marriott Center, as well as for the upcoming new Arts Building on the campus when it’s finished,” he says. “L-Acoustics has technology and systems for each school’s needs.”

    In the meantime, BYU’s music faculty is still finding new ways to apply the L-ISA immersive technology to their work. They anticipate making it part of the learning and performance experience in the new facility. “I think as far as these systems are concerned, they’re new to us and a new technology for campus,” says Anthony. “But we’re looking forward to doing a lot of experimentation and seeing where it’ll be most useful, and that’s tremendously exciting.”