MIAMI, FLORIDA: Nowhere is the cultural diversity of Miami on better display than in the Manuel Artime Community Theater.
The city-owned facility, an historic building on the city's west side, that once served as a church, regularly hosts a far-flung array of concerts,
corporate events, plays and religious worship gatherings, all reflective of
the many cultures and interests represented in the sprawling city.
What all the facility's users have shared in recent years, however,
is a
hobbled, out-of-date, sound system. Earlier this year, however, a chorus of
complaints about inadequate sound turned into a chorus of cheers thanks to
a
new sound system installed by Miami-based AV systems integrator Pro Sound,
Inc.
The company, working with a Miami-based audio consulting company,
The Audio Bug, installed a sound system worthy of the building and its users, and one
capable of meeting the broad range of demands placed on it.
The old system had been in place for about 15 years, and half of the speaker drivers were either blown or couldn't produce full output," says
Pro Sound vice president Rick harmann. "Despite that, the facility has
had a
full schedule for many years to the point where it's booked seven days a
week. Yet the city was getting serious complaints from everyone who was
using it."
Playing a major role in helping the 1,000-seat community theater
turn the
corner on sound quality was a complement of loudspeakers from Sound Physics
Labs, Glenview, Illinois whose qualities have proven to be ideal for the
broad range of uses the facility needs to meet. To adequately address that
broad range of requirements, The Audio Bug specified and Pro Sound installed
SPL-td1 three-way speakers and SPL-td1 subwoofers.
Three full-range Sound Physics Labs td1 speakers are suspended
in a cluster
from the ceiling, while two td1 subwoofers hang below it. Rounding out the
loudspeaker mix are multiple balcony delays, as well as stage monitors.
Other sound equipment included QSC amplifiers, an Allen & Heath mixing
console, and Klark-Teknik processing.
"The SPL speakers worked especially well in this application,"
Scharmann
says. "The space needed a speaker with high sound pressure level output.
Miami is a diverse cultural area and the events that are held at the center
run the gamut from classical recitals to reggae to hip-hop, as well as clear
and clean voice intelligibility requirements for corporate and religious
productions. It's rare you can find a system capable of handling the
high-end, clearly defined sound for the classical ear, yet one that gives
the thump-thump needed for hip-hop. The consultant's choice of Sound Physics
Labs speakers was based on listening and careful evaluation."
A central cluster of td1s was the logical choice as a way to
cover a
facility with some challenging acoustical aspects, most notably high
ceilings. To ensure that the speaker system would work to its maximum
capability, Pro Sound installed acoustical panels over the stage area. "They
ended up with a false ceiling effect over the stage, which helps absorb some
of the energy," he says. "It's a pretty live room, but it proved
to be
decent to work with."
Although the speaker system had to meet a variety of needs,
sound pressure
levels were key. Scharmann says the td-1s needed to be capable of handling
the 130dB levels the system demanded for intelligibility and performance.
"The list of products that would have worked was narrow,"
he says. "The big
advantage the SPLs have is the sound pressure levels. Many typical trapezoid
speaker boxes wouldn't get near the level that was needed. It's a very
high-output box."
Legendary soundman Thomas Danley designed the SPL-td1 loudspeaker
using a
revolutionary technology that combines the outputs from multiple drivers to
drive a single horn. The configuration allows each driver to operate within
its own frequency range. Unlike other "nested" horn designs, the
SPL-td1's
technology results in a flat frequency response that is automatically
time/phase correct. The cabinet houses two 12-inch low-frequency drivers,
four 5 1/4-inch compression-loaded mid-frequency drivers, and a one-inch
high-frequency horn in a unique patented Unity Summation Aperture.
Several months after the project was completed, Scharmann says
the new system appears to have worked its magic. "There's new life for
the building now," he says. "The feedback I'm getting is that everybody
loves it. It's the difference between night and day."
