The upgrading of the conventional sound system was greatly driven by the demands of visiting performers. The theatre found itself having to rent systems for more demanding performers that were visiting, and found it hard to control the coverage and SPL from one performance to the next (often from a single piano concert to a full blown rock show), and frequently working with an unfamiliar system that wasn't ideal for the space.
The theatre's technical team started to assess their choices and thorough shootouts were arranged to determine the right system. In the end Adamson's SpekTrix Line was chosen.According to Ed Billeaud, the consulting and visiting sound engineer for the Vilar Center: "The Adamson System was clearly superior in the upper half of the frequency spectrum and demonstrated much better sub-woofer cohesiveness. It also showed much more accuracy in terms of overall tonal balance; it was more consistent front to back both in terms of tone and volume. The better sensitivity spec of the Adamson system became apparent as they required about 6 % less input from the mixing console for equal output, which will translate into cleaner sounding mixes in actual use."
The system was specked for the Vilar Center by Adamson's Adam MacGillivray and THD Production's Todd Howe. THD Productions also specked another company's product that was dismissed earlier on. The system installed featured six SpekTrix 5 degree boxes flown from dead hang fly points through the proscenium, on stage left and right, covering the floor and a single balcony. Two SpekTrix Wave 15 degree boxes were added to the bottom of each array for effective down fill. Four SpekTrix subs were flown on separate hangs on the outside of the main arrays to retain the appropriate length, ideal coverage, and to achieve the correct height for the output of the subs. The original plan for the subs was to place them on risers in the pit, but the plan was changed when the low frequencies seemed to get "trapped" in the pit area. All the speakers were powered with Lab.gruppen fp3400 & 6400 Amplifiers, and Adamson's own A.I.D. distribution breakouts, AC panels and XTA processing.
(Chris Henry)
