Alcons hits the high notes in The Joan
- Details
Opened in 1990, the venue has numerous performance spaces, and hosts a busy schedule of theatrical, musical and visual arts.
In mid-2019, production & technical manager Geoff Turner and head of audio Tim Anikin started looking for replacement for the old point source sound system that had served the drama theatre (The Q Theatre) from the beginning, to overcome the sound issues inherent in the space.
The tender was won by Loud And Clear Sales, who in conjunction with Drew Bisset, designed and installed a system from Alcons Audio.
When the system was commissioned the difference was immediately noticeable. In fact, the team at The Joan only had a chance to utilise it for a few months before the pandemic closed the doors to all the worlds performance spaces.
Impressed by the new system in the Q Theatre, they looked to the same team to quote on an upgrade to the larger and more challenging space, the Richard Bonynge Concert Hall.
Designed, installed and commissioned again by Loud and Clear Sales and Drew Bisset, who again turned to Alcons Audio’s products for the solution.
The Q Theatre is multi-purpose room with a thrust stage and audience of 378 in a semi-circular amphitheatre configuration creates a challenge to amplify and distribute sound equally.
“Our experience with the LR7 micro line array from Alcons Audio sent us there immediately” says David Betterridge, Director at Loud And Clear Sales. “What we didn’t realise until we did the modelling, was just how perfect a solution it was for the space!”
“three arrays each of six boxes in 90° configuration gave us almost seamless coverage of every seat in the house, with the tiniest of overlaps occurring in the aisles. We could barely believe the data from the EaseFocus plot, but knowing the reliability of Alcons’ specs, we were very confident that if we could get the rigging points in the exact locations we needed, we could deliver.”
A pair of LR18B subs located behind the centre cluster provides deep sub extension for the system, which all runs from a single Sentinel10, 4 channel DSP amplified loudspeaker controller. All system processing is done within the Sentinel so no The external processor was needed.
Richard Bonynge Concert Hall system features left/right arrays of nine boxes each of LR14 ultra-compact line-array modules (90 ° format) and the deep sub extension is three BF362 in cardioid mode, flown in the centre. Four VR5 act as front-fill and two VR5 cover the side balconies upstairs. The system is powered by three Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controller running ALControl software, which allows easy programming for the various user applications required.
“The throw from the top of the arrays all the way to mix position, and the headroom of the system is exactly what we wanted,” noted head of audio Tim Anikin, “The intelligibility of the system makes it a dream to operate.”
