USA - Goldsboro, North Carolina, is home to the historic Paramount Theatre. Built in 1882 as an office building, its high Victorian Italianate style was noted for its ornamental features such as quoins, arched windows, and cornices. Over the years, the building has been used in many different ways – including a temporary synagogue, vaudeville theatre, and movie house.
In 1993, the renovated building was donated to the City of Goldsboro, and the city managed the theatre for the next 12 years. Early one morning in February 2005, a fire destroyed the Paramount Theatre. The loss of the theatre was personal to many members of the community. However, the theatre was rebuilt and officially reopened in February 2008. The Paramount Theatre’s auditorium has a capacity of 500, with seating for approximately 350 on the lower level and 150 in the balcony.
The theatre has a longstanding relationship with James Braddy, Owner of Javelin AV. So, when some of the existing AV systems started to fail, they contacted Braddy for a complete system redesign and upgrade.
“The theatre has a pretty extensive audio system,” said Braddy. “They have a main hang, upper balcony delays, lower balcony delays, and distributed audio throughout the building. They have a separate feed for the lobby and another for the rehearsal rooms and bathrooms so the paging system can page. Almost everything needed replacing.”
Javelin AV installed multiple Connect Series 352, Connect Series 354, Connect Series 704, and Connect Series 1504 amplifiers to power the immersive audio experience in the venue.
The CS352 powers one of the stage monitors, while the second channel is a spare. The CS354 powers the left, centre, and right lip-fills, plus one stage monitor. The CS704s power the main left, centre, and right loudspeakers, upper and lower balcony delay speakers, and two stage monitors. The CS1504 powers subwoofers on its first two channels. Utilising LEA’s Smart Power Bridge technology, each subwoofer is supplied with 2800W. The remaining channels power the 70V lobby, bathroom, and dressing room speakers, which are tied into the comms systems for paging.
“The Paramount Theatre is a historic landmark and cultural epicentre of Goldsboro, so we had to be sure that the sound system particulars were worked out in advance and could adequately serve the flexible use of this space,” noted Chip Cannon, technical director of Paramount Theatre. “The room tuning was easily handled by the LEA Connect Series’ onboard processing, which is readily accessible to those who need it via our integrated LAN. The state-of-the-art connectivity and pristine sound made these amplifiers a must-have for our theatre.”
Javelin AV utilised LEA’s free SharkWare software to configure a base profile and push it out to all the pre-staged LEA amplifiers.
Paramount Theatre has a full calendar of upcoming events, including comedians, storytelling, ballet, musicals, and movies.
“LEA amps just work,” said Braddy. “Connecting to SharkWare over Wi-Fi and setting up any device is great. Having the limiter calculator online, the presets, and responsive technical support - I’ve been really impressed with LEA across the board.”
