Two of the MACC's premier venues, the 1,200-seat Harold K.L. Castle Theater and the 250-seat McCoy Studio Theater, have just been given major audio upgrades with the installation of new self-powered Meyer Sound systems. The Castle Theater's new MICA compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers, 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofers, UPJ-1P compact VariO, UPA-2P compact narrow coverage, M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array, and CQ-1 wide coverage main loudspeakers, are put to use with the aid of Meyer Sound's RMS remote monitoring system and a SIM 3 audio analyzer.
The system was installed by Docktrdave Audio, specialists in theatre sound system retrofits. Company president Dave Lawler and his partners, Craig Doubet and Eric Laliberte, saw the opportunity to make a big difference for the MACC. "As the designer/installer, you're in the spotlight when you're retrofitting a venue with a new sound system," says Lawler. "We use Meyer Sound speakers because they allow us to live up to the high expectations that come with these projects. I think their loudspeakers are the best quality out there, but the biggest benefit of the Meyer products is predictability. With their self-powered architecture, MAPP prediction software, and the myriad of available rigging hardware, you get great tools to deliver what you've predicted to the client."
Lawler says that Meyer Sound's MAPP Online Pro acoustical prediction program played a key role in the systems' design. "MAPP is a fantastic prediction tool," he says. "Anybody can make a prediction program, but MAPP predictions exactly match the measured reality. It's very handy not just for laying out the system, but for client presentations, since it enables them to see what the system's going to do before it goes into the venue."
Having confidence the new systems would be adequate for the task was certainly foremost in the minds of those at MACC. "The Maui Arts & Cultural Center is without question the premier performing arts complex in the state of Hawaii, and possibly the entire Pacific Rim region," explains Rusty Conway, technical director of MACC. "Because of our location, our mission, and our number of venues, the variety of entertainment spans a very wide spectrum. Not only do we want to provide quality audio reinforcement, it's expected."
The Castle Theater hosts everything from major music tours to a culturally diverse and technically demanding concert series, and so it required components that would push the envelope both acoustically and aesthetically. Two 10-cabinet MICA arrays offered the necessary power-to-size ratio and profile, given each unit's peak output of 138 db SPL.
"The size of MICA is perfect for the room, providing full coverage with a smaller amount of weight," says Lawler. "There were issues with hanging speakers from the upper grid, and you don't need something too big in a room that is that small, relatively speaking. We complemented the MICA arrays with four 700-HP subwoofers in the grid, plus six M1D cabinets on the stage lip for frontfill and two UPJ-1P units on the proscenium walls to cover the area between the line arrays and frontfill. The separate center cluster system is made up of five CQ-1 and two UPA-2P loudspeakers."
The system can be easily removed from the venue for use at outdoor events, thus saving MACC the cost of renting a sound system for such occasions. "The assortment of Meyer UPA, UPJ, and M1D self-powered loudspeakers give us the flexibility to quickly throw the right tool at jobs that require portability," says Conway. "Obviously, not having to deal with amp racks is a huge bonus. For most of these applications, the UPJs are great: To be able to turn the horns and have them become wedges, or put them on sticks makes them really versatile."
A 'black-box' facility that hosts small-scale theat
