UK - Part of the Merlin family who operate predominantly in the South-West, the 500-capacity Regal Theatre in Redruth occupies a 1930s art deco building, doubling between cinema and live events.
Local contractors, TruCru, were brought in recently to overhaul the theatre PA, replacing an archaic system with a Martin Audio FlexPoint solution. As a community facility, the new PA needed to demonstrate the versatility to cater for a wide variety of shows – ranging from am dram, touring tribute acts, operatic societies and nationally recognised stand-up comedians, with a high SPL. Most importantly, it needed to banish the pre-existing hotspotting that was evident in a challenging building with a balcony tier and an acoustically difficult ‘stepped’ ceiling above.
While TruCru have had widespread experience specifying the manufacturer’s popular CDD series, in this instance both project manager Toby Bodman, and Ben Tucker, from Martin Audio’s Product Support Group, agreed that the shorter throw of the FlexPoint point source speaker would provide a more appropriate solution, with output and dispersion better suited to the room and the balcony rake.
Assessing the pre-existing system, Bodman noted: “Certain bits didn’t quite work or had been cobbled together to make it work. Because of these issues the coverage had been very spotty. The client therefore wanted not only the best system to cater to the entire space, but one that would provide as even a coverage as possible.”
Any doubts that FlexPoint would be able to throw to the very back of the steeply raked Circle and under-balcony were immediately allayed at the demo stage. “Any scepticism disappeared immediately, and even I was a little surprised just how far back it threw and was generally blown away with its overall performance. In fact, the overriding comment from those who have heard the system was the extent to which the sound has improved. My one concern was a very fast reflection at the back of the under-balcony, but such is the efficiency of the system that you really don’t notice it at all.”
So how was this solution achieved? With two left/right FP12 mounted high on the proscenium for circle coverage, and a further pair underneath for the majority of Stalls coverage. Two smaller FP8 then take over from the middle of the stalls, while four compact FP4 are positioned along the front lip of the stage, to cover the pit area and front rows of the stalls. An exposed stacked pair of SX215 subwoofers on each side of the stage occupy the positions of the previous subs, and finally six Blackline X15B have been provided for stage monitoring.
TruCru worked around existing rigging points and ran new speaker cable, although the signal remains in the analogue domain. A pair of dedicated DX4.0 system controllers store the DSP.
Summing up the impact of FlexPoint, Toby Bodman said TruCru had immediately put their money where their mouth is, placing a further order for their hire stock. “Aside from the punch that’s packed in such a small profile, it is also so lightweight. For example, the 12in box is lighter than some other smaller 10in boxes we have in our hire stock. It’s just a fantastic sounding box delivering so much SPL from such a compact form factor – and the venue’s tech team fully agree.”
