A Sound Design Tailored For Touring Professionals & Musicians Alike At The Jefferson Theater

Utilizing modeling to help with the predictive process, Stage Sound formulated flown main left and right arrays both made up of six GEO S1210 modules, with each array also incorporating a GEO S1230 specialized down fill module at the bottom.

“We wanted to use a line array system for rider acceptability, but the room is quite narrow and tall, and has two balconies – not the usual best case for a line array,” Henion says.

“This required a hybrid system using tangent arrays along with tiered delays for several zones. We never could have done this well with a conventional line array.

The NEXO Tangent Array technology allowed us to tailor the HF coverage differently from the MF coverage (to direct some HF off the balcony face) and use high-density fill speakers in selected zones, to achieve a high degree of uniformity throughout the listening area.”

He also cites the relatively high “Q” factor of these loudspeakers, which produces a uniform and fairly steep roll-off right outside of the coverage pattern – again, helping to keep energy from exciting the walls.

“The design of the hyperbolic waveguide on these boxes behaves in the best sense like a large-format horn, but without all the negatives” he notes, adding that the low-profile aesthetic of the arrays proved yet another plus.

How the venue looks from behind the Yamaha PM5D-RH house console.

Every Other Box
The arrays are driven with a NEXAMP integrated power amplifier and DSP package.

They’re biamplified, again in deference to rider friendly considerations, but Henion notes that he could have gone passive with much the same result.

“I liked this line array and electronics package so much that we’ve also added one to our rental division, and it runs in passive mode to rave reviews from most who use it,” he adds.

“But these days, virtually everyone who’s touring asks for a 3- or 4-way system, regardless of whether it’s needed or actually does a better job.”

Just two NEXAMP units are required to handle all 14 array boxes, and they do so very comfortably. “These are just monster amplifiers, delivering 16,000 watts – honest watts – at 2 ohms, and they’ll do 1 ohm all day as well,” Henion explains.

The reason for even using two units as opposed to one on this project is largely a matter of precautionary backup, as in the old adage, “the show must go on.”

More reinforcement from compact delay loudspeakers is supplied to the lounge area.

Each amplifier drives every other box of both left and right arrays, so if one of the units goes down, the other continues to drive half the system, both left and right, mids and highs.

“While it wouldn’t sound too hot, it would get the job done until a replacement could be swapped in, and no one would be asking for a ticket refund,” he says.

“One of the great developments in amplifiers is that it now takes far fewer units to drive a large-scale system, but the downside is if there’s a failure, it can take out a lot of the system.

In this system, one amp can easily drive the entire thing, but as a responsible system provider, I wanted to be sure it was backed up.”

Additional near fill is supplied by more AD S-282 loudspeakers, one per side on the stage and positioned on portable stands fabricated by Stage Sound to allow them to be moved around to suit the needs of each act.

“We thought about mounting these permanently, but frankly that’s just too limiting,” Henion notes.

“We wanted that ‘one perfect spot’ for them, but what’s perfect for one band is not so perfect for the next 100. With the stands, everyone gets to choose their favorite spot.” These are fed programming from a matrix on the house Yamaha PM5D-RH digital console.

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