Cape Dixson Associates (CDAI), an Atlanta-based AV and acoustical consulting firm, chose Bose Professional Panaray MA12 modular line array loudspeakers in a recent upgrade to the audio capabilities at the 400-seat Woodruff Auditorium at the Atlanta History Center, which strives to preserve the legacy of the U.S. south’s largest city and its surrounding region.
CDAI, which has worked with the center on its audio and acoustical needs for 25 years, helped upgrade the acoustics of the 1960s-vintage space when the auditorium was renovated in 2001; however, that renovation budget did not include upgrading sound reinforcement capabilities, leaving the venue dependent on the original audio system.
The new system, installed by local firm Sound Design & Innovation, incorporates two stacks of three Panaray MA12 modular line array loudspeakers, wall mounted at each side of the stage, with two MB12 modular subwoofers soffited under the front of the stage. The loudspeakers are powered by a single Bose PowerMatch PM8500 8-channel amplifier.
Rogers Dixson, president of CDAI, states, “The Bose system not only meets the key requirements to provide clear, highly intelligible and even sound coverage throughout the auditorium seating area, but it does so with a narrow, low-profile design that fits in discreetly with the auditorium’s architecture.
“One of the key things for this project was the need to have excellent coverage of the entire seating area and full control of the sound system’s dispersion pattern,” he continues. “In a typical auditorium of this type we would have specified an LCR cluster to achieve desired coverage, but the architectural design of the space and its low ceiling prevented that approach. In addition, the Bose system provides surprisingly consistent coverage even in the front rows. Fill speakers would likely have been needed with a more traditional speaker cluster design.”
Jackson McQuigg, vice president of facilities at the Atlanta History Center, adds, “The Bose speakers more than met our expectations and we are thrilled with the result.”