Boulevard Pro Deploys L-Acoustics KUDO At New Jersey’s Renowned State Theatre

A new sound reinforcement system at the 1,800-seat State Theatre, a premier nonprofit venue for the performing arts and entertainment in New Brunswick, NJ, is headed by L-Acoustics KUDO line arrays, supplied and installed by Boulevard Pro, a leading NYC metro area audio systems provider.

The venue’s existing groundstacked PA had been in place for some time and simply become too outdated to handle the venue’s modern audio needs.

In response, the theater’s management team set out nearly two years ago to replace it, culling though several years’ worth of contract riders to determine which systems were most sought after by the wide range of touring artists that the theatre hosts, from Broadway shows to rock concerts.

It came down to three brands, each of which was brought into the theatre for three-to-four-day evaluations with scheduled shows. One of the choices was an L-Acoustics KUDO line array, which ultimately won the bid and prompted State Theatre interim president and CEO Warren R. Zimmerman to state, “This brand new system truly elevates our sound quality to a whole new level.”

The State Theatre – which was ranked by Pollstar as number 21 in “Top 100 Worldwide Theatres” based on tickets sold last year—joins a list of well-known venues across the country that have installed KUDO in recent years.

Boulevard Pro owners Anthony and James Cioffi, long-time L-Acoustics dealers, knew the theater intimately, having provided backline and other audio systems for shows there for years.

“KUDO was the perfect fit,” says James Cioffi. “Because of the interior dimensions, we had to hang the left-right arrays fairly close to the side walls. KUDO’s K-Louver”—a unique asymmetric waveguide technology from L-Acoustics—“enabled us to keep the energy off the walls and on the audience, avoiding unwanted reflections. The sound now is immaculate.

“In fact, what the KUDO system does in this venue is essentially make the room go away. It’s the first time I’ve really experienced anything like this. The theater’s acoustics are no longer a factor; you are just hearing the music straight through the PA system without any distortion from the acoustics. And the KUDO sounds fantastic with rock solid reliability.”

After extensive room measurement and modeling, done in conjunction with L-Acoustics applications engineer Chris “Sully” Sullivan, the Cioffis’ design called for 24 KUDO enclosures hung 12 per side for the main hangs. Six SB28 subwoofers are groundstacked three per side, but as James points out, “The KUDOs are operated with the 25 Hz preset, so sometimes they don’t even need to turn the subs on.”

One more feature of the KUDO system sealed it as the theatre’s choice. “We had a three-day window in which to install the system,” he recalls, “and the KUDO is the easiest system to hang. It went right in, a perfect fit physically as well as sonically. It was ready for the show scheduled on October 17, and the results have been spectacular.”

In addition to the KUDO and SB28 enclosures, four 8XT compact coaxial loudspeakers are used for front fills along with two ARCS Focus to cover the midrange; four more 8XT speakers are used for underbalcony fills; two more 8XT cover the VIP area; and two 5XT loudspeakers are used to fill in a small seating area on either side of the room. Sixteen self-powered 112P and two SB15P subs are also available for onstage use as monitors.

Ten LA8 amplified controllers power the main system and a pair of LA4X amplified controllers are used to power the underbalcony and VIP fills.

State Theatre vice president of operations and project manager Dave Hartkern concludes, “This upgrade offers sound production capabilities at the highest artistic level and will be of tremendous long-term benefit to the theater, its patrons, and the community. We wanted to provide a superior listening experience for our patrons and the L-Acoustics system delivers.”

Boulevard Pro
L-Acoustics

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