The Twofer Solution
The Pantages is somewhat tall and narrow, but at the time of the XLC system’s purchase no one was making compact line array elements with 90-degree horizontal coverage. At the State, meanwhile, two decades had passed since the venue’s reopening, and the aging (non-EV) sound system was in desperate need of replacement.
“We were already familiar with the great sound quality of EV products, and we’d had excellent support from EV over the years,” Olson says. “So we spoke with George Georgallis of EV technical support about our situation, and he came up with a great solution.”
Working with EV technical support, Mike Doucot of EV sales and Chris Vnak of local EV dealer Metro Sound and Lighting, the Historic Theatre Group purchased a brand-new system for the Pantages that is built around XLD291 line arrays, which offer 90-degree coverage.
At the same time the like-new XLC127DVX Pantages system, with its 120-degree horizontal coverage, was moved to the wider State, where it was paired with new TG series amplifiers and X-Line subwoofers.
“EV’s solution not only helped us achieve the price point we needed but also improved the sound quality at both venues,” Olson says. “The 90-degree box is better suited for the Pantages environment, and because it’s more compact it takes up less space next to the proscenium opening, so even the lighting techs are happy with the sound.
“How can you go wrong upgrading two venues at once when it seemed like upgrading even one was almost out of reach?”
Electro-Voice provided the Historic Theatre Group with a complete design for the Pantages Theatre that utilized existing amplifiers and subs.
“The design was very closely matched with what was already there,” Olson says. “We were coming into a very busy holiday season, so our time frame was really tight and ease of installation was paramount. But it ended up taking more time to get the speakers out of the packaging than to get the system operational.
“We literally flew the PA, wired it up with a few extra jumpers, installed a new program into our IRIS-Net system, and began to play music.”
The new Pantages system uses 32 of the XLD291s in L/R hangs of 16 each.
“We really like the pattern control,” Olson says. “And the size has definitely helped out, since we are so space-conscious in this theatre.” For under-balcony and front fill, the tool of choice was the Xi-1082 8-inch two-way full-range loudspeaker. “The size for front fill and under-balcony fill is excellent,” Olson says. “Output and coverage make this box a great choice for these areas. We wanted a speaker that had some punch, and this speaker does.”
The system’s subwoofers are XLC118 high-output single 18-inch elements that are installed four-per-side on the main floor just below the arrays.
“The XLC118s have a nice tight sound and carry throughout the venue very well,” Olson says. “We own eight additional subs for when the need arises, like during heavy bass shows, but the main XLC118s have done such a great job that so far we’ve only used the supplemental subs three times.”
The subs are powered by a set of four P3000RL 1800-W per channel remote control amplifiers, while the mains are powered by 16 P1200RL 850-W per channel remote control amplifiers. Another four P1200RLs are used to power the fills and the monitors. Filter and control functions are provided by a pair of Dx46 sound system processors.
“We are primarily using them for FIR filters,” Olson says, “but the system monitoring function through IRIS-Net is pretty slick as well. And the sound of these units is incredible.”
The biggest challenges Olson was anticipating at the Pantages were related to the balcony, both reflections from the front of it and coverage at the back of the main floor under it.
“The front of the balcony can certainly cause reflection problems if the PA is not aimed correctly,” he says. “But the EV design avoided balcony reflections and made sure that the overall SPL level of the PA would be consistent throughout the venue, even at the furthest reaches of the balcony and under-balcony seating areas. The EV modeling program was spot-on, which made it possible for us to get the system aimed in a very short time.”