As part of a recent control room upgrade, the Grand Ole Opry has installed a new PhantomFocus System (PFS) – 2 to replace its legacy PFS. Included in the upgrade are custom PFS-positioned Genelec 8250A monitors and a new Studer Vista 9 console.
“We’re very gratified to know that PFS users are choosing to replace or upgrade their original systems with the newer technology that renders dramatic sonic improvements over the previous iterations,” states TEC Award-winning studio designer and creator of the PFS, Carl Tatz.
Grand Ole Opry/Ryman Auditorium Chief Broadcast Engineer King Williams describes his experience of upgrading from the older legacy PFS to the current offering: “Having worked with the Phantom Focus System for a number of years in both our broadcast rooms (Opry and Ryman Auditorium), I was pretty certain that I knew how it was going to sound when Carl brought in the new equipment to upgrade our current PFS after the installation of the Studer Vista 9. I was right and I was wrong. It was a familiar sound, yes, but the detail was increased by at least a factor of 2, and that was fairly astounding.”
Williams further explains, “The Phantom Focus System is a tool to be used for both diagnostics and artistic achievement – you know what is wrong immediately, and getting to what is right is easier than ever before.”
