A few years ago, the historic Rialto Theater in Loveland, CO implemented Alcons Audio LR7 pro-ribbon line arrays system to deliver quality audio while preserving the ambience of its protected 1920s decor, and the venue has now been upgraded with Alcons subwoofers as well.
Although the first 75 years of its existence was rather checkered, since 1996 the restored Rialto Theater has served as a combined movie house, live arts venue, and community center. When the city-owned venue’s sound reinforcement system was updated three years ago, the goal was powerful quality sound in a space with a lot of hard, flat surfaces. In addition, it now hosts a much broader range of events it was originally designed for.
The system comprises eight Alcons 6.5-inch LR7/90 line array modules per side and two SR9 double 5-inch monitors as front fills, all powered and controlled by Sentinel amplified loudspeaker controllers. Budget constraints meant that the subwoofers could not be updated at the time and, in a subsequent upgrade, a pair of Alcons Cinemarray CRA24 double 12-inch line source loudspeakers were installed as a center screen channel for movie shows and center cluster for other productions.
Now, in the third phase, the replacement of the original subwoofers with three double 18-inch Alcons BF362iMkII subwoofers and a further 4 x 2500-watt Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controller.
“The existing subwoofers were underperforming,” says Phil Baugh, the Rialto Theater’s technical coordinator. “The LR7 pro-ribbon arrays, Cinemarray and SR9s all sounded beautiful and clear, so it was time to provide low end reinforcement which matched the quality and power of the rest of the Alcons system. Importantly, we needed a solution to deliver powerful bass frequencies to the entire theater without them building up in the corners, along the walls or spilling onto the stage.
“The first time I heard our LR7s immediately sold me on the Alcons brand. So, when the time came to upgrade our subwoofers, Alcons was the first name on our list.”
They heard demos of subwoofers from other brands, but Baugh and his team felt that a fully integrated Alcons system would best deliver the results they wanted. “We use Alcons’ ALControl to manage the other speakers and Sentinel amplifiers, so adding integrated subs and amplifiers made perfect sense,” he adds. “We experimented with several room configurations to achieve the coverage we needed and immediately found that the Alcons subs delivered clear, punchy low end, without the muddiness we heard from other options that we demoed.
“The coverage and raw power are truly incredible, especially given the slim profile of the physical enclosure. Our concert sound is full, clear and deep, and our cinema configuration has never sounded better. This fully integrated system is certainly ahead of competing subwoofers in the same price range.”
Steve Lemmon, Rialto Theater manager, adds, “We have been very impressed with how well these boxes integrate with our existing Alcons rig. We look forward to a long relationship with Alcons Audio.”
