A new sound reinforcement system serving the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) West Building Gallery in Raleigh, NC is headed by Martin Audio ADORN ACP-55T pendant loudspeakers in a project by production provider RMB Audio.

According to Cooper Cannady, owner of Raleigh-based RMB Audio, the 16 loudspeakers were selected for their 150-degree conical coverage (117 Hz to 20 kHz ± 3 dB, -10 dB @ 73 Hz) and off-white finish that matched the ceiling. These were approved by the architectural committee after careful review.

The loudspeakers are paired to cover the wall-to-wall open space. Three areas of the gallery are zoned for isolation to control the social gathering adjacent to the art exhibitions. The ACP-55T pendants are hung at a height of 15 feet across the selected zones.

“Well-articulated speech is the most critical parameter for the sound system application,” says Cannady, “and Martin Audio ACP-55T pendants deliver high sound pressure level for speech and background music for daily operation.”

The installation coincides with the 12th anniversary of NCMA’s Thomas Phifer–designed West Building that’s home of the “People’s Collection,” and it’s the first sound system to be permanently installed in the gallery. Previously, mobile carts would be delivered to the space, and without the ceiling elevation, clarity was lost.

The continuous ceiling sky light design brings natural light to the exhibits. The continual skylight introduced the challenge to examine how sound can be introduced into the space that is intelligible coverage for the gallery and blending into the ceiling vaulted lighting. The two-way ADORN ACP-55T pendants were specifically designed for background and foreground applications requiring quality performance and cost competitiveness in spaces with open ceiling architecture.

“If you didn’t know where to look for [the speakers] you simply wouldn’t see them,” Cannady concludes. “The ADORN pendant design blends into the gallery ceiling; it does not distract the museum attendees and most significantly, spoken word is highly intelligible in the large space.”

Martin Audio
RMB Audio