Located in downtown Athens, Georgia, The Grand Hall at the Classic Center was built as a meeting, special events and performing arts venue, and recently, Technical Services Audio Visual (TSAV) of Athens installed NEXO GEO S12 line arrays at the 3,175-seat venue to upgrade sound reinforcement quality.
“Until now, the only installed sound in the room was an overhead 70-volt system for background music and paging,” states TSAV’s Steve Gore. “Previously, they had to use a crew to rig a system whenever a live performance event took place, which limited the practical and economical use of the space.
“Because The Grand Hall is reconfigured weekly for a variety of events including concerts, trade shows, and church services, it’s not possible to permanently place ground stacked loudspeaker arrays. The room is also acoustically challenging with a high ceiling main hall and a low balcony in the rear with glass enclosed meeting rooms on top.”
TSAV implemented eight NEXO GEO S1210 line array loudspeakers and two GEO S1230s line array loudspeakers for as down fills as well as four NEXO RS15-P subwoofers. Processing is supplied by three NEXO NXAMP 4×1 processors.
“The NEXO GEO S12 and RS15 arrays provided us the predictable and flexible coverage pattern we needed to fly three arrays (left, right, and center cardioid sub) high enough so as not to interfere with room reconfiguration and allowing for clean sight lines when the front of house is not the primary focal point of the event,” says Gore. “The system provides direct coverage only where needed: the event floor.”
“Using NEXO GeoSoft 2 software to model the room and calculate the speaker configuration and placement, and the NXAMP 4×1 controllers to steer the cardioid sub pattern down to the floor, we were able to complete a challenging installation without resorting to the old ‘well, let’s try it and see how it sounds’ mentality, Gore adds. The fidelity, complete coverage, and volume levels available with this system will allow The Grand Hall to be used for a wider range of events that may not have been practical before, with greatly decreased set up time.”
“From rock concerts to church services, we have a lot of customers who are making good use of the new sound system in The Grand Hall,” notes Paul Cramer, Executive Director of The Classic Center. “It’s a great addition to our facility, allowing us to serve our clients at a totally new level. We are already seeing many benefits. Shortly after the NEXO system was installed, our community was treated to the annual Athens Symphony Pops Concert Series, and we received many comments on the quality of the sound and how much the audience appreciated the new system.”
Cramer also mentioned that a large church group meets at the venue, and when they need to use The Grand Hall, the new NEXO system will provide high-quality audio for services. “Having the system available in-house will add a level of convenience that we are pleased to offer our customers.”
