Brigham Young University-Idaho’s Rexburg campus is home to the BYU-Idaho Center (I-Center), a 435,000sq-ft facility combining a large athletics centre with ten multi-use sporting courts and a 15,000-seat auditorium used for student devotionals, ecclesiastical meetings and graduation exercises, as well as artistic and cultural events. Recently, the auditorium was equipped with an L-Acoustics loudspeaker system by Clearwing Systems Integration.

The fan-shaped venue is among the largest production theatres in North America, offering only 6,000 fewer seats than its sister facility, the LDS Conference Center at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Familiar with L-Acoustics loudspeakers installed at other LDS facilities – including the Conference Center, Salt Lake Temple, and Provo’s BYU Marriott Center – BYU-Idaho called on L-Acoustics House of Worship Application Manager Josh Maichele to conduct a product demo in its auditorium. 

L-Acoustics Certified Provider (CPi) Clearwing Systems Integration had both the inventory and personnel to assist, and also fine-tuned the demo system to ensure for the space. ‘Vocal intelligibility has always been a hallmark of L-Acoustics, and the full L-Acoustics product lineup had exactly the right puzzle pieces we needed in every instance – from K2, Kara, and Kiva II array enclosures to A and X Series systems – to make this space sound and feel fantastic,’ says Clearwing Engineer, Joshua Barnhill. 

System integration took four weeks and was conducted in two phases – three weeks hanging and positioning the loudspeakers, and a week devoted to tuning and testing to ensure the rig’s performance.

BYU-Idaho Center’s new loudspeaker set-up now comprises main hangs of ten K2 over two Kara, with adjacent hangs of four K1-SB to reduce LF downstage centre where the podium stands, with eight KS21 subwoofers in a line under the stage and 12 5XT mounted in the stage face for fill – all concealed by grilles.

Mid-house coverage is achieved with our hangs of four Kiva II addressing the mezzanine areas, accompanied by over-balcony hangs of 33 A10i Focus, flown in 11 arrays of three enclosures each. A single A10 Focus per side, flown vertically, and five X4i mounted per side plus an array one A10 Focus and two Wide per side are used for the upper calipers. Under-mezzanine delay hangs comprise 26 A10i Wide, flown individually, while under-balcony coverage uses 28 A10i Wide plus two X8, and 56 ceiling baffle-mounted X4i.

Power and processing requires ten LA12X (K2/K1-SB), six LA2Xi (X4i), and 23 LA4X amplified controllers, plus 12 LS10 Avnu-certified AVB switches and two P1 AVB processors and measurement platforms (primary and backup).

The system is completed by the pre-existing SSL Live L550 mixing console, connected via AES to the P1 AVB processors, and then via AVB.

‘Everything came together beautifully thanks to the adjustable dispersion of K2 via its Panflex fins, the low-frequency directivity of the K1-SB subs, and the right combination of A10i and coaxial X Series fills used throughout the room,’ Barnhill reports. ‘Every audience member now has nearly the same sound image, and the room is very well balanced so that levels are perfectly even.

‘For spoken word, it feels like you are right in front of the speaker, no matter where you’re sitting, and you can perfectly hear everything they’re saying. And the new system also has the guts to pump it up for musical and other performances when they want it.’

Concurrently, Clearwing Systems Integration installed a smaller L-Acoustics A Series-based system at the MC Hart Student Commons in the Hyrum Manwaring Student Center. This wide space now benefits from LR hangs of one KS21 sub over two A15 Focus and one A15 Wide, complemented by LR side fill of one A10 Focus over one A10 Wide, four portable 5XT for front fill, and three LA4X amplified controllers for power.

‘The Manwaring Center’s commons are located in the centre of the food court and events area, and it’s a gathering space that hosts everything from student performances and presentations to karaoke and other social functions,’ Barnhill adds. ‘Similar to the K2 in the I-Center, the A15 features Panflex, which nicely allowed us to keep the sound directed to where we needed it. The A Series are budget-conscious systems that sound fantastic and deliver ideal coverage for this space.’