The historic Paramount Theatre was built in 1882, originally as an office building. Over the years, it has served Goldsboro North Carolina, in many different ways – as a temporary synagogue, vaudeville theatre and movie house to name a few of its many incarnations.
In 1993, the renovated building was donated to the City of Goldsboro which managed it for the next 12 years until, early one morning in February 2005, a fire destroyed it _ a loss that was personal to many members of the community. It was subsequently rebuilt and reopened in 2008. Today, the Paramount Theatre auditorium has a capacity of 500, with seating for approximately 350 on the lower level and 150 in the balcony.
The theatre has a longstanding relationship with James Braddy, owner of Javelin AV so, when some of the existing A/V systems subsequently started to fail, the company stepped in to manage a complete system redesign and upgrade. ‘The theatre has a pretty extensive audio system,’ Braddy says. ‘They have a main hang, upper balcony delays, lower balcony delays, and distributed audio throughout the building. There is a separate feed for the lobby and another for the rehearsal rooms and bathrooms, so the paging system can page them. Almost everything needed replacing.’
Javelin AV duly installed multiple LEA Professional Connect Series 352, Connect Series 354, Connect Series 704, and Connect Series 1504 amplifiers to serve the immersive audio experience in the venue. The CS352 is a two-channel amplifier with 350W/channel, while the CS354 is a four-channel amplifier that outputs 350W/channel. The 4-channel CS704 offers 700W/channel, and the four-channel CS1504 provides 1.5kW/channel. All Connect Series amplifiers are professional-grade IoT-enabled smart amplifiers for any sized installation, support Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z selectable by channel, and feature Smart Power Bridge technology. With three ways to connect, the venue can engage the built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the Wi-Fi, or connect to the local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable.
The CS352 powers one of the stage monitors, while the second channel is a spare. The CS354 powers the left, centre and right lip fills, plus one stage monitor. The CS704s power the main left, centre and right loudspeakers, upper and lower balcony delay speakers, and two stage monitors. The CS1504 powers subwoofers on its first two channels. Using LEA’s Smart Power Bridge technology, each is supplied with 2.8kW. The remaining channels power the 70V lobby, bathroom, and dressing room speakers, which are tied into the comms systems for paging.
‘The Paramount Theatre is a historic landmark and cultural epicentre of Goldsboro, so we had to be sure that the sound system particulars were worked out in advance and could adequately serve the flexible use of this space,’ notes Chip Cannon, Technical Director. ‘The room tuning was easily handled by the LEA Connect Series’ onboard processing, which is readily accessible to those who need it via our integrated LAN. The state-of-the-art connectivity and pristine sound made these amplifiers a must-have for our theatre.’
Javelin AV used LEA’s free SharkWare software to configure a base profile and push it out to all the pre-staged LEA amplifiers. SharkWare includes amplifier grouping, offline design, granular user access control levels, locked speaker tunings, and a graphic EQ. SharkWare also allows users to monitor the status of every amplifier connected to the network and the status and performance of individual channels. In addition, the software gives users the ability to view and adjust channel settings such as input settings, signal generator, crossover, equalizer, limiter and load monitoring for all LEA Professional Connect Series amplifiers.
‘LEA amps just work,’ Braddy reports. ‘Connecting to SharkWare over Wi-Fi and setting up any device is great. Having the limiter calculator online, the presets and responsive technical support – I’ve been really impressed with LEA across the board.’
