Ranked by the US News & World Report as the second best regional university in the United States’ south, the Elon University campus contains the Whitley Auditorium – a multipurpose space serves as a venue for lectures, concerts, performances, weekly chapel services and is home to a Casavant pipe organ.
After struggling with an inadequate sound reinforcement system, university officials called in Audio & Light, a design/build firm focused on A/V systems for the commercial and educational markets, to handle the installation of a new sound system.
‘This is an acoustically challenging space, as it is optimised for the pipe organ,’ says Jim Hoyle, President of Audio & Light and the designer of Whitley Auditorium reinforcement system. ‘Hence, the room is quite live. The room, which is roughly 90-ft deep and 42-ft wide, can be difficult because it is used for so many different types of events. As a presentation space, a high degree of speech intelligibility was required while at the same time, the loudspeaker system had to be very capable in its ability to reproduce music. Ultimately we decided on DAS Audio’s Variant 25A powered two-way mid-high loudspeakers plus the Variant 18A powered subwoofer System.’
The DAS system installed by the Audio & Light crew comprises six Variant 25A loudspeakers and a single Variant 18A powered subwoofer. The loudspeakers are set in a central cluster over the front of the room’s stage area, with the subwoofer at the top of the cluster and the six Variant 25A elements underneath. The loudspeaker cluster is flown at a height of 26-ft.
‘The most important factor was, of course, sound quality,’ Hoyle says. ‘This room is acoustically challenging and with this system, we are able to achieve clear, highly intelligible sound throughout the hall. The throw and horizontal dispersion of this system is excellent. The sound is clear and very natural. It handles music beautifully and we have consistent coverage from front to rear and side to side.
‘I was equally impressed with DAS Audio’s rigging hardware,’ he continues. ‘The flyware is very clean, efficient, and easy to use. The entire system–with the flying grid, followed by the Variant 18A subwoofer and the six Variant 25A elements beneath the sub–works superbly well.’
Since the system has gone into service, Hoyle reckons that everyone who encounters it is impressed: ‘Everyone involved with the venue is very pleased with its performance,’ he confirms. ‘The previous system was inadequate for the space and, as a result, they frequently rented equipment. This new system resolves those issues and is facilitating better sound quality for every type of event that’s held in the room. The DAS product has been nothing short of terrific.’
More: www.audio-light.com
More: www.dasaudio.com
