One of the first new builds funded by the UK’s National Lottery award (via the Arts Council), the Wiltshire Music Centre has built a solid reputation for the quality of its classical, folk, jazz and world music concerts since being founded in 1998.
The centre’s purpose-built 300-seat concert hall recently underwent a major audio systems upgrade through its partnership with Autograph Sales & Installations. Led by New Business Engineer Phil Nicolaou, the project centred on the specification and installation of a new FOH loudspeaker system and included an upgrade to the existing mixing console, new equipment racks and power management.
‘Having assessed the space, the available budget and the intended use of the kit we realised that EM Acoustics’ new Halo-C was just about perfect in every respect,’ says Nicolaou. ‘Our design uses a flown LR design, where each side comprises five EM Acoustics Halo-C line-source elements and one Halo-C Sub. This arrangement provides ample full-frequency coverage for the entire auditorium without needing any delays or side fills – in fact, the only supplementary audience loudspeakers are five EMS-61s mounted along the front edge of the stage as close-field fills.’
The system, including the six EM Acoustics M10 monitors which are used for on-stage monitoring, uses only eight power amplifiers – Autograph specified Lab.gruppen IPD-Series amplifiers for their combination of audio quality, reliability, pricing and feature set. At the heart of the IPD platform is a latest-generation DSP engine equipped with up to 40 real-time, multi-slope parametric EQs, along with adjustable gain, input and output delay, and both high- and low-pass filters adjustable to any frequency.
The DSP also provides extensive protection for a loudspeaker system, in the form of the innovative software-controlled Speaker Protect Limiter, configured from within IntelliDrive Controller software. Harnessing all of this power is the IPD LoadLibrary, a collection of Lab.gruppen released presets – for quick configuration and optimisation of a wide range of loudspeaker systems, both generic and popular brand models.
‘The IPDs make this kind of installation easier, more versatile and cost-effective,’ Nicolaou reports. ‘No outboard controllers are needed because all the processing for the loudspeakers is done within the amplifiers, and because they also provide Ethernet-based networking we can tune and control the whole system remotely if necessary.
‘The centre already owned an Allen & Heath GLD-80 digital mixing console, and to expand the system and deliver a new level of control we specified and supplied a new multimedia card, plus two iDR Out digital expanders/audio breakout modules. Along with an iPad and a Wi-Fi access point, which we also supplied, this allows the desk and PA to be controlled via an app on the iPad from anywhere in the room, so the house engineer can move freely around the auditorium and tune the system to suit the circumstances and type of performance.
‘The advances we’ve seen in modern audio technology over recent years has made a huge difference to projects like this,’ Nicolaou concludes. ‘Being able to network discrete items of the system together so the whole thing can be effectively controlled from a mobile device is such an advantage for busy venues, while products like the new Halo-C deliver high-class audio performance in an unobtrusive and cost-effective package. It’s now possible for regional venues to deliver the kind of quality one would have previously expected only in the West End by working with fantastic products like these – and with the Autograph team of course.’
‘We asked Autograph to tender for this project and we were immediately impressed with their attention to detail and thorough and clear proposals,’ says Centre Technician, Daniel Thomason. ‘From design to completion we were kept well informed and had all our requirements met. As a result the finished product has exceeded our expectations and enabled the Wiltshire Music Centre to continue to offer the very highest production values.’
