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| Electro-Voice loudspeakers were installed with Bosch PLENA matrix digital sound systems |
Anyone who has heard of Abbotsleigh, Sydney’s prestigious Anglican day and boarding school, is probably familiar with its extensive range of achievements in music and the performing arts. Located in Wahroonga on Sydney’s North Shore, the school has fostered some of today’s most established stars of the stage and screen.
John McCauley from Noisebox Integrated Technologies was called upon earlier this year to design and construct a new sound system to be installed within Abbotsleigh’s Peter Duly Concert Hall. The hall has tiered seating, a capacity of 350, and plays host to musical performances, presentations, and award ceremonies. The existing sound system within the hall was outdated and did not perform up to the high standard of Abbotsleigh’s productions. Bosch Communications was successful in its bid to provide Abbotsleigh with intelligible sound that could enrich the multifunctional requirements of Peter Duly Concert Hall.
Mr. McCauley created the base design for the sound system in collaboration with Bosch’s Senior Engineer Bryan Davidson who helped fine-tune the design. Three Electro-Voice EVF-1122 two-way front loaded loudspeakers were selected in a left-centre-right configuration, whereby the centre is primarily used for speech, and left and right for music and sound reinforcement. The centre EVF-1122 has a wide 120º horizontal coverage which addresses the audience area admirably, and the left and right EVF-1122s have a 90º horizontal coverage. Two further EVF-1122s were installed as stage side fill along with a row of well hidden EVU-2082 compact monitors used for front fill. The configuration is driven and controlled by the powerful Electro-Voice NetMax N8000 networkable digital matrix system.
The acoustic space of Peter Duly Concert Hall is excellent; however, the tiered seating within the hall creates restricted sight lines, which posed as a design challenge for the loudspeaker layout. The existing air conditioning systems within the ceiling also posed another challenge to work around. Despite the difficulties, Mr. McCauley determined suitable positions to suspend the loudspeakers.
Two Bosch PLENA matrix digital sound systems were also installed to matrix the stage RE-2 wireless microphone systems and other peripheral devices, enabling users to simply adjust sound zones through an iPad or iPhone. David Beattie, Abbotsleigh’s AV Technician and Project Manager for the upgrade, commented on this feature: “The students can now operate their own sound levels using an iPad, and they are also learning about balancing levels for front of house and fold back.” The PLENA matrix PLM-8M8’s systems feed into the NetMax N8000 then turn in onto the CPS4.10 and CPS4.5 power amplifiers, thereby creating an overall total sound reinforcement solution.
Additional equipment consisted of Telex MS2002s, BP2002s, and PH-1 headsets, which seamlessly allow the FOH to talk to the stage via a wired intercom system. In the foyer area adjacent to Peter Duly Concert Hall, EV EVID C8.2 ceiling speakers provide quality background music for patrons, as well as paging capabilities.
David Beattie, Abbotsleigh’s AV Technician and Project Manager for the upgrade, was quick to praise the results: “Audio technology has become a big part of everyday life at our school. We recognised that installing a high quality sound system would provide reliability, be effective in its purpose, and basically just sound great. The Bosch/EV system ticks all those boxes.” Mr. Beattie concluded, “I am confident that this system will continue to impress for years to come. I would definitely consider a Bosch/EV system for any future installs at our school."
