Wolf Trap Modernizes Its Loudspeaker System With HARMAN’s JBL VERTEC® Line Array Speakers

NORTHRIDGE, California — Located in Vienna, Virginia, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is one of the nation’s most important cultural centers. The Filene Center is Wolf Trap’s main venue, a uniquely beautiful, architecturally distinctive 7,000-seat indoor/outdoor theater that is host to an average of 90 performances a year from major and local artists. Opened in 1984, the rebuilt Filene Center II recently upgraded its aging delay loudspeaker system with HARMAN’s JBL VERTEC® VT4886 subcompact line array elements and VT4883 subcompact line array subwoofers.

“The older delay system was starting to show its inadequacies and required more and more maintenance, to the point where it had to be replaced,” noted Matt Snyder of Local 22 of IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the Its Territories and Canada. Snyder and the rest of the Wolf Trap audio crew were given the responsibility of designing and installing the new system although they were faced with a number of major constraints.

“First, the speakers had to fit within the existing space,” Snyder said. “Management would not allow the new speakers to intrude upon the design of the theater, meaning they could not be placed anywhere other than the alcoves for the previous speakers, which are extremely limited for a modern line array. Secondly, the lack of available power precluded the use of powered speakers and limited our amplification options. Also, we were looking to upgrade as economically as possible, which made the use of existing wiring desirable. Basically, the fewer the amplifier channels we needed to use, the better. In the end we were able to implement this system with just five circuits per bay.”

The coverage requirements of the Wolf Trap theater also presented a challenge. “We needed an array which could provide substantial vertical coverage–over 30 feet of elevation–yet also had a relatively short throw range; about 120 feet was needed for this installation,” Snyder noted. “The VT4886 line array elements proved to be ideal for this application. Their smaller size enabled us to put a large number of enclosures into each array, and we went with 9-element arrays in each of the six bays which cover the lawn area. The controlled axial shading of the VT4886 gave us the coverage pattern we needed.”

“The cardioid coverage pattern of the VT4883 subwoofer also worked to our advantage, as we had to minimize low-end spill from the delay subs into the main pavilion area,” Snyder continued. “The subwoofer’s dispersion pattern enabled them to integrate well with the mains, even though they were physically separated rather than used as extensions of the main line arrays. “The lower weight of the VT4886 and VT4883 was also a big advantage, as we could easily hang all the speakers without making any major structural modifications.”

Snyder was able to go into the project with a high degree of confidence. “JBL was good enough to send out demo units for our evaluation before the install, and we also used JBL Line Array Calculator II speaker configuration and acoustic modeling software to help predict the response of the system. Once the speakers were installed, we did final tuning with the aid of SMAART and SIM measurement and analysis software. We were extremely satisfied with the results.”

“The Filene Center is a unique space and one of the best-designed venues in the country,” Snyder concluded. “The JBL VERTEC line arrays turned out to be just what we needed for this project, and the improvement in sound quality is just what we’d hoped for.”

For more information on Wolf Trap, please visit www.wolftrap.org

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.8 billion for the twelve months ending June 30, 2011.

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Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds Deploys One-Of-A-Kind Portable Audio System With HARMAN JBL VERTEC® Loudspeakers and Crown Amplifiers

NORTHRIDGE, California – Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds is a Christian retreat, conference center and summer camp located in the northern California’s Sonoma County redwoods. Since 1946 they have been providing families, churches and schools with recreational camp and other activities. Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds has recently undergone major renovations to its facilities, including revamping a gymnasium to double as a music venue with the installation of a unique, custom JBL VERTEC® line array system that can be quickly set up and removed as needed.



“In recent years Alliance Redwoods has been upgrading the camp’s technology and infrastructure to revitalize it almost beyond recognition,” said Greg Adams of Sound Expressions, systems integrators in Santa Rosa, California. “A need had arisen to create a larger music venue, and management decided the existing gymnasium should be adapted to create a functional live music space.”



Nevertheless, the gymnasium presented some major hurdles. “First of all, it still had to be able to be used as a gym—we couldn’t just gut it and build a dedicated music venue,” noted Adams. “Also, most people think of gyms as spaces with bad acoustics, and this one absolutely fit the stereotype. It was an echo chamber, a 100-percent unusable space for music as it originally stood.”



Sound Expressions brought in Rocky Giannetta of Perform Acoustics, a Roseville, California acoustical consultant and manufacturer, to do an acoustical study that included creating a number of EASE (Enhanced Acoustic Simulator for Engineers) models of the space. “Based on the models and Perform Acoustics’ recommendations for using their room treatment products, we determined we could tame the echo and make the space work.”



Sound Expressions then used the JBL VERTEC Line Array Calculator II speaker configuration and acoustic modeling software to determine what loudspeakers would work best, and where they should be placed. They specified two line array clusters, each containing four JBL VERTEC VT4886 subcompact line array elements, complemented by two SRX728S subwoofers and four JBL MRX512M stage monitors. However, the actual installation required Adams to come up with a novel solution.



“Because of structural and space limitations and the fact that the room had to be dual-purpose, we had to be able to move all the A/V and lighting out of the way when not in use—not just the VERTEC line arrays, subs and stage monitors, but also the video projector and LED lighting towers,” Adams pointed out. “We could not permanently mount anything.”



Adams and his team designed a custom truss that moves up and down using motorized chain hoists. The VT4886 loudspeakers, LED lighting system and video projector are permanently mounted on the truss. When not in use, the truss disassembles into three 10-foot pieces that drop into rollaway carts for easier storage.



The cables to connect the speakers, lighting and projector are permanently installed along wooden trusses in the ceiling. The VT4886 line array loudspeakers and SRX728S subwoofers are powered by Crown I-T12000HD and I-T9000HD amplifiers, respectively, and the MRX512M monitors are driven by Crown XTi 2000 amps.



“With the Crown I-Tech HDs we got rock solid clean power and the most comprehensive DSP available in an amplifier. Crown is optimized to work with JBL VERTEC and when we tuned the PA all the equalization was done in the amplifier DSP. Also, since we have so many users on this system the ability to electronically lock the amplifier settings turned out to be a very valuable feature,” added Adams.



The SRX728S subwoofers have casters that enable them to slide into cutouts on a movable stage that can be set up on the floor. Once the stage is in place, the MRX512M monitors are put into position.



The audio system is operated by a Soundcraft GB8 32-input mixing console, which is installed in a custom-built, wheeled, moveable, front of house mixing cart. The cart houses a snake that runs from the mixer to a custom-made quick-disconnect mass connector in a recessed floor pocket at the FOH position. There’s another mass connector at the stage position for which to plug in the snake box. The appropriate wiring makes it to the amp rack, which is permanently mounted in an adjacent room. “They had to cut a lot of concrete to make that work,” noted Adams, “but it was the only way we could make the system portable and removable, while accommodating all the connections for microphones, amps, contact closure and power sequencing.”



“The Alliance Redwoods staff did most of the work, under our supervision. They placed and angled the speakers according to the JBL Line Array Calculator II results, and we ran our system calibrations using SMAART. The predictions of the Line Array Calculator II software turned out to be extremely accurate. We’re very pleased with how such an unconventional sound reinforcement installation turned out so well.”



For more information about Sound Expressions, please contact www.soundexpressions.com.



HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.8 billion for the twelve months ending June 30, 2011. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

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HARMAN JBL VERTEC® Subcompact Line Arrays, SRX and VRX Speakers Spice Up the Sound for 2011 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

NORTHRIDGE, California – The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is one of the largest live music events in the world, and the recent 2011 Jazz Fest featured seven days of music on no less than a dozen stages. The Festival celebrated the indigenous music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana, encompassing jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, folk, rock, country, bluegrass and numerous other styles. The Sound Source of Metairie, Louisiana, handled sound reinforcement for two of the Festival’s stages. Tim Kilbride, owner and lead audio engineer for The Sound Source, found that HARMAN’s JBL VERTEC® VT4886 subcompact line array elements were ideal for the event.

For each of the two stages, The Sound Source deployed five JBL VT4886 loudspeakers per side, with VRX932LA Constant Curvature Series loudspeakers for front fills and outfills, as well as SRX712M speakers for stage monitors.

“This is our third year using VERTEC loudspeakers at Jazz Fest,” noted Kilbride. “We’ve been extremely happy with their performance. The quality of the sound VERTEC produces is extremely accurate.”

“In fact, the VERTEC arrays provided exceptional sound even under less-than-ideal circumstances,” continued Kilbride. “The Lagniappe Stage, one of the stages where we worked, is in a very non-acoustical-friendly area, and the PA also shoots directly into a large tent that is located about 40 feet from the front edge of the stage. Ordinarily, this would be a sonic nightmare, but we were able to supplement the main system with some VRX cabinets on a delay line at the front inside edge of the tent, which greatly improved intelligibility. We also used additional SRX712M speakers as outfills for the outer seating areas, which further improved the sound.”

In addition to JBL loudspeakers, The Sound Source used Soundcraft Vi1 and Si Compact digital mixing consoles, BSS Audio FCS-960 equalizers and dbx 160A compressor/limiters.

“Outside of Jazz Fest, we’ve also produced events of more than 7,500 people using our JBL VERTEC VT4887ADP powered line array elements,” Kilbride added. “The vocal clarity of all the VERTEC models we’ve used is very impressive. Their ease of setup and use is also very appealing to our techs. The opportunity to generate additional revenue supporting other VERTEC users by supplying additional units has been a real plus as well.”

“Overall the Festival was a big success,” Kilbride concluded. “This year’s Festival had an estimated 400,000 people show up for the 7-day event.”

For more information on The Sound Source, please visit www.bigboyaudio.com

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,800 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.5 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

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