Meyer Sound News : Fortune Smiles on M2D System in Vast D.C. Hall

Fortune Smiles on M2D System in Vast D.C. Hall

"What struck me most was the excellent imaging. I could stand all the way over at the left side and still get a distinct stereo image coming from the right. It gave us precisely pinpointed sound, exactly as it was supposed to do. I was pleased, and everybody else was impressed."

- Jesse Lawson,
Project Manager, AV Concepts

It was the most prestigious corporate event of the year in Washington, D.C. – and, quite likely, in the world. In November, Fortune magazine's Global Forum 2002 conference kicked off with a gala opening reception staged in a setting that presented monumental logistical and acoustical challenges. All in all, it was the ideal proving ground for an M2D Compact Curvilinear Array supplied by AV Concepts of Tempe, Arizona.

Fortune's Global Forum qualifies as the crème de la crème of corporate events largely because only presidents and CEOs of large multinational corporations are on the invitation list. Presenters are on the same level: speakers for this year's program included three U.S. cabinet secretaries. To set an appropriate tone for such a gathering, Fortune elected to stage the opening event at the National Building Museum (formerly the Pension Building), a formidable 1881 structure built around a Great Hall measuring 116 feet wide by 290 feet long by 159 feet tall at the apex – a cavernous space largely enclosed by marble, brick and glass. Although the dinner and presentations occupied only the central 120-foot portion of the gallery, there was one further complication: the sole rigging points were on steel beams soaring 122 feet overhead.

"We knew it was going to be a challenge right from the start," says Dave Morris, technical director for AV Concepts. "We needed very high voice intelligibility, plus plenty of power for the video soundtracks and for the four live drummers representing different regions of the world. We had to cover the audience area uniformly, with full impact, but without spilling out onto the reflective surfaces."

This daunting assignment fell primarily on the main front-of-house system comprising 12 M2D cabinets and four M2D-Sub Compact subwoofers. Design of the system was a collaborative effort involving Morris and the A-1/front-of-house mixer for the event, Eric Gilbert. To ensure precise coverage in the highly reverberant space, Gilbert first downloaded CAD layouts of the hall and then worked approaches for optimal coverage using Meyer Sound's MAPP Online multipurpose acoustical prediction program.

"MAPP Online gave me an amazingly accurate prediction of the performance I could expect," reports Gilbert. "When I put in the angles, it came out pretty much right on what we experienced on site. Using MAPP Online in conjunction with the M2D Array Calculator gave us powerful tools for getting extremely accurate predictions, which helped us get the job done faster."

Time was of the essence on this job. The AV Concepts team had only 24 hours to load in, rig and test the system – with "quiet time" enforced from 9 am to 4 pm when the museum was open to the public. Essentially, the system had to be up and ready overnight.

"Covering that space using a conventional system of main clusters and delays would have been prohibitive in terms of both set-up time and rigging costs," Morris maintains. "But with the M2Ds and M2D-Subs we were able to cover the whole space with the addition of only some front fills."

The system was up and ready on time, and AV Concepts project manager Jesse Lawson judged the sound quality superb despite the unfriendly surroundings. "What struck me most was the excellent imaging," he says. "I could stand all the way over at the left side and still get a distinct stereo image coming from the right. It gave us precisely pinpointed sound, exactly as it was supposed to do. I was pleased, and everybody else was impressed."

Equally impressive, from a logistical standpoint, was the way the M2D system was flown, struck, and packed away. "That MG-2D Multipurpose Grid is definitely the most versatile rigging platform that I have ever used," states Eric Gilbert.

For Jesse Lawson, a further payoff was noted when the truck first loaded for the job. "We left with the semi trailer packed front to back. If we had gone with the old cluster and delay approach, using conventional cabinets and amp racks, we would have been into a second truck, no question," he says.

Finally, Dave Morris gives considerable credit to company president Fred Mandrick, who had the foresight to provide his crew with the best tools for the job. "Fred solicited input from all the project managers and audio engineers, but he was the one who made the final decision to go with the M2D. From a project manager's point of view, it was the right buy. What we want is something you can put together quickly, and fly an array for a big space on a hang point rated for less than 1,000 pounds. Also, the performance is top notch. For the Fortune event, the M2Ds gave us amazing intelligibility in a space that is essentially concrete, marble and glass. I've heard some other good line arrays, but getting that much clear sound out of such a small array really surprised me."

Established in 1987, AV Concepts is a full-service, audio-visual staging company specializing in corporate presentations, conventions, special event staging, and in-house hotel services. In addition to the Arizona headquarters, the company maintains a complete office and warehouse facility in San Diego.

December, 2002