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M2Ds Add Versatility to Swedish Hall
One of the largest permanent installations of Meyer Sound's M2D Compact Curvilinear Array system has gone into the Linköping Konsert & Kongress Center in Sweden. A total of eighteen M2Ds and four M2D-Sub Compact subwoofers have been installed into the center's 1,200-capacity concert hall, one of Sweden's most prestigious venues, which hosts a wide range of music, drama and dance productions in addition to doubling as a conference hall. The center was built in 1987, and the new sound installation is part of an overhaul of the complex. The previous system of Meyer Sound UPA-1s, installed 15 years ago, is being transferred to the adjacent Garden venue, which has standing room for 600 people for less formal concerts and parties. Archie Pollheimer, sound engineer and stage manager for the facility, first saw the M2D at its launch at the 2002 Frankfurt Pro Light and Sound trade show, and knew immediately it would be right for the job. "The concert hall is quite a difficult area to cover, with a fair amount of reflection, and we needed a high quality product that was capable of doing the job," he says. "Another major consideration was to find a speaker that was compact and aesthetically well designed; it was out of the question to install a cluster of huge, unsightly speakers in a concert hall." The system was designed by Pollheimer together with Meyer Sound Germany's Thomas Züllich and Anders Molund from Meyer's Swedish dealer, Etech Event Technologies Scandinavia. Züllich employed Meyer Sound's MAPP Online (Multipurpose Acoustical Prediction Program) to confirm Pollheimer's initial design, and once the loudspeakers were in place it was evident that the MAPP predictions were extremely accurate. Explaining his design, Pollheimer says, "The previous installation featured a center cluster of Meyer UPA-1s. We wanted to keep the center cluster idea for conferences and also to have a left/right system for concerts, as well as for conferences that include multimedia playback. It will also be possible during a concert to use the left and right clusters for the music and put the vocals into the center cluster." The system is configured into three clusters of six M2Ds flown above the stage in a left, center, right arrangement. Two M2D Subs are used per side, with four stage-mounted UPM-1P Ultra-Compact Wide Coverage loudspeakers for near field. As a precaution, Pollheimer also specified a delay system of three UPA-2P Compact Narrow Coverage loudspeakers. "I put these in for occasions when we have a conference and there are people not used to speaking onstage into a small microphone, although I haven't actually had to use them yet." RMS Remote Monitoring System is being used to monitor the installation. Pollheimer is confident that the new M2D system has increased the versatility of the Linköping Konsert & Kongress concert hall. In the past, touring acts would frequently bring in their own PA to supplement the installed system, but now this is no longer necessary. "This makes better financial sense for musicians and productions coming to perform here, as there's no longer the need to rent in another PA system and provide the manpower that requires," he explains. "Sometimes we're in a situation where we have a conference until 5 pm and a show in the evening, and the new system allows us to do a quick changeover, with no need for separate PA rigging. The safety risk associated with temporary installations has also been removed." The new M2Ds had their public debut in September at a concert by Swedish vocalist Helen Sjöholm before being put through their paces a few days later by Swedish rock band Nationalteaterns Rockorkester. "It was a loud show but it sounded fantastic and the coverage was great," Pollheimer says. "I'm also confident that whenever we put on a conference, every person speaking from the stage can be heard clearly throughout the whole concert hall." November, 2002 |
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