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Apeldoorn Orpheus Picks Meyer Sound for Concert-quality Coverage
Lying at the geographical heart of the Netherlands, Apeldoorn is best known as the site of the former royal summer palace, as well as for the beauty of its flowers and natural surroundings. But the city of 150,000 is also a place with an active cultural life centered on its municipal theatre and conference center, the Schouwburg en Congress Centrum Orpheus. The facility's two theatres, seating 700 and 200 respectively, were recently joined by a 1,300-seat hall with variable acoustics that allow it to be optimized for classical music concerts, lectures and meetings, or theatrical presentations including musicals, cabaret, and dance. Installed by Audio Electronics Mattijsen (AEM) of Duivendrecht, the sound reinforcement system chosen to handle this varied fare was designed around self-powered loudspeakers from Meyer Sound. First and foremost, says Marc Bruyn, sound engineer at the Orpheus, the new Wegener Concert en Muziektheatrezaal was built as a concert venue, with acoustical design by Artec Consultants of New York City. "Isolation of performance spaces from unwanted noise was achieved by using heavy building construction; structurally isolating walls, floors, and ceilings; and isolating equipment piping, equipment conduit, and ductwork," Bruyn details. "When a dry environment is needed for amplified speech or for certain music events, remote-controlled acoustic curtains within the auditorium can be extended to absorb some of the reverberant energy." Even with the venue's reverberation-control features, its underlying concert hall orientation remained an important factor influencing the direction of the sound system design. "The first thing that came to our minds when we started talking about the new sound system was a line array," recalls Bruyn, "because arrays would allow us to place the sound right at the position it should be, while getting as little reflection as possible. The acoustics made the choice between conventional speakers and a line array pretty easy." A primary requirement in selecting the arrays, Bruyn says, was that "it should be a system that could be used for all kinds of different purposes. The system should have a linear phase and frequency response, so every sound engineer can work with the system, regardless of which kind of music or theatre show is being mixed." Bruyn and his colleagues had been through a similar selection process before, and they were already familiar with Meyer Sound's product line. "We use a Meyer system in our mid-sized theatre," he says. "It has four CQ-1 wide coverage main loudspeakers, two UPA-1P compact wide-coverage loudspeakers, and two USW-1P compact subwoofers. We are very happy with it." Several possible line array concepts were discussed in the bid submitted by Theatreadvies of Amsterdam, the facility's audio consultancy firm, but a system based on Meyer Sound M2D compact curvilinear array loudspeakers was specified as the preferred option. After listening to a few other systems, Bruyn says, "we came to the conclusion that the system should be based on the Meyer M2D." To work out the specifics of system configuration, the design team used the Meyer Sound MAPP Online acoustical prediction program. "MAPP helps you choose the right system for the venue," explains Bruyn, "and it can also bring you to new ideas, because you can try things without physically moving the speakers. So it saves a lot of time." AEM's Jasper Ravesteijn agrees that MAPP played an important role in the project. "At first it was used for explanation and demonstration of the system," he says, "and later it was used to fine-tune the actual system design. MAPP was of major importance to the installation." The core of the time-corrected system is a left/right set of line arrays, with nine M2Ds on each side. "This array is the right size for the venue," Bruyn asserts. "It's flown between four and seven meters high, which means that the top four M2Ds are firing a little upwards. We do this to make the sound come more from the stage. We think the direction of the sound is very important if you want to make it sound natural." Bruyn adds that the line array is driven by an LD-3 compensating line driver. "It's a great design," he says. "You can tune the system very fast to the desires of every sound engineer." To fill a triangular gap between the arrays, the system uses a CQ-1 as center fill above the stage. In addition, six MM-4 miniature wide range loudspeakers are mounted in the stage as front fill to address the first two rows. "The MM-4's are very easy to use because of their size," Bruyn says. "The space where they were placed was very small." For low-end impact, meanwhile, the system uses two 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofers, cut off at 55Hz. "I can't believe how much power can come from those subs," Bruyn says. "We had to turn them down a lot." Bruyn says that Mattijsen "did a great job with the installation. AEM also does the maintenance, and they are very helpful and understanding. SIM 3 was used to tune the system and it worked out fine. But it sounded very good already, even without any equalizing." The result is a sound reinforcement system matching the versatility of the hall itself while achieving the Orpheus' goal of even coverage with minimal reflections. "Reactions have been very enthusiastic," Ravesteijn says, "especially about the 700-HP, which has lots of tight 18-inch punch. Almost everyone visiting the hall is using the system and is amazed by it." "The system works very well," Bruyn agrees. Comparing the Meyer Sound arrays to a temporary system he used in the new hall before the installation, Bruyn says, "I notice a lot of difference. The sound is more precise and has a lot more power, but we have far less reflections. And the great thing is that there's not much difference in listening, from the front rows all the way to the back." February, 2005 |
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