MINNEAPOLIS – Hennepin Theatre Trust and their managing partner the Historic Theatre Group operate three historic theaters in downtown Minneapolis’ cultural district. With the recent installation of Electro-Voice line-array loudspeaker systems in both the State and the Pantages theaters, the two have added a little modernization to these historic theatres.
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Built in the heyday of ornate design and lavish detail, vaudeville theaters and movie palaces are often among the few remaining landmarks that bear witness to the history of their surrounding communities. As redevelopment threatens these icons of a bygone era, non-profit groups may step in to stave off the wrecking ball. But to win more than a temporary reprieve, these organizations must sustain community interest by presenting engaging events in spaces that offer a top-notch experience at all levels, including the quality of the sound.
At just over 1,000, the capacity of the Pantages is half that of the State, but there is nonetheless a lot of overlap in the types of material presented in the two venues. “Both rooms are used for all types of concerts, comedians, plays, musicals and dance performances, as well as receptions, graduations and corporate meetings,” says Steve Olson, Operations Coordinator with the Historic Theatre Group. “The system we installed in each room is intended to cover all those types of shows without needing to bring in additional reinforcement.”
The existing system at the Pantages was based on Electro-Voice XLC127 line arrays that had been regularly upgraded since their initial installation in 2002. “The HF drivers were upgraded as soon as the 127+ change was available, which made a nice improvement in the smoothness of the highs,” Olson says. “As subsequent component upgrades and design changes became available – like DVX woofers and FIR optimization filters – we implemented them as well. Every time we upgraded it was like we were getting a completely new PA, increasing the sound quality for our patrons. EV’s approach to upgrades definitely extended the value of our original investment at very low cost and kept our system meeting today’s standards of excellence.”
The biggest challenges Olson was anticipating at the Pantages were related to the balcony, both reflections from the front of it and coverage at the back of the main floor under it. “The front of the balcony can certainly cause reflection problems if the PA is not aimed correctly,” he says. “But the EV design avoided balcony reflections and made sure that the overall SPL level of the PA would be consistent throughout the venue, even at the furthest reaches of the balcony and under-balcony seating areas. The EV modeling program was spot-on, which made it possible for us to get the system aimed in a very short time.”
The balcony was also a concern over at the State. “The area under the balcony, which is where the engineers mix from, narrows down very low at the back,” Olson says. “George Georgallis did a tremendous job of designing and implementing the main speaker hangs to address this issue. And he complemented the mains with Xi-1082s under the balcony, which proved to be just the right combination to properly cover this area.”
In all, five Xi-1082s are used at State for under-balcony fill. The same model is also used for front fills, with four installed and two more for special situations. For mains the 24 XLC127DVX elements are flown in L/R hangs of 12 each just outside the proscenium, and eight Xsub subwoofers are stacked directly underneath, four per side. “The Xsubs have high output, and their size was a great match for the limited space we had to place them in,” Olson says. Subs, mains and fills are all powered by Electro-Voice Tour Grade amplifiers, with four TG-7s and 14 TG-5s. All 18 amps are equipped with RCM-26 cards, which enable FIR filtering and system monitoring via IRIS-Net.
With both systems now up and running, Olson is excited about the “clarity and intelligibility” of the final result. “The response to our PA upgrades has been overwhelmingly positive. Our regular clients have been impressed with the increased intelligibility the system has brought, and the improved sightlines that the compact XLD arrays have provided at the Pantages.”
Olson is also pleased with the way that visiting engineers have been responding to the new systems. “The engineers who come to our venues expect a top notch system,” he says, “and with our new EV arrays we’re able to provide that. Just this morning we had a band engineer walk into the Pantages and say, ‘these are my favorite boxes.’ Everyone knew right then that it was going to be a good day.”
