SAN FRANCISCO — The Herbst Theatre, a 919-seat recital hall in San Francisco’s War Memorial Veterans Building, has a new sound system to go with the beaux-arts murals and décor that reflects its history. The venue first opened in 1932. Six-box arrays of Kudo gear with cream-colored grille cloths are flown on both the left and right sides of the proscenium, while four coaxial 8XT cabinets, also from L-Acoustics, are positioned across the stage lip for front-fill. Four additional 8XTs are mounted under the balcony at the back of the room covering the acoustically shadowed area, driven by L-Acoustics’ LA4 amplified controllers.
The Herbst Theatre and its adjacent Green Room host more than 430 arts, educational and cultural events each year. Approximately 70 of those are promoted by City Arts & Lectures, which has been bringing programs to the venue for 29 years.
CA&L executive director Sydney Goldstein noted that “our events range from simple onstage conversations with one host and one guest to concerts with conversation and multiple inputs. We record all of our programs for delayed broadcast on more than 170 public radio stations, but our primary concern is always the sound quality for the theater audience.”
Goldstein, who added that he was “amazed” at the clarity and richness of the Kudo system, had no qualms about making the investment in the system. Herbst Theatre A1 Dave Montijo added that the intelligibility in the room was improved dramatically enough that “five audience members returned their hearing assistance devices because they didn’t need them.”
The key for this particular installation, apparently, was in Kudo’s adjustable K-Louver panels.
“Obviously, it was imperative for us to be able to keep the audio off of the stage to avoid gain-before-feedback problems,” said John Bott, house electric and stage manager. “But, aside from that, the murals on the side walls above the box seats created a sound trap, and the fluted columns between those murals caused a standing 2k wave throughout the house.”
Bott credited L-Acoustics’ Soundvision software and Kudo’s internal baffles for enabling installers to “very nicely direct the energy to avoid all of those problem areas. And it’s amazing how precise that focus is,” Bott added. “If you stand up in the back seat of the balcony, a trained ear can easily detect a drop-off in the highs.”
According to Montijo, the full-range operation of KUDO was another selling point. “The fact that this system, without the need for dedicated subs, goes down to 40 cycles [it now goes down to 25Hz via the new LA8 software update] surprises a lot of engineers. But it saved us the considerable expense of having to add separate low-frequency enclosures, which we didn’t really have the room for anyway.”
Following the installation, the Herbst crew has gotten positive feedback from performers, including classical guitarist John Williams, who performed with guitarist John Etheridge.
“They liked the sound so much that they kept taking turns running out into the house to listen while the other one played,” Montijo said. “Leo Kottke was also in here on another night and walked out into the audience while he was playing. He actually stopped in the middle of his set and said, ‘Damn, this room sounds good! I want to play this song again!’”
In addition to working with City Arts & Lectures, Herbst Theatre also hosts numerous events for SFJAZZ (presenter of the San Francisco Jazz Festival), San Francisco Performances (recitals, jazz, dance and chamber music) and Another Planet (indie, rock, pop, hip-hop, etc.), among others.
For more information, please visit www.l-acoustics.com and www.sfwmpac.org.{mosimage}
