SAN DIEGO, CA — The University of California, San Diego (UCSD)’s 150-seat Experimental Theater, part of the $53 million Conrad Prebys Music Center, has been equipped with Meyer Sound’s Constellation electroacoustic architecture. “We decided early on that the Experimental Theater should have variable acoustics to allow a greater scope for musical expression,” said Peter Otto, the school’s director of music technology. “Our building committee evaluated both physical systems and several electronic systems. In the end, Constellation made the most sense, both musically and economically.”
Otto added that the space can be converted into a variety of environments, going beyond what would be possible with mechanical systems, including reverberation times up to two seconds. “Then, with the push of a touch-screen button, the room instantly becomes an ideal lecture hall, where teachers and students can hear each other clearly without resorting to the hassles of installing a PA system.”
The Experimental Theater system, based on VRAS technology, uses one MS-Constellation master processor, three MS-VRAS processors, 24 cardioid microphones spaced overhead, 40 MM-4XP self-powered miniature loudspeakers overhead and on the walls, and 10 compact UMS-SM subwoofers for extending response to the lower registers.
The complete system also includes nine UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers and two 500-HP subwoofers, which can be either integrated into Constellation or used separately as a 7.1 surround system.
Eight presets are programmed into the system to accommodate uses ranging from lectures and conferences to chamber music and “otherworldly” electronic compositions. Five different reverberation times (including off) between 0.4 and 2.0 seconds are coupled to varying combinations of early decay time and reverberation time to create the eight room characteristics.
As with all Constellation systems, Meyer Sound’s Constellation team handled all design and commissioning, working with principal architect Mark Reddington of Seattle-based LMN Architects. Sound Image of Escondido, Calif. installed the system under the lead of Glenn Peacock, division director.
According to Peacock, the UCSD Constellation project was the first of its kind for his company, though others are already in the works. “I can definitely tell you that Constellation is in a class by itself in electroacoustics,” he says. “The latitude it offers for digitally managing a listening experience goes significantly beyond the other systems I’ve heard.”
The centerpiece of the Conrad Prebys Music Center is the 400-seat Cyril Harris-designed concert hall, which is equipped with a Meyer Sound surround system. Designed in collaboration with Ashton Taylor of HFP Acoustical Consultants in Houston, the space features 12 Meyer Sound UPJ-1P loudspeakers, each calibrated to blend with the room acoustics. “The UPJs have the musicality, the openness, and the transparency we needed for a wide variety of sounds, from orchestral instruments to jazz and electronic,” said Otto. “It’s the standard speaker that we’re using throughout the building.”
The third large performance space in the music center, a 150-seat rehearsal/recital hall, employs a surround system of seven UPJ-1P loudspeakers. All AV systems in the concert and recital/rehearsal halls were designed in consultation with Ron Simonson of CCI Solutions in Olympia, Wash., with installation by Anderson Audio Visual of San Diego.
Additional Meyer Sound loudspeakers and Matrix3 audio show control systems are deployed at UCSD’s nearby Atkinson Hall, home of the CalIT2 Research Center. The building’s Digital Cinema Auditorium uses Cinema Experience loudspeakers as a complement to its 4k digital video projection, while more than two dozen UltraSeries and miniature MM-4 loudspeakers provide audio support in the black box theater and two virtual reality environments.
For more information, please visit www.meyersound.com.
