REDDING, CA – The Cascade Theatre, converted from a movie palace into a 997-seat performance space, posed a challenge to Jeff Darling, general manager, and also to George Relles of Eugene, Ore.-based Relles Sound.
Like other refurbished movie palaces, the venue's live acoustics could only be minimally damped without modifying the historic aesthetics, and flown arrays were out of the question.
"One look at our gorgeous ceiling murals and you'll understand why we decided against hang points," Darling said. "Our donors paid a lot of money to restore that artwork. We didn't want to blemish or conceal it in any way."
Ground-stacking was the only option, but the theatre's architecture presented yet another hurdle. Limited proscenium width-with every inch of stage needed for dance events-dictated loudspeaker locations far to the outside, making uniform coverage difficult without also splashing sound off hard walls a few feet away.
Relles, however, was confident that the horizontal control of the Meyer Sound JM-1P arrayable loudspeakers would solve this conundrum. At a Joan Osborne concert, he proved his point using tight-packed horizontal arrays of three JM-1P loudspeakers per side.
"The JM-1P lets me create just the right pattern for uniform room coverage, while a steep dropoff at the specified limit keeps sound off the walls and off the stage," Relles said.
The JM-1P point source system uses Meyer Sound's REM technology to create a 20-degree-horizontal-by-60-degree-vertical pattern. Relles's three-loudspeaker array projected seamless 60- by 60-degree coverage throughout the main floor and balcony.
"As soon as I heard it," said Darling, "I knew it would achieve the power and the coverage we wanted for our wide variety of concerts and events. It's great for sight lines as well. It's powerful, but hardly a giant box."
The installed system comprises three JM-1P loudspeakers a side, each atop a 700-HP subwoofer, plus two UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers as balcony fill. A Galileo loudspeaker management system with a Galileo 408 processor provide drive and processing. The system was tuned using a SIM 3 audio analyzer.
The Cascade Theatre's new JM-1P system was recently used for a benefit concert by Merle Haggard, a stand-up comedian, an Elvis tribute show, a church service and a HD video presentation of the San Francisco Opera's Samson and Delilah.
"The new JM-1Ps have been superb for every event," said Darling. "For the comedian, the vocal clarity was far greater than we'd ever heard before in this room. And for the opera, the transparency of the system made it seem completely natural. I've never heard a system that sounds more musical and more transparent than this one."
Relles, who keeps a stock of JM-1P loudspeakers in his rental inventory, was less surprised that a workable solution could be found. "The JM-1P is a whole new generation of Meyer technology. It's articulate, refined, and with an astonishing level of detail," he said. "It instantly became one of my favorite loudspeakers."
For more information, please visit www.meyersound.com .
