KINGSTON, RI – North American Theatrix (NAT) determined that Ryan Center, a $54 million, 7,500+ seat multi-purpose arena built in 2002 at the University of Rhode Island, could cost-effectively improve its sound using QSC's Wideline-8 Line Array technology along with QSC ADS52T speakers for the concourse zones, QSC CX series amplifiers, and QSC Q-SYS DSP and Control, with the goal of creating a redundant environment.
"The inherent challenge of the venue was that the intelligibility was very poor," said Gary Peck, NAT PM/owner. "There were around 50 very large boxes hung from wire rope and threaded rod located 60 feet over the gym floor. Some of the threaded rod stretched to the roof ceiling, which was at 80 feet. We used a 120-foot Genie lift to reach these heights, and chain motors to drop them. The transition was easy once the existing boxes were removed, and the new system was completed in about four days. A by-product of the change was both improved audio as well as improved aesthetics and sightlines."
The design and integration of the new QSC system was handled by Peck and NAT president, Jeff Mele, who chose the system specifically for its wide projection, processing and horsepower, and QSC's reliability.
"We wanted to replace the digital signal processing with a more suitable configuration for the line array program with 100 percent redundancy for the primary arena speakers and to satisfy the requirements for secondary evacuation annunciation," said Peck. "This system also has the horsepower to control all the ancillary systems throughout the building."
"Not to mention, QSC is one of the most reliable manufacturers we work with," Mele said. "As with any manufacturer, there are always limitations and QSC gets that. They know where they fall in the food chain and they do their homework to fulfill a void by asking questions from the proper sources.
"The venue now has a number of options for expansion as we are only using about 1/3 of the DSP I/O potential," Mele added. "Also, the venue now has more flexibility in control versus the switches, knobs, and dials installed in 2002. Looking ahead, the client will be able to grow with this system and not have to add more processing later."
For more information, please visit www.qscaudio.com.
