Mueller College Performing Arts Centre situated in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia was officially opened on 30th May 2009. After extensive listening tests Mueller selected L-ACOUSTICS products to provide all the sound reinforcement in this new purpose built performance venue. Sourced from Random Audio in Sydney, this installation of L-ACOUSTICS speaker systems sets a new benchmark in professional audio fixed installations.
CLASS ACT
A school’s multi-functional facility that has its priorities straight. Mueller College is a Christian school that forms the education arm of a bigger-picture, church-run site that includes a retirement village and a childcare centre. Its new performing arts centre has been some 10 years in the planning and houses an array of classrooms, a library, recording studios (as yet unfinished), refectory, as well as the centrepiece 1650-seat theatre. On a Sunday it plays host to two church services. In short, here, in the sleepy northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia, is an utterly world-class theatre/church/education complex.
Audio in on The Ground Floor
There’s plenty that’s extraordinary about the Mueller College audio design. And then there comes a point where the ‘unusual’ tips over into the plain ‘unheard of’. And when Wyn Milsom from Random Audio (the Australian L-ACOUSTICS distributor) found himself gazing into a big hole in the ground where the new performing arts building would be, talking about the design of the L-ACOUSTICS Kudo PA… well, he must have thought he was in the Twilight Zone.
Wyn Milsom: “Normally in an install of this type you’re an afterthought, having to compromise and make do. But it was certainly an advantage to be able to see this project through from the beginning. Mueller College’s Don and Bruce Heazlewood are clearly audio buffs and they made the audio a priority from the beginning. I was really impressed by their clear vision and commitment to getting the best, even if it meant waiting and being patient. These guys have put years of their life into this facility and it shows.
“The PA provides more than enough power for a room this size. Mueller College was gunning for 100dB maximum and the rig will more than comfortably go to 110dB. But the quantity of Kudo is required to get full coverage of the room. The top three Kudo in each of the arrays covers the balcony, the next three covers the inclined section of the floor and the bottom two the flat floor area down to about Row 7, whereupon the infill (flushmounted L-ACOUSTICS MTD108a speakers in the stage) take over. “There are two SB218 (double 18-inch) subwoofers flown aside. These form part of the overall Kudo sound, taking over from the Kudo from about 60Hz downwards. During the demonstrations, Mueller College liked the punchier sound of the dV-Subs as much as the more enveloping SB218s, so additionally they opted to install dV-Subs on the ground (in the stage structure) and run them, almost as an effect, from an auxiliary send.
“Intelligibility is paramount in a system like this, given the reliance on the spoken word. Time aligning the front fill was quite painstaking but pulls the image down nicely for those people in the front rows. “Apart from the regular left/right PA, they decided they wanted to do 5.1 playback when using the big screen and projector. For this reason we’ve got surround speakers on both levels, as well as a 115XT Hi-Q centre speaker above the proscenium arch. The centre speaker also helps to fill a gap in the centre coverage – a gap that opened up in the design after it was decided the stage would be widened by a good six metres.
“Elsewhere we wanted all the speakers in the ante rooms, mothers’ room and foyers to be time aligned with the sound in the main theatre. This makes for a smooth transition when going in and out of the theatre. L-ACOUSTICS speakers are also well know for having great tonal consistency in its range and this really assisted in making it ‘sound the same’ regardless of where you are. So we have in-ceiling speakers and MTD108a’s dotted about. There’s even one going into the kitchen facilities.
“L-ACOUSTICS’ prediction software, SOUNDVISION came up trumps. The new version had just introduced delay finder and time delay characteristics features and the predictions and time analysis were right on the money.”
Auditorium System:
- 16 x KUDO L+R main system
- 4 x SB218
- L+R Flown subs 4 x dV-Sub Aux subs
- 6 x MTD108a frontfill speakers
- 1 x II5XT-HiQ centrefill speaker
- 4 x 115XT rear surround speakers
- 1 x 115XT stage left anteroom area
- Stage Monitor system: 9 X 115XT HiQ stage monitors
All powered by L-ACOUSTICS Amplifiers
- Control Room Nearfield Monitors: 2 x 108P
- Foyer Ceiling: 6 x MTD108a
- Refectory Ceiling: 8 x MTD108a
- Mothers’ Room: 1 x 108P
- Kitchen: 1 x 108P
More information on : www.randomaudio.com.au
This excerpt was adapted from an article that first appeared in AudioTechnology magazine www.audiotechnology.com.au