Hatboro-Horsham Auditorium Gets Performance Audio with Community IV6 Modular Vertical Arrays Clear Sound, Inc. has recently completed the design and installation of a new sound system for the auditorium at Hatboro-Horsham High School in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Located northwest of Philadelphia, Hatboro-Horsham School District comprises five elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, serving the Borough of Hatboro and the Township of Horsham in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Hatboro-Horsham High School is a comprehensive public high school that houses grades nine through 12 with an enrollment of around 1,650 students. Milt Kunz, who teaches social studies, is also stage manager for the school's 1,600 seat auditorium, used for high school events including assemblies, band concerts, and theatrical presentations. For the new sound system, Kunz turned to Yeadon, Pennsylvania-based Clear Sound. With over 40 years' expertise in all applications of pro AV, Clear Sound's team includes audio-video engineers and specialists in event production, system design, and installation. Chris Dietze from Clear Sound worked closely with Kunz to understand the multi-purpose requirements for the auditorium, enabling him to design a system that would meet and exceed the requirements for each application. Dietze had a long time relationship with Community and, having heard the company's new IV6 Modular Vertical Array at InfoComm, decided this was the best product to provide the sound quality, coverage, and performance needed. Dietze designed the system with assistance from Community's technical applications group. The system comprised two six-cabinet arrays of IV6-1122 wide-dispersion 12" two-way array elements, flown on either side of the stage. Each array included five IV6-1122/05 elements with a 5-degree vertical coverage and one IV6-1122/15 element with a 15-degree vertical coverage. IV6 incorporates physical- and acoustic-shaping tools that allowed Dietze to tailor the arrays to the venue. This included use of each cabinet's passive acoustic optimization module and EASE Focus 3 to calculate the ideal passive array parameters for each loudspeaker. This gave Dietze an unmatched SPL and frequency response consistency throughout a listening area without requiring additional amplifiers or DSP channels, an important consideration as he wanted to supply a system that was fully tailored but cost-effective. Clear Sound's Chris Hughes was the installation manager for the project. To deliver the audio quality and flexibility needed for live bands, theater, and public address, Dietze designed the system around a DiGiCo S-31 mixer with Dante, and Cisco switching. Digital signal processing and control is by QSC, with Yamaha amps powering the Community arrays. Stage monitoring is provided by four Community MX10 compact coaxial two-way monitors driven by QSC amps, and a Shure wireless mic package completes the system. Kunz commented, "Chris Dietze and Clear Sound had a real skill in their ability to listen in our conversations, and pick out the priorities and needs of our house. They applied common sense problem solving and sophisticated technical solutions that I know will serve our school and community best." Kunz continued, "The room sounds amazing. Those who knew the old house are fascinated by the improvement. It's seamless with clear and crisp sound that delineates every performer's voice. Music sounds full and rich with real presence and projection. The speaker arrays look attractive and dramatic and their sound matches their sleek and powerful appearance. Hatboro-Horsham School District is proud to work with Pennsylvania companies like Clear Sound and Community and we look forward to many years of great sound from this significant improvement to our theater." 
|
