The new system features a Yamaha M7CL-48 console at FOH.
What opened as a single-screen movie theater in 1929 and then as a billiard hall in 1996 became the Recher Theatre (Towson, Md.) in 2000 — a 700-capacity, standing room-only venue — due in part to its acoustic qualities and tapered design. Owners Brian, Steve and Scott Recher (all brothers) were soon booking such artists as Iggy Pop, Slayer, Joe Jackson, String Cheese Incident, Liz Phair and many others, drawing from a wide array of local and national talents.
But as with any venue, as time goes on, the need to replace an old sound system became imperative for the club to continue to attract A-list artists. So the owners consulted with RCI Sound Systems (Beltsville, Md.) to come up with a solution. “There were some major obstacles to overcome,” says RCI Sound Systems’ Keith Nachodsky. “The owners wanted to improve sightlines to give concertgoers a better view of the stage. And, as the Recher Theatre hosts all types of concerts, the new system would need to faithfully reproduce all genres of music.” The company spec’d a NEXO Alpha System, citing its ability to handle high SPLs and faithfully reproduce detailed musical passages at lower levels.
The install team only had five days to complete the project as the theater had performance dates already scheduled. A Yamaha M7CL-48 was installed at the front-of-house position, while a Yamaha LS9-32 (expanded to 40 channels) now sits at monitor land. Four NEXO Alpha M3s and four Alpha B1s are flown above the stage, and two NEXO PS10s are installed on the downstage lighting truss. Six NEXO Alpha S2 subs were installed under the stage, along with 10 monitor mixes including sidefill monitors with subwoofers and a drum fill monitor with subwoofers. NEXO PS15 monitor speakers with LS12 subwoofers were also installed, with NEXO processing used for both mains and monitor systems. The system is powered by Yamaha Tn-Series amps. A PC at FOH networks with the M7CL and the LS9 consoles, and a new intercom was installed between the FOH and monitor consoles. RCI also brought in a transformer-isolated splitter snake, Shure and Sennheiser mics, and Whirlwind and Countryman direct boxes, microphone stands and cables. After the project was completed, all components were tested and the system equalized using Smaart Live.
