New York (March 3, 2011)—The 111-year-old Victory Theater recently updated its house audio system, turning to Masque Sound and Akustiks for the job.
The last sound system, installed during an $11-plus million 1995 renovation was beginning to show its age. New Victory director of production, David Jensen, said, “Anthony Nittoli had supervised the’95 install and is now a principal designer with Akustiks, LLC architectural & electro-acoustic design firm in Norwalk, CT. Anthony maintained his consultant relationship with the theater over the years, and I was fortunate to ‘inherit’ him when I came on board in 2001. In addition to performing annual systems service, he has also used the New Victory as a lab for systems testing. He knows this venue better than anyone.”
Nittoli and Jensen, along with New Victory Theater technical director Rob Leach, collaborated on developing a system that would stay within the not-for-profit theater’s fixed budget. “This is a very special theater, and it serves a unique audience,” Nittoli says. “I recently worked on a similar project in terms of budget and historical integrity. My experience with Masque Sound on that (St. Bartholomew’s Church) assignment convinced me that they were the ideal installation specialists for The New Victory.”
Following an on-site shootout between three speaker manufacturers, Nittoli and Jensen selected d&b as the best fit for the NVT, and incorporated a full complement of the company’s products on the project. A total of 19 D6 and D12 amplifiers drive the system which consists of both line array and full range speakers. The R1 system control was implemented to provide overall control over all speaker arrays. A Midas Pro3-IP digital mixing console, and three XTA DP 448 processors are used to drive the 26 speaker house system, while a Shure UR4D wireless package is used to mic visiting productions.
Masque Sound project manager Matthew Peskie reports the decision to upgrade to a 5.1 surround system doubled the existing number of speaker placements. “A primary issue was mounting the subs at a lower level which provided no room for anchors,” he says. “To resolve this problem, we worked with Philadelphia-based Sapsis Rigging to design and build custom cantilevers, to locate the speakers in the desired locations.”
Akustiks and Masque Sound also renovated and partially replaced the existing intercom system with a ClearCom MS 704 main station, RM-704 4-CH remote station and headsets. Additionally, they oversaw the electrical work relating to the A/V system.
“Due to the historic nature of the theater’s 1995 restoration, our crew, assisted in wire pull and termination by Live Wire Sound & Image, was keenly aware of the need for carefully tracking down existing intercom cables and devising aesthetically acceptable solutions for new cable runs,” Peskie explains. “This took time, but was cost effective and ultimately enabled us to reuse over 25 percent of the existing speaker and intercom wire. It also provides multiple options for reconfiguring the system for visiting company and 5.1 surround applications,” he adds.
From David Jensen’s perspective, the project was a total success. “We got a high-end install done right the first time. Akustiks and Masque came in on schedule and on budget,” he concludes. “The system sounds great, our staff, IATSE crew and most importantly our artists love it, and we were so pleased with Masque that they are now one of our ‘go-to’ equipment rental options. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this project.”
Masque Sound
www.masquesound.com
