Oakland, CA (January 8, 2024)—Getting named a U.S. National Historic Landmark is an honor reserved for some of the most important sites around the country—but it can make keeping those places appealing to current-day visitors a challenge. Oakland’s Paramount Theatre is one of those buildings, as the 3,000-plus capacity movie palace, first opened in 1931, is a sumptuous visual feast, but until recently, its audio system was irritatingly dated. Faced with figuring out how to bring the system up to date while adhering to strict historic preservation guidelines, Paramount Theatre general manager Jason Blackwell turned to Berkeley-based The Shalleck Collaborative for help.
While the audio update included bringing in Yamaha CL5 and CL3 consoles at front of house and monitorworld respectively, and four additional Shure Axient wireless systems, the real conundrum was handling the P.A. installation. Ian Hunter, a Principal at Shalleck, set out to overcome the limitation.
“We had to determine what size speaker system would be allowed, where we could hang it, and how to get uniform sound above and below the balcony,” he recounts. “I was nervous about it, but the MAPP-3D models produced by Meyer Sound using Leopard showed it would be okay, and I have to say that in practice it’s better than okay. The arrays push under the balcony surprisingly well, with power and clarity.”
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The system as installed by Sound Image comprises dual front arrays of 14-each Leopard compact linear line array loudspeakers, with the top 12 the M80 version with an 80-degree horizontal pattern, and the bottom two with the standard 110-degree spread. Corner fills are, per side, one each UPQ-D1 and UPQ-D2 full-size loudspeakers, with six Ultra-X20 compact wide coverage loudspeakers for front fill. Bass is supplied by four cardioid arrays of three-each 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements, with two arrays flown and two ground stacked. Eight MJF-210 low-profile stage monitors are available for artist foldback.
Two Galileo Galaxy 816 network platforms provide drive and optimization for the main arrays and corner fills via analog inputs, while the 2100-LFC elements and Ultra-X20 loudspeakers connect for both audio and monitoring data via a Milan AVB network controlled by Nebra software.
Since installation, the new system has supported a range of musical genres, including performances by the two resident companies, the Oakland Symphony and Oakland Ballet, as well as Mexican singer-songwriter Lila Downs, K-pop act Loona, and comedy show Festival of Laughs.
“Right out of the gate, without tuning, I was impressed with the output of the system,” says Drew Johnson, assistant audio department head at Sound Image San Francisco and the on-site project leader. “Jason Blackwell requested we play some Louis Armstrong, and it came through with crisp, clear musical tone.”
