San Francisco, CA (April 6, 2022)—The 1,400-seat Castro Theatre has long been a mainstay of the city’s cultural scene, and will hit its 100-year anniversary this June, once again offering film festivals and special screenings much as it has for decades. After an extended pause for the pandemic, the venue has returned under a new operating agreement with Berkeley-based Another Planet Entertainment (APE). A major renovation will begin later this year and will include a sizable audio overhaul, but until then, the venue has been using temporary Meyer Sound systems provided by rental partner UltraSound for events like the recent San Francisco premiere of the multiverse mind-twister, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
When APE first assumed management, one of the first orders of business was to upgrade the theater’s aging cinema audio. Mary Conde, senior vice president, reached out to Josh Osmond, director of operations at UltraSound, and he quickly supplied a replacement LCR screen channel system comprising eight MSL-4 full-range loudspeakers in an upper/lower configuration for even coverage of the orchestra and balcony: one pair each for the left and right channels, and two for the center. Three 650-P subwoofers supply low-frequency effects.
AES75-2022 Standard for Loudspeaker Measurement Procedures Debuts
Meyer Sound also supplied a small line array system for voice address in presentations and panel discussions during film festivals, and also appropriate for intimate acoustic and ambient music. “These interim systems have been a godsend for getting the Castro back up and running, and our patrons have noticed the improvement” says Conde, “but this is merely a sneak peek at what we will offer in terms of audio quality after the renovations in the fall.”
According to Conde, APE will be working with the Shalleck Collaborative theatrical consultants as well as Meyer Sound and UltraSound to develop audio systems that will be able to handle both cinema showings and live concerts. “We know the stakes are high, and we have to offer a system that can meet the expectations of discerning audiences that come to a world-class film festival—but we also need to offer sound reinforcement for anything from a director speaking through one mic to a rock concert, with consistent quality and clarity throughout. Meyer Sound is one of the few companies — maybe the only one — that can offer that kind of seamless quality in both music and cinema systems. I’m really looking forward to hearing our new, permanent systems, but in the meantime these interim solutions have helped put the Castro Theatre back in the limelight.”
