The 19th-century Aarhus Theatre (Aarhus, Denmark)—which hosts numerous theatrical, dance and musical performances throughout the year, and houses three schools for acting and theater arts—upgraded to a Meyer Sound M’elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker system replacing the original Meyer Sound system. The system was furnished by Meyer Sound’s Danish dealer, Nykøbing-Falster-based Hercules Productions.
“As long as I can remember, Aarhus Theatre has had a reputation as pioneers and trendsetters in Denmark, known for great sound and for their very skilled and creative sound engineers,” says Hercules’ Jens Couriol. “So we were very pleased when Kim Engelbredt, their head audio engineer, asked us, along with Meyer Sound Germany and the company’s European Technical Support team, to design new audio systems that would complement their unique architecture.”
The rooms were built well before amplification was a consideration, which makes it difficult to achieve good sound in them. And because it is a historic building, preservation of the structure is essential. After careful consideration, Couriol and team chose M’elodie for the task because of its power-to-size ratio.
In addition to the six M’elodies, the system uses five UPM-2P ultracompact narrow-coverage loudspeakers to enhance high frequencies at the upper-most rows of the second balcony and a row of seven MM-4 miniature wide-range loudspeakers to cover the front rows. A pair of CQ-1 full-range wide-coverage main loudspeakers located in the proscenium boxes provides stereo imaging for the boxes and the first balcony, while a pair of UPA-1P compact wide-coverage loudspeakers provides stereo enhancement for the second balcony.
Low-frequency coverage is handled by two 600-HP compact high-power subwoofers that are built into the proscenium boxes, and a pair of M1D-Sub ultracompact subwoofers provides low end to the second balcony. Two 650-P ultrahigh-power subwoofers are built in under the stage to provide extra low end for dramatic theatrical effects. A Galileo loudspeaker-management system using two Galileo 616 processors drives the entire system, including delay, equalization and level control.
“The self-powered design enabled us to control every cabinet individually via the Galileo system. It would have been almost impossible to adjust a system of more than 40 speakers without the Galileo and SIM systems,” says Couriol.
An upgrade in the main theater also meant an upgrade in Scala, the second room, and a new life for the previous Meyer Sound system still in excellent condition after 20 years of service. Using the SIM 3 audio analyzer, a L/C/R system was designed using two UPA-1C cabinets (upgraded from the original UPA-1A) in each cluster position, with UPM-1 loudspeakers for front-fill and a delay system of three additional UPM-1 boxes to enhance coverage to the back-row seating. One USW-1 subwoofer per side completes the Scala system.
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