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Cohedra in Ahoy
HK Audio’s Dutch Concert Sound distributor Audio Insight supplied an HK Audio Cohedra Coherent Dynamic Response Array system for a six-day indoor cycle tournament at the Rotterdam Ahoy club in early January.
The system was set up as a flown centre cluster in the middle of the venue, to cover the audience of 7,500. The cluster consisted of two arrays of 12 Cohedra CDR208 mid/high cabinets, each with six CDR 210 F flyable subwoofers, to cover either side of the hall where the audience was seated. This small 2 x 12 setup covered almost all the audience area around the cycle track, while four sets of two VT115X multi-functional two-way speakers covered small areas in the four corners of the venue, flown closer to the audience and delayed as necessary.
Two hangs of eight CDR 108C Compact cabinets, each with two CDR 210 C compact subs, were used for coverage of the VIP area inside the track.
"Because the whole inner area had to be covered, and we didn't want an extreme curve on the array, we used four compact two-way VT112s to cover the area directly below the array,” says Audio Insight’s Toon Dekkers.
The system was powered by three PR16 and two PR8 Power Racks, with four VX2400 amps for the VT112s and VT115Xs. The system was controlled by a total of 13 DFCs (digital field controllers).
Audio Insight was contacted by the events department of Expotech to provide the PA system. “Expotech's Event department is expanding and at this moment they don't have a sound system capable of handling events of this size,” continues Dekkers. “This gave me the opportunity to introduce Cohedra to them and at the same time see for myself how it would perform in one of the biggest indoor venues in the Netherlands.”
Apart from the opportunity to demonstrate Cohedra to the client, the system was also chosen because of its quick setup time as all rigging, trussing, light and sound equipment had to be installed overnight. Another reason was a single central sound source is preferable for optimum intelligibility at the Ahoy due to the venue’s reflections and reverberation. And with the furthest seat almost 60 meters from the centre, the system had to be able to throw this far without too much spill.
Another potential problem surfaced when aligning the system, but once again Cohedra saved the day. “On the first show we measured 93 dB SPL noise from the audience,” says Dekkers. “Fortunately Cohedra was able to cut through this without any problem, and kept everything transparent. We weren’t in a position to just keep raising the level because the audience's ears would get tired and they still wouldn't hear what was being said.”
The system was mainly used for speech and DJ performances. Every evening there was an act performing to backing tapes, and on the Saturday a live band played.
“We had a very positive reaction to Cohedra,” concluded Expotech’s sound engineer Stefan Ottenhof. “Its performance compared to the physical size surprised everyone, especially where the Compacts were concerned. The ability to obtain 100 dB SPL at 50 meters with just 12 cabinets and still have plenty of headroom made a big impression.”
15th February 2005
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