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Adlib Audio Installs Nexo Geo S at the Preston Guild Hall

At the Guild Hall in Preston, ADLIB Audio has completed the design and installation of an ultra-flexible sound reinforcement system, despite the challenges of the infrastructure. The result cleverly addresses the changing needs of the venue, using available technology from NEXO and custom designs from Kelsey Acoustic, as it hosts a huge variety of productions and events both theatre style and in-the-round.

Built in 1972 to mark the Guild Celebrations of that year, the Guild Hall and Charter Theatre is one of Britain’s most successful multi-purpose, entertainment, exhibition and conference centres, and is now renowned internationally for its presentation of entertainment and major indoor sporting events. The auditorium, which has an adaptable stage area, can accommodate more than 2000 people for a concert or theatre production. It is also used for high-profile sporting competitions, notably snooker, which is staged in-the-round.

The Guild Hall has been a regular client of ADLIB Audio for many years, using the Liverpool-based PA specialists for concert hires. ADLIB still had to tender for the installation, proposing a NEXO GEO S tangent array system that would address the Hall's principal requirement of sound reinforcement for conferences, meetings, theatre shows, sports and social events.

Led by sales manager Roger Kirby, the ADLIB design team was constrained by order of the management, which wanted to allow touring bands to bring in their own production equipment. Primary flying positions for loudspeakers were thus reserved for this purpose. ADLIB's installation manager Mark Burnley consulted closely with Jeremy Hunter and Ed Draycott from NEXO distributor Fuzion, using the proprietary GEOSoft planning and prediction software to evaluate different locations for the loudspeaker cabinets.

"We knew what the GEO S boxes were capable of," says Roger Kirby, "but the compactness of the cabinets was equally persuasive. We had about a 2 sq. metre footprint either side of the room in which to work. Additionally, there is a large canopy over the stage which is part of the original Guild Hall design, so we had to take its structure into consideration, which covers areas above and beyond the stage footprint." To compound the difficulty, ADLIB was given just over two weeks in which to complete the entire installation.

Either side of the 22-metre stage, two arrays of GEO S hang barely a metre apart due to space constraints. One hang, containing six GEO S805s and one S830, addresses the main floor space and the central bank of seats at the back of the Hall. Next to it, the second hang, with four GEO S805s and a single S830, covers the side of the hall. A centre fill of two cabinets takes care of the immediate front rows of seats. Three NEXO CD12 sub bass units are flown each side, hanging from the same bumper bar behind the main array of seven GEO S. Additionally, ADLIB has used its proprietary AA1214 640W 12"+1 1/4" cabinets to cover seats directly adjacent to the stage.

"The objective was a permanent system that could be adapted from a pros-arch application to an in-the-round application without a complete cabinet re-rig," says Kirby. This can now be easily achieved using NEXO's NX242 TDcontrollers. Careful calculation of GEO S cabinet angles means the system can, by disabling a couple of amplifier channels, be silenced on the Hall floor, perfect for applications in the round such as a snooker tournament.

Fuzion has supplied CAMCO high-performance amplifiers to power the system: two Vortex 6 units are used for the CD12 subs, and four of the new Tecton Series 32.4 drive the GEO S cabinets. All loudspeaker processing is managed through the three NX242 TDcontrollers.

ADLIB's ingenuity extended to the repackaging of the Guild Hall's control equipment, giving it enough mobility to travel between the control room on an upper floor to a mix position behind the rear seats in the stalls. Kelsey Acoustics supplied a 48-way multicore system, custom mains distribution for the amplifier racks, a new control and effects rack and EQ rack, and the multi-pin panel loom sets which allowed the mix control to be easily disassembled and relocated. Kelsey's extension multicores further enhance the flexibility of the system, and the main 48-way multicore incorporates a 48-channel record and monitor split which will allow the Guild Hall to upgrade its front-of-house desk at a future date.

Designed and implemented in close consultation with the Preston Guild Hall's in-house team, technical manager Richard Muirhead and main rigger Kevin Byatt, the system also has the distinction of being tuned and commissioned by two of the UK's leading front-of-house engineers, Andy Dockerty and Dave Kay, both directors of ADLIB Audio.

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Adlib Audio Installs Nexo Geo S at the Preston Guild Hall

23rd March 2007

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