Rialto Theatre upgrades audio with Alcons
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The Rialto opened in the 1920s to screen silent films and vaudeville but shut in 1976, briefly reopening as a retail complex before closing again. The venue was restored in the mid-90s as a multi-purpose arts facility combining cinema, live arts venue and a community centre.
The Rialto’s sound reinforcement system needed updating and technical coordinator Dave Brull was tasked with matching a small grant with sound that would match 21st century audience expectations.
“Rialto’s design was fairly standard for the era, with many hard and reflective surfaces like plaster and maple,” he says. “The building is protected so there were a number of constraints to deal with, like preserving original features, and we had to try and provide high quality sound reinforcement for a much broader range of events than it was ever designed for.”
“Being a municipal facility, budgets are always tight and I had a difficult time in matching the available funding with bringing the venue up to the standard we wanted,” says Dave. “I spent some time making contacts, getting site surveys done and demos arranged. I had several of the ‘marquee brand’ manufacturers in - the quote from one was three times our budget.”
When Dave visited the USITT show, the breakthrough was made. “I spoke to David Rahn of Alcons Audio USA and heard a demonstration of the LR7 system. It was obvious it had characteristics which were ideal for our situation,” he says.
Supplied by Boulder-based Wind Over The Earth, the chosen Alcons system comprised eight LR7/90 per side with two SR9 MkII micro monitors as front-fills. Powered and controlled by Sentinel3 and Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers, the system incorporates the Rialto’s existing subwoofers.
“The LR7 can handle much lower frequencies than I was expecting and it was surprisingly painless to incorporate the existing subs. Acoustically the transition between them is seamless. Being on a tight budget, that was a real plus,” says Dave.
(Jim Evans)
