RALEIGH, NC--With over 2,000 enrolled students, Meredith College, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the largest female liberal arts college in the Southeast. It has strong theater and dance programs and succeeds in bringing engaging lecturers to campus as part of a curated series. Jones Auditorium is home to both the lecture series and most of the theater and dance productions. Built in 1949, it seats 400 on the main floor and 220 in the balcony, and until dB Audio and Video came through this summer, its sound system was substantially older than most of Meredith's students.
In addition to poor fidelity and inadequate coverage, the old system had no capacity for surround sound and thus made movie presentations much less than they could have been. Frank Locklear, AV specialist for dB Audio &Video, Gainesville, Georgia, gutted the old system and replaced it with one that is centered on Danley loudspeakers. His tripartite attack included substantial acoustical treatment, modern digital electronics, and a simple, clean Danley speaker arrangement that delivers fidelity, power, and arresting surround sound imaging.
"The old sound system was probably the best that they could afford at the time," said Locklear. "But with today's technology, you get a lot more value for money. We were able to exceed the client's expectations while keeping this project within budget for several reasons. First, we build all of our own acoustical panels - that's a big cost savings. Second, even relatively inexpensive digital consoles and digital processing possess fidelity that far exceeds the inexpensive analog technology of yesterday, and they combine that fidelity with shear processing power and recall ability that was simply unimaginable with older technology. Finally, Danley's cutting edge loudspeaker designs overcome the tradeoffs of conventional designs, and they do so without requiring bi or even tri-amplification. That cuts down on expensive amplifier channels."
To reduce undesirable reflections and standing waves, dB installed a large number of two-inch, pressed-fiberglass acoustic panels on the side walls and on the back wall under the balcony. Because the thirty 4x8, thirty-five 2x3,
and four 4x4 panels were built right at dB A&V's facilities, they were able to match the décor of Jones Auditorium so as not to detract from its visual aesthetic.
dB Audio & Video...www.dbaudioandvideo.com
