The Englert Theatre in Iowa City, IA is a renovated vaudeville-era playhouse now serving as a community arts presenter and 725-seat performance venue. Chicago-based Ayre Productions took the theater to a new level by installing a d&b A-Series Augmented Array system paired with KSL-SUBs.
“This install was completed at the end of 2022,” stated John Wagner, co-owner, Ayre Productions. “The venue contacted us to bring the theater up to date and requested d&b for their system to replace an old, tired point source system by another manufacturer. After seeing the venue with our own eyes, we chose the d&b A-Series as it suited the venue. Some challenges were working around the previous integration, keeping the venue looking the same without too many changes to the structure and finishes. Other than that, the installation was a breeze. The A-Series fits the room much better than a traditional array. By using less with the A-Series, we gained more overall.”
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The classic theater is owned and operated year-round by Englert Civic Theatre, a non-profit arts organization. The original Englert Theatre opened on September 26, 1912, serving as a stage, movie house, and housing space. Eventually, it closed at the end of the century after being sold. In 2004, The Englert re-opened its doors as a non-profit arts presenter through a public-driven capital campaign, and currently, the theater hosts a variety of events throughout the year, including live music, comedy, dance, lectures, screenings, civic events, community gatherings, and more.
d&b A-Series addresses the needs of many mid-size spaces where point source loudspeakers may not provide adequate coverage or SPL, and line array solutions exceed budget or impede sightlines. The ability to set variable splay angles and be hung as a vertical or horizontal array make A-Series adaptable to a wide range of spaces. By using d&b ArrayProcessing, further optimization of the tonal balance and level distribution throughout the audience area can be achieved.
The d&b system consists of four ALi60 per side, three ALi60 as center fill, (left, center, and right using ArrayProcessing) three 44S as front fill, three 10S-D for upper balcony fill, four 44S for under balcony fill, 10 MAX2 and on B6-SUB for monitors, all driven with nine 40D amplifiers (six on the main audio system and three on monitors).
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A DiGiCo 4rea4 for system processing and a pair of S21 consoles. “With the positioning of the A-Series, we were able to hide the system a bit to let concert attendees see the room more,” said Wagner. “And overall, the outcome was much more pleasing, both on the ears and eyes.”
“Working with Ayre enabled The Englert to install a system that, for the first time ever, was designed for its space,” stated Keegan Colletta Huckfeldt, senior production manager. “In addition to the feedback from patrons, artists and technicians alike notice the difference the d&b system provides and the opportunities it creates to provide higher quality art.”
