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Maryland Sound recently installed a JBL VERTEC
line array system at the new Paramount music venue in Long Island, New York. |
NORTHRIDGE, California – Long
Island, New York has always been a hotbed of musical talent and now, Long
Island boasts a new music venue—the Paramount, a striking 1,600-seat facility
equipped with all the amenities to host major artists—including a HARMAN JBL VerTec® powered line array system. The system was designed and
installed by Maryland Sound International, led by project manager Ryan Beck.
Formerly the site of
the IMAC (Inter-Media Arts Center) Theater, the Paramount bears little
resemblance to the old facility. Beginning in 2009, the interior space was
completely gutted and underwent a total renovation. An entirely new audio
system was installed including 20 JBL VerTec VT4888DPDA powered midsize line array elements on each side
of the stage and 14 JBL MS28 compact loudspeakers located throughout the venue
as lip, under-balcony, VIP box and rear bar fills. Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers
power the MS28 speakers. An additional two hangs of six VT4887A compact line
array elements each were installed for use with the VT4888DPDA line arrays as
part of a 360-degree dance floor system. Crown I-Tech HD9000 amplifiers power
the VT4887A loudspeakers.
“The construction of
the Paramount was one of the most dramatic ‘before’ and ‘after’ transformations
I’ve ever encountered,” said Beck. “Previously, the IMAC Theater was a
plain-looking 600-seat room that occupied the top floor of the building, with a
basement underneath. The entire floor of the IMAC was demolished, along with
almost all the existing interior to create a huge space with floor, mezzanine
and balcony seating, a VIP box on each side of the main floor and a large
lobby.”
Once the initial
demolition was complete, the Paramount owners realized they had a jewel in the
making, with beautiful brick walls along all the sides going all the way to the
top of a gracefully arched ceiling. “The owners wanted to preserve as much of
its character as possible,” Beck said, “including architectural detailing like
a patterned metal ceiling and stone ornamentation that dated back more than a
century.”
However, that meant
Maryland Sound would have to work with some very challenging acoustics. “Those
brick walls and hard ceiling made for an extremely reflective acoustic
environment—and we couldn’t ruin the look of the venue with acoustic treatment
everywhere,” Beck added. “We went with the VerTec VT4888DPDA line arrays for the main system because aside
from sounding great, we knew their controlled dispersion would direct almost
all of their sound to the main floor, without bouncing off the sidewalls and
ceiling and exciting the space with excessive reverberation.”
“The layout of the
Paramount isn’t typical—in addition to the floor, mezzanine and balcony, there
is a VIP box on each side of the main floor, and there are bars underneath the
VIP boxes with a ‘sky bar’ section at the very back of the hall under the
balcony,” Beck noted. “We had to install fill speakers in all of these spaces.
The JBL MS28 speakers were ideal—they’re compact, full-range, play loud and
mount easily on a wall or ceiling.”
“When it was time to
fly the VerTec VT4888’s, we
realized we didn’t like where the plans indicated we had to hang them,” Beck
continued. “In most situations you’d just have to live with it, but since we
were installing the system at the same time as the main construction, we were
able to ask the contractors to install new steel girders at six different
points other than originally planned, and we re-did the rigging points right on
the spot. That’s something I’ve never encountered before in a club
environment.”
Maryland Sound used
HARMAN HiQnet™ System Architect™ 3.0 software to tune the system and the
interface between the speakers and the amplifiers. “It works so well that we
don’t have to use any outboard EQ,” Beck noted.
“We
are really happy with the way everything turned out,” Beck concluded. “We were
able to deal with a challenging situation and install a system that sounds
excellent, and does not intrude upon the beautiful interior of the Paramount.”
For more information on Maryland
Sound, please visit www.marylandsound.com
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