McPherson Opera House in Kansas, USA has revamped a 19th Century building with an AV install that incorporates Tannoy’s QFlex. Tannoy claims the array was selected after the architect’s 3D models made it apparent that a traditional line array would not reach half the audience.
One of the most prominent buildings in the downtown core of McPherson, Kansas, the opera house is known for its superb acoustics and has hosted everything from Vaudeville shows and films from the golden age of cinema through to political rallies and suffrage meetings. Correspondingly, says Michael Dunn of Sounds Great Music, designer and installer on the project, “They wanted a sound system that performers would find not only adequate, but impressive”.
The refurbishment of the 1888 opera house was virtually a complete rebuild, Dunn explains, the final phase was the installation of the venue’s new lighting rig, and an audio system featuring Tannoy’s QFlex arrays.
Additionally, care had to be taken to ensure no damage was done, either during the install or during subsequent performances, to the venue’s fragile leaded glass windows, or to the plaster and lathe fresco above the proscenium.
With both aesthetics and coverage in mind, Dunn installed one QFlex 32 on either side of the proscenium to cover the main floor and the first balcony, while another pair of QFlex 24’s – mounted above the proscenium arch – cover the second balcony.
To flesh out the bottom end Dunn specified two Tannoy Power VS 15BP subs and hung them from the second floor of the Juliet balconies to either side of the stage. “You can’t see the subs,” Dunn says. “We ported them through the wall and then sealed the ports, so that even in the Juliet balconies, while audible, they aren’t overwhelming.”