The Millennium Forum in Derry, Northern Ireland, has marked its 25th anniversary with the installation of a Martin Audio WPS Wavefront Precision sound system.
The theatre and conference centre, located on Newmarket Street, opened in 2001 and seats around 1,000 people. The upgrade was supplied and installed by Rea Sound, which installed the venue’s original PA system and has supported further system work over the past two decades.
The venue began exploring upgrade options around two years ago, with a brief focused on increased headroom, clearer sound and improved coverage across the auditorium.
According to Roger McMullan, director at Rea Sound, the system needed to support a wide range of use cases, from amateur productions and school performances to stand-up comedy, conferences, rock concerts and large touring theatre productions.
Rea Sound specified a Martin Audio WPS system, drawing on its previous experience installing Wavefront Precision line arrays in theatres across Ireland. The venue’s team also visited other theatres to hear Martin Audio systems in use before the project went out to tender.
Installation took place during a short dark period in the Millennium Forum’s programme. Rea Sound completed the install in three days in early June.
The system comprises 12 Martin Audio WPS line array elements flown per side, with a further two boxes ground-stacked above a pair of SX218 subwoofers per side.
The ground-stacked elements help provide coverage below the lower balcony, supported by Martin Audio FlexPoint FP6 loudspeakers used as under-balcony delays.
Rea Sound also specified a monitor and infill system including six LE200 wedges and four CDD-LIVE 12 powered loudspeakers, selected to meet the higher output requirements of visiting DJs. The system is powered by 15 Martin Audio iKON series multi-channel amplifiers.
Coverage across the auditorium was a central part of the design, with the venue comprising ground floor stalls, a lower balcony and upper balcony seating. McMullan said the technical team wanted to ensure that the sound heard at the mix position matched the audience experience across the room.
Rea Sound modelled the venue in SketchUp before importing the design into Martin Audio Display software. Working with Martin Audio’s technical team, the company tested different configurations to determine array heights and physical placement.
McMullan said the finished system matched the modelling work, delivering coverage to “every seat” in the auditorium.
Chloe Harkin, technical manager at the Millennium Forum, said the system would transform the venue for both audiences and production teams, ensuring that “no matter what seat you’re in, you won’t miss a single syllable of what’s happening on stage”.
She added that the upgrade would allow the venue to cater for a broader range of production scales across theatre, musicals, conferences, rock concerts and community events.
Rea Sound said the completed system has received positive feedback from the venue’s technical team, visiting production companies and audience members.