L&M Sound, Staten Island, New Jersey recently installed a Turbosound Aspect loudspeaker system using the new wide dispersion TA-500s and TSB-118 subwoofers in the multi-purpose Lerner Hall at New York City's Columbia University.

NEW YORK: When the Alfred Lerner Hall at Columbia University opened in 1999, it was the new center of campus activity for students, faculty, staff and alumni.The multipurpose Lerner Hall was designed and built to have the utmost flexibility in its uses, with hardwood floors instead of carpet and no permanent fixed seating.

Measuring 120' long by 80' wide, the Hall boasts 30' high ceilings up to the start of balcony level. The Hall can also be split into two distinct spaces by a moveable wall that separates the balcony from the rest of the room. "We can fit 960 people on the floor and another 365 people in the balcony," said Joe Ricciutti, a director in the University event management department at Columbia University, who oversees the technical services at Lerner Hall. "At times, we will have multiple events happening in the same day."

The only problem was that Lerner Hall's professional audio system was not providing adequate sound coverage to the space and was not meeting their overall needs. "I started the relationship with Columbia University's Lerner Hall by providing rental gear," said Lou Mannarino of L&M Sound in Staten Island, New York. "They would rent our equipment for events and activities in Lerner Hall - for everything from culture shows to meetings, concerts and other activities."

The Hall's previous system included a center cluster that was not covering the room properly, making for unintelligible speech. Plus, the two mix positions were awkwardly placed. "One was behind glass and the other was difficult to manipulate," said Mannarino. "The system itself was underpowered with ceiling speakers used as underbalcony fills."

Ricciutti also noted that the previous system had a fairly complicated and time-consuming patch bay system. To further complicate matters, the sophistication of events held at the Hall had evolved since the opening of the building. So in 2005, Ricciutti approached the University's senior administration to plead his case for an audio upgrade. "I asked that we try to look at the technology changes and improvements that have occurred since the Hall's opening in 1999. If we start with a clean slate, we don't have to worry about anything but the sound. We had the luxury of seven years of hindsight and experience to design and install the audio system we needed."

The winning bid was submitted by Mannarino and featured the new high performance Turbosound Aspect loudspeaker system. "Everyone else had specified a line array. The Hall is long and narrow and I thought it needed an LCR system for proper imaging," he explained. "The Aspect system can run full-range with or without subwoofers, making them suitable for a truly multipurpose space like Lerner Hall."

Mannarino's LCR design included a center cluster of four Turbosound TA-500 loudspeakers hung in a two-over-two formation. There is independent control of the top and bottom two cabinets in the center cluster to compensate for the acoustical changes in the Hall when the balcony wall is open or closed.

Left and right were one each of the Turbosound TA-500s. Four Turbosound TSB-118 subwoofers are stored in a recessed area behind the proscenium. The subwoofers' placement matches the flown left and right loudspeakers when pulled out onto the stage. The under balcony and front fills were replaced with three each of the Turbosound TCS-30 loudspeakers. Mannarino also addressed the mix position issue by expanding the options to five different positions, all accessible via a new digital snake. "They are so happy with the system, they haven't brought in a rental from me since it was installed," he said.

Ricciutti added, "The prime directive for the new sound design was that anyone walking into Lerner Hall must be enveloped in sound. The system needed to provide even coverage. It had to be seamless as I walk around the space and up into the balcony. The rest was up to the contractor."

For the utmost in flexibility, there are eight configuration choices for the sound system. Mannarino programmed the dbx DriveRack system with scenarios so the student-run facility could operate the system with ease. "The Turbosound Aspect speakers did more there than anyone anticipated," he added.

As for Ricciutti, he appreciates that the Turbosound loudspeakers help them manage the sound conflicts that often occur when there is a technical production going on down below and a lecture in the balcony. He explained: "The old center cluster would be firing at the back of the lecturer's head through the wall. The new Turbosound system gives us a better opportunity than a line array to control the sound. Its specifications matched what we needed."

(PHOTO CREDIT: Danielle Hobeika)