Cork’s designation as 2005 European Capital of Culture means that the famous Opera House will be busier than ever this year presenting a diverse programme of music, theatre and dance events.

Lawrence White, Cork Opera House’s Head of Sound, chose Martin Audio loudspeakers, controllers and power amplifiers after looking at many loudspeaker manufacturers, auditioning other sound systems and gauging industry opinions on current touring and theatre systems.
The new Cork Opera House sound system, installed by Martin Audio distributor Rea Sound, boasts an impressive line-up of Martin Audio loudspeakers and electronics:

Main sound system
16 W8LM mini line arrays
4 WLXGS Hybrid™ subwoofers
Fills and delays
4 AQ5 dual ICT™ units for apron fills
2 AQ5 for corporate box delays
Surround System
6 F10 Blackline cabinets for rear effects
Fold-back
12 LE12JB for floor monitors
1 LE12JB + 1 S18 subs for drum fills
2 H3T + 2 S218 subs for side fills
Martin Audio DX1s provide system control via Martin Audio E1300 and MA Series power amplifiers.

Main left-right system design
Cork Opera House is a classic 1000 seat musical theatre with a horse-shoe balcony supporting the dress circle and upper circle. In line with other orchestral venues of the period, Cork Opera House has a large, acoustically reflective balcony edge for orchestra “fold-back”. The mix position is often placed deep under the balcony so split W8LM arrays were designed to avoid sound shadows and make the system more versatile. The final layout comprises four ground-stacked W8LMs per side to cover the stalls and under-balcony and four low-flown W8LMs per side for the dress circle and upper circle.

The floor W8LMs are placed on two WLXGS subs per side. These systems may be floor or stage mounted depending on set designs. The dress circle and upper circle W8LMs are flown fairly low and tilted up to the rear (upper circle) seats to maintain stage imaging.

The rear walls of the opera house are treated with acoustic diffusers which reduce slap-back whilst maintaining a nicely balanced reverberant “tail” for orchestral work.

Upper and lower W8LM heights and angles were calculated using Martin Audio’s ViewPoint™ software.
Coverage was optimised using Martin Audio’s new DISPLAY™ 3-D prediction programme.

Sub bass system
W8LMs can either be used full-range for general sound reinforcement or coupled to WLX Series subwoofers for very high power applications.

Cork Opera House is used for a very wide variety of musical events (including the very popular New Year’s Eve Party) so Martin Audio WLXGS Hybrid™ subwoofers were specified to extend the low bass response to below 40Hz.

The stalls/sub-woofer system can be positioned on the floor either side of the orchestra pit or on the stage wings – depending on set requirements.

Fills and delays
Four Martin Audio AQ5 loudspeakers are used as stage apron and corporate box fills.

These new Architectural Series loudspeakers are ultra-compact, wide coverage, dual ICT™ units. Their 120° coverage produces smooth sound distribution along the stage apron without the usual hot-spots.

System Versatility
Different control presets have been programmed into a Martin Audio DX1 Speaker Management System to cater for different stalls stack positions whilst ensuring that sound images are locked to the stage for the balcony audience.

With productions varying from stand-up comedy to drama and from rock concerts to musicals like Fame and The Ha’penny Bridge, the moveable W8LM/WLXGS stalls stack and low-strung circle systems have proven to be both very powerful and extremely versatile for their relatively small size.