The Greeks regarded Orpheus as the father of music. (Hermes may have invented the lyre, but Orpheus perfected it.) The Orpheum chain of vaudeville theaters, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reflected the confident and optimistic aura of the West Coast during those years, with the opulence and musical perfection Orpheus might have appreciated. The Orpheum Theatre on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles (about seven blocks from the Staples Center and the L.A. Convention Center) is a spectacular example. A high vaulted ceiling supporting ornate crystal chandeliers, exquisite plaster work, lush velvet seating, deeply curved unsupported balcony — and all eyes drawn to what might lie behind the classically framed proscenium arch.
From the burlesque stars of the 1920s through the likes of jazz royalty, Duke Ellington and — more recently Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder — the Orpheum has seen it all. Extensively refurbished in the 1990s, the theater now hosts TV and special events, and performances from contemporary touring acts such as Maroon 5, The Who, Nas and Adam Lambert. With opulence restored, the time had come to update the in-house loudspeaker system.
The New System
“The initial idea to have a d&b audiotechnik system came from me,” says head of audio, Jon Bullock. “The owner, Steve Needleman, trusted me with the decision. I do a lot of touring work and have used many of the current systems; for various reasons, I knew d&b would be perfect for this room. Despite my convictions, I still called a few sound engineers and asked visiting engineers for opinions; they all came back and said d&b would be great and certainly more than
acceptable to any touring band.”
The installation contract went to West Coast d&b audiotechnik partners, Audio-
West. Owner Glenn Hatch was familiar with the venue. “We had already done work with the Orpheum, providing rental systems for certain shows. The theater said they wanted the best; we all agreed that meant a d&b system. Although we were both very familiar with how the room worked acoustically, Jon and I did an ArrayCalc model together and we settled on a V-Series specification; a combination of V8 and V12 line arrays supported by V-SUBs and J-INFRAs for some extended low-end weight.”
“We looked at it from all ways,” adds Bullock. “The room acoustics are pretty good; it had some treatment done during the refurbishment in the 90’s and the sound is nice and warm and fairly tight, despite the huge vaulted ceiling. The big thing is the very steep and deep balcony. The room has a capacity of about 2,000, with almost half the seating on the balcony, and of course the depth of the balcony creates coverage challenges under it. Much to our delight, the long hangs of each V array reach right in under the upper tier; I left the old, under-balcony speakers there just in case but I have yet to use them. Thanks to
ArrayProcessing, the energy and frequency response is great, from the very top of the balcony to the front rows. Fact is, we haven’t taken it out for someone else’s touring system since we completed the installation.”
Bullock was also impressed with the integration process. “AudioWest did a great job on the install. This is a really busy venue and we only had two and a half days available, which was pretty tight. With the help of SAS Productions’ audio engineer, Mario Rodriguez, there was some extensive rewiring needed in order to use our existing patch panels and runs from stage to the amp room. We went from a 4-way active crossover system to a passively crossed system. Because of this, a good bit of the work was in the amp room. We went from 20 amplifiers running 20 speakers in pairs, to nine amps running 32 speakers individually. With the (d&b) D20 and D80s driving the system, things are a lot smaller and neater and I have more than enough horsepower. I am really, really happy with the system.”
The Real-World Test
To give the new system a true-life workout, Bullock had an ace card up his sleeve. “I brought in L.A.vation, a band I mix for on a regular basis. A U2 tribute band, they had played the theater previously. We invited promoters we work with, the owner and his financial manager, and other sound engineers to come and hear the new installation. The typical comment was, ‘It was night and day from the old system.” They all welcomed the improvement. Since reopening, we’ve also had a lot of positive comments from our patrons who are frequent visitors and other SAS Technical crew that are very familiar with how it used to sound. Hey, even the ushers have commented on the improvement! That makes the owner happy and that makes me very happy.”
At a Glance:
Orpheum Theatre
- Opened: February 15, 1926
- Capacity: 2,000+
- Stage Size: 50 x 30 feet
- Integrator: AudioWest
- Key Components: (24) d&b audiotechnik V12 in L/R hangs of 12; V8 front fills; (6) flown cardioid V-SUBs; cardioid J-iNFRA subs on ground.
