The major technical refurbishment was undertaken by the Moscow office of Russian supply and installation company LTM, and included the installation of a Alcons loudspeaker system in its 800-capacity main concert hall.

Chosen for both its acoustic quality and ability to visually blend with the hall’s décor, the main FOH system comprises 12 QR36 pro-ribbon line-source columns (each fitted with double RBN1801 pro-ribbon HF drivers and six 6.5-inch woofers), along with six QM36 line-source fill columns (with six 6.5-inch woofers) for low-mid extension in two arrays of 9m. For low-frequency extension, 14 QB363 bass columns were used, with three 12-inch vented woofers, forming two 7m bass arrays. Due to the length of the arrays, the cylindrical projection behaviour (Fresnel or ‘near-field’ area) already starts at 50Hz, eliminating room modes.

Also installed are five Alcons SR9 front fills with RBN401 pro-ribbon HF driver with two 5-inch woofers, with the system being powered by ten ALC4-ST and one ALC2-ST amplifiers, and controlled by 11 Alcons 24 bit, 96kHz Digital Drive Processors.

‘Alcons equipment was chosen because the hall is 16-18m from front to back, but around 26m wide, with most of the parterre seats beneath the balcony,’ says Andrey Zhelamski, Pro Audio Manager at LTM. ‘Using the line-source Q series we could avoid using speakers beneath the balcony but still provide a sound pressure of 110-112dB throughout the hall, with a variation of less than 3dB. Also, due to the line-source configuration, every person in the audience is sitting on-axis in the vertical plane with the system.

‘Further advantages of the system are that the Q series speakers are compact and have an attractive design. Placed on the proscenium arch, they take up a minimum of space and do not impact on the aesthetics of the hall.’

Once the system had been installed and final adjustments were being made to the alignment of the loudspeakers, LTM was asked to demonstrate the system to CDKG staff and a number of leading Moscow sound engineers. Using a CD by US funksters Earth, Wind & Fire, LTM’s engineers were able to prove that the Alcons system is funky in every sense of the word.

‘Everyone who heard it was really surprised and pleased that the system produces clear sound at any volume, without any distortion,’ Zhelamski concludes. ‘They were even more surprised that, when we turned on the eight wireless microphones and six hanging mics we have installed in the venue, there was no feedback whatsoever. Feedback is always a problem in such situations when using compression drivers, so it has further increased the respect for the Alcons brand to all those who were listening.’

More: www.cdkg.ru

More: www.ltm.com.ru

More: www.alconsaudio.com