Broadcasted live from the historic Beacon Theatre in New York City, the 2016 Tony Awards says Firehouse Productions using a JBL VT4886 sound reinforcement system to serve the live audience from a compact footprint.

‘The JBL VT4886 offers an incredible amount of power and control in a very small package, and I’ve had excellent results with it on numerous live shows,’ confirms Firehouse Productions Lead Design & Integration Engineer, Mark Dittmar. ‘At the Beacon Theatre, which is an extremely small venue, size and taking up less space are very important. JBL VT4886 is a spectacular-sounding speaker in a very small package, which is a great combination for a show like the Tony Awards.’

The 2016 ceremony featured performances from the hottest shows on Broadway, including Hamilton, School of Rock and She Loves Me. With up to 30 lavalier mics on the stage simultaneously, it was important to manage gain before feedback, and en sure the live sound stayed out of the on-air mix. It was equally important to deliver excellent dialogue intelligibility. Finally, it was important for the arrays to take up minimal space and be hidden from the camera sightlines during the broadcast.

‘On a television show, we have to keep the PA hidden, but we also need great intelligibility,’ Dittmar says. ‘The VT4886 arrays worked really well and allowed us to place the PA in a space that other arrays wouldn’t fit.’

The JBL VT4886 features a true three-way system that is unique to the subcompact category, claiming exceptional sound quality and the highest SPL output in its class. The VT4886 also features a low-frequency diffraction absorber that eliminates cavity resonance and cabinet edge diffraction effects, which provided Firehouse with extra control over feedback. It is designed to deliver high-quality reinforcement of music and speech in a wide variety of applications, including concert audio and corporate A/V presentations of all types.