Making its first EM Acoustics Halo-C sales in New Zealand, Showtechnix has installed a loudspeaker system in the Forum North cultural and entertainment centre in Whangerei for the Capitaine Bougainville theatre, and also sold a system to sound production and hire specialists, BounceNZ. Brought in by Showtechnix as advisor to the Forum North project, BounceNZ owner and live sound engineer Glen Ruske subsequently took a full Halo-C system for his own company.

Forum North replaced an outdated system in the Capitaine Bougainville theatre, on the basis of audio quality, future expansion and limited budget: ‘We wanted a system that would provide quality sound and coverage throughout the theatre and that would last us at least ten or even 20 years,’ says Forum North Technical Manager, Ben Brittliff.

‘Our old system had been in place since 1985, and whilst it was one of the premium systems of its time, it was definitely showing its age and was no longer capable of handling the kinds of shows we are doing,’ he explains. ‘We hadn’t caught on to the international buzz about EM Acoustics until we met Dave Shepard from EM and Martin McNally from Showtechnix at the annual Evanz conference, but having heard the system there and discussed its capabilities in details with Dave and Martin, we knew this was the right choice for us.

‘The system is so compact that at first, the power they generate is a little surprising. However the technology inside these discreet units meant that they outperformed many of the larger, more cumbersome systems we had been considering. Once we’d heard it, there was no doubting why Halo-C has been chosen for venues like the Royal Albert Hall.’

The full Forum North system comprises 12 Halo-C line array cabinets (three per side for the upper balcony and three per side for the stalls), two EMS-122W loudspeakers for the central cluster and two EMS-118 subwoofers. This is supported by EMS-61 under balcony delay and two EMS-51 boxes for front fill. Power and control com from an EM Acoustics AQ-10 power amplifier driving three Halo-C boxes per channel.

Showtechnix looked to the expertise of Glen Ruske to calculate, align and EQ the system for Forum North – the first time he had worked with a Halo-C system: ‘I was amazed at how flat the Halo-C elements were straight out of the box, and how transparent they sounded,’ he says. ‘The cabinets are discreet, compact and sound fantastic – a really flexible option and absolutely perfect for the live theatre work we do all over New Zealand. We need a multi-use system to cover other applications as well and we feel that we can use Halo-C on pretty much anything, from corporate work to a complete LCR system for theatre. It really does punch above its weight.

‘We also purchased EM Acoustics amps and processors for flexibility,’ Ruske adds. ‘It made complete sense as a package; the processors aren’t locked with the manufacturer’s presets unlike some other brands, so we can use them with our other systems as well which is obviously a bonus and a great ROI. It’s an all-round great system and we’re very pleased with it. It’s performed so well for us that we decided to invest in some of EM’s smaller systems as well for delay/fill or even as a small stand-alone system, so we’ve added 12 EMS-51s to our hire stock.’

In all, the BounceNZ system comprises 24 Halo-C line array cabinets, four Halo-CS compact flyable subwoofers, four AQ-10 power amplifiers, two DSC48 system controllers and 12 x EMS-51 ultra-compact delay/fill speakers.

More: www.emacoustics.co.uk