The 98-room Gothic revival Casa Loma mansion is one of Toronto’s most popular sites for concerts and other social events. The early 20th century castle and museum boasts a glass-walled outdoor pavilion that serves as an event venue in warm-weather months. This was recently equipped with a new distributed system of Meyer Sound IntelligentDC self-powered loudspeakers.
‘I was looking at Meyer Sound from the outset as nobody else offers a comparable solution,’ says Wesley Thuro of Event Media Design, the venue’s A/V provider. ‘What we needed was a relatively small but extremely high0quality distributed system – something like you’d find as delays in a major symphony hall. It had to be equally adaptable to any musical style, satisfy any rider, and also be easy to install and remove at the beginning and end of the season. Meyer Sound IntelligentDC was the perfect fit on every count.’
A square structure measuring about 60ft per side, Casa Loma’s pavilion hosts two regular weekly music events – soul music on Monday and classical music ensembles on Tuesdays. On other days, the vinyl-roofed pavilion is a popular site for weddings, receptions, banquets and business meetings.
According to Thuro, a major benefit of the Meyer Sound solution is noise control: ‘We are in a residential neighbourhood, which means we needed a system that would keep the artists happy, deliver plenty of level to the audiences, yet at the same time limit sounds that carry outside,’ he explains. ‘With the new system we have uniform, high-quality sound throughout the venue with much less bleed beyond the immediate grounds.’
The system uses four UPJunior-XP loudspeakers as front mains, supported by three pairs of delayed UP-4XP loudspeakers and bolstered in bass by two UMS-1XP subwoofers. Two more UPJunior-XP loudspeakers are available as stage side fill when needed. All incorporate Meyer Sound’s IntelligentDC technology, which provides self-powered, bi-amplified systems without need for AC mains at each loudspeaker location. A single cable (no electrical conduit required) carries 48V DC power and balanced audio from two MPS-488 HP power supply and signal distribution units. A Galileo Callisto 616 processor provides drive, optimisation and delay.
‘With the Meyer IntelligentDC system, Casa Loma is making a long-term investment – something that will last for 15 to 20 years, if not more,’ Thuro says. ‘And because I’m the one who deals with the visiting artists and have to respond to their needs, I know that I won’t have issues when it comes to satisfying riders.’
