Opened in 1982 at Pier 86 on the West Side of Manhattan, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is built into and around the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, which served tours of duty in World War II and the Vietnam War and was a recovery vessel for the Gemini and Mercury space missions.

Attracting more than a million visitors each year, its audiovisual requirements cover the 247-seat Allison & Howard Lutnick Theater and various public areas. Recently, the museum turned to Metro Sound Pros for an updated system based on Symetrix Radius-series DSPs provided by A/V specialist, Cardone, Solomon & Associates.

‘The Lutnick Theater is a multipurpose space for movie playback, sound reinforcement, panel discussions, press events, and screening of feature films,’ says Cardone, Solomon & Associates Regional Sales and Product Manager, Richard Trombitas. ‘It integrates multiple audio sources and multiple wireless microphones.’ The theater features an NEC-1600 digital cinema projector, a 28 x 16-ft screen with 16:9 aspect ratio, and Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound and accommodates Blu-ray, DVD, and computer input, as well as microphones.

‘The design concept was to create multiple presets for the different functions and to simplify I/O expandability,’ adds Metro Sound Pros Senior Designer, Leo Garrison. ‘Thanks to the Symetrix Radius DSP’s processing power, we were able to easily accommodate the theater’s multiple uses.’

The Lutnick Theater’s new system employs a Radius AEC, which provides a complete audio AEC solution in a single box, with dedicated wide band processing, zero-latency direct outputs, scalable 64x64 Dante networking, and input from mic/line or internally routed signals. It is equipped with eight AEC inputs, four aux inputs and eight outputs, and can be expanded with any Symetrix audio I/O option card. The Radius AEC in the Lutnick Theater is equipped with Symetrix xIn 12 and xOut 12 Dante-enabled analogue expanders.

‘Using Dante-enabled Radius products satisfied multiple needs that occur within the ship’s audio visual department,’ Trombitas says. ‘Any future needs the ship may have with regard to expansion or new concepts that come up from the A/V staff can now be easily addressed.’

‘With the everyday changes on the Intrepid, the choice of Symetrix was beyond ideal,’ Garrison agrees. ‘The Symetrix family of products simplified the expandability currently needed and moving forward.’

The Lutnick Theater is by not the only part of the Intrepid Museum to benefit from Symetrix processing. ‘We also installed a Symetrix Radius 12x8 EX DSP down in the Welcome Center, which has a restaurant, and that DSP also serves the exterior pier,’ Garrison says. The Intrepid pier offers direct access to the Hangar Deck and Flight Deck and provides a versatile and park-like space for corporate picnics, concerts, festivals, seated dinners, and many other types of outdoor events.

The Radius 12x8 EX DSP features a configurable input/output option card slot, 64x64 scalable Dante, 12 analogue mic/line inputs, and eight analogue outputs. ‘We installed the Radius 12x8 EX with xIn 12 and xOut 12 Dante-enabled analog expanders, and in addition to its other functions, it enables us to control all of the delays throughout the site,’ Garrison notes. ‘Thanks to the Radius, the pier and the Welcome Center have powerful, networked A/V capabilities that we can expand as needed.’

With its changing programmes, exhibits and event spaces, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is worth repeat visits: ‘We aren’t concerned about meeting future A/V needs as the museum develops,’ Garrison observes. ‘The Symetrix Radius-based systems we installed can handle anything the museum needs now and in the foreseeable future, and in addition to their features and expandability, the Radius DSPs sound great.’

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