LEA Professional
Revitalizing Paramount Theater’s Sound with LEA Professional Solutions
Goldsboro, North Carolina
When the iconic Paramount Theater set out to redesign its audio system, the goal was clear: honor its historic charm while embracing modern performance capabilities. Enter Connect Series amps delivering cutting-edge solutions that perfectly blend the past and future.
THE INSTALL
The Paramount Theatre has a longstanding relationship with James Braddy, owner of the AV integration company on this project. So, when some of the existing AV systems started to fail, the theatre contacted Braddy for a complete system redesign and upgrade.
“Paramount theater has a pretty extensive audio system,” said Braddy. “They have a main hang, upper balcony delays, lower balcony delays and distributed audio throughout the building. They have a separate feed for the lobby and another for the rehearsal rooms and bathrooms so the paging system can page. Almost everything needed replacing.”
The project’s AV integrator installed multiple LEA Professional products including Connect Series 352, Connect Series 354, Connect Series 704 and Connect Series 1504 amplifiers to power the immersive audio experience in the venue. The CS352 is a 2-channel amplifier with 350 watts per channel, while the CS354 is a 4-channel amplifier that outputs 350 watts per channel. The 4-channel CS704 offers 700 watts per channel, and the 4-channel CS1504 provides 1500 watts per channel. All Connect Series amplifiers are professional-grade IoT-enabled smart amplifiers for any sized installation, support Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z selectable by channel, and feature Smart Power Bridge technology. With three ways to connect, the venue can engage the built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the Wi-Fi or connect to the local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable.
The CS352 powers one of the stage monitors, while the second channel is a spare. The CS354 powers the left, center and right lip fills, plus one stage monitor. The CS704s power the main left, center and right loudspeakers, upper and lower balcony delay speakers and two stage monitors. The CS1504 powers subwoofers on its first two channels. Utilizing LEA’s Smart Power Bridge technology, each subwoofer is supplied with 2800W. The remaining channels power the 70V lobby, bathroom and dressing room speakers, which are tied into the comms systems for paging.
“The Paramount Theater is a historic landmark and cultural epicenter of Goldsboro, so we had to be sure that the sound system particulars were worked out in advance and could adequately serve the flexible use of this space,” said Chip Cannon, Technical Director of Paramount Theatre. “The room tuning was easily handled by the LEA Connect Series’ onboard processing, which is readily accessible to those who need it via our integrated LAN. The state-of-the-art connectivity and pristine sound made these amplifiers a must-have for our theatre.”
LEA’s free SharkWare software was also utilized to configure a base profile and push it out to all the pre-staged LEA amplifiers. SharkWare includes amplifier grouping, offline design, granular user access control levels, locked speaker tunings and a graphical EQ. SharkWare also allows users to monitor the status of every amplifier connected to the network and the status and performance of individual channels. In addition, the software gives users the ability to view and adjust channel settings such as input settings, signal generator, crossover, equalizer, limiter and load monitoring for all LEA Professional Connect Series amplifiers.
CONCLUSION
The Paramount Theater has a full calendar of upcoming events, including comedians, storytelling, ballet, musicals and movies. With the audio upgrades in place, every seat in the theatre is the best seat in the house.
“LEA amps just work,” said Braddy. ”Connecting to SharkWare over Wi-Fi and setting up any device is great. Having the limiter calculator online, the presets and responsive technical support — I’ve been really impressed with LEA across the board.”
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