Prestigious Sydney school benefits from Bosch

AUSTRALIA: A concert hall within Sydney’s famous Abbotsleigh School has been equipped with a Bosch audio solution following a project by local systems integrator Noisebox Integrated Technologies. The project included a wealth of Electro-Voice loudspeakers plus Bosch’s Plena matrix systems and headsets from Telex.

Located in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, Abbotsleigh School is an Anglican day and boarding school known in part for its prestigious music and performing arts programmes. It is also home to the Peter Duly Concert Hall, a 350-seat tiered space used for musical performances, school presentations and awards ceremonies. In an effort to replace the hall’s ageing sound system, John McCauley from Noisebox Integrated Technologies was called upon to design and construct a new solution, with Bosch’s senior engineer Bryan Davidson helping to fine-tune the design.

However the project was not without its challenges. While the Peter Duly Concert Hall boasts excellent acoustic properties, its tiered seating creates restricted sight-lines, thereby complicating the loudspeaker layout. The existing air conditioning systems located within the hall’s ceiling also presented difficulties in terms of positioning.

The solution now comprises three Electro-Voice EVF 1122 two-way front loaded loudspeakers in a left-centre-right configuration, with the centre channel used primarily for speech and left and right channels used for music and sound reinforcement. Crucially, the centre EVF 1122 has a horizontal dispersion of 120-degrees, while the the left and right enclosures both produce 90-degree horizontal coverage. Additionally, two further EVF 1122 cabinets have been installed as side-fills along with a row of well-hidden EVU-2082 compact monitors for front-fill. The system is driven and controlled by an EV NetMax N8000.

Elsewhere, two Bosch Plena systems have been installed to matrix the stage wireless systems and other peripheral devices, enabling users to adjust zones with an iPad or iPhone. The Plena matrix PLM-8M8’s systems feed into the NetMax N8000, and then in turn the CPS4.10 and CPS4.5 amplifiers. Telex MS2002, BP2002, and PH-1 headsets have also been provided for the wired intercom system. Finally, EViD C8.2 ceiling speakers deliver BGM and paging into the hall’s foyer area.

David Beattie, Abbotsleigh’s A/V technician and project manager for the upgrade, was quick to praise the results. ‘Audio technology has become a big part of everyday life at our school,’ he said. ‘We recognised that installing a high quality sound system would provide reliability, be effective in its purpose and basically just sound great. The Bosch system ticks all those boxes. I am confident that this system will continue to impress for years to come. I would definitely consider a Bosch system for any future installs at our school.’

www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au
www.Boschcommunications.com.au
www.noisebox.com.au