Dramatic Swedish Stage for Alcons

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Sweden’s National Theatre goes steady with Alcons
Erica Basnicki 11 January 2016
Permanent Alcons Audio LR7 system for Sweden's National Theatre

Founded in 1788, the Royal Dramatic Theatre – or Dramaten – is Sweden’s National Theatre. After several years of renting Alcons loudspeakers for events, the theatre has installed a permanent system in its main space.

Dramaten has seven stages in three different buildings. At the heart of the theatre is the 770-capacity Main Stage with a décor that is maintained as close as possible to when the building first opened.

“The challenge was to find a physically small PA without compromising in sound. We demand even coverage throughout all four levels of seating and a good stereo image. The available positioning for a PA was very limited because the building is historically protected, as well as considering sight lines,” says Dramaten’s technical project manager, Johan Bengtsson.

Swedish audio specialist Electrosound AB is a member of the Alcons global Ribbon Network and had rented a range of systems to Dramaten in the past.

“When it became time to replace the main system in the Main Stage, Dramaten asked me to do a full-scale site demonstration. I chose Alcons LR7 and LR7B as the best solution, because it fulfilled all their needs and delivered the added benefits of better coverage and sound quality. Tenders were invited for supplying the final system and Alcons LR7 was the winner,” says Electrosound’s Brollan Söderström.

According to Alcons the LR7 is a true line-source system, which can be deployed either in stacked or flown configuration. Loaded with the RBN401 pro-ribbon driver on a ‘morpher’ lens – which produces up to 94% frontal radiation – the system features 120° dispersion with seamless coverage.

The LR7B is a double-tuned bandpass bass unit. Featuring a single 12” long excursion woofer, the LR7B delivers high output bass response from an ultra-compact, weight-efficient package.

In addition to the LR7 and LR7B, eight Alcons VR12 two way, compact loudspeakers were installed as fills and monitors. The system is powered by five Alcons ALC Sentinel 3 Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers.

“The Alcons system has increased the overall sound quality, but from a system that is smaller than the previous one,” says Brollan. “The theatre is very happy with the LR7 solution.”

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Alcons Audio’s really big day in the Bay

The most watched event of the year, Super Bowl 50 starts not at kickoff, but about a week prior with a media circus that must be seen to be believed.
Alcons Audio, best known for its high frequency Pro Ribbon technology, provided the loudspeakers and amplifiers for the large media spaces within the media centre in downtown San Francisco.

Pro Ribbon technology, used for high frequencies, varies substantially from the standard compression drivers that have been used for nearly a century. Instead of pulsating forward and rearward to generate sound, a high frequency Pro Ribbon driver moves perpendicular to the driver’s exit, and is lighter than virtually any compression driver. The result is a sense of clarity, rapid transient response, openness, and naturalness that is impossible to produce with antiquated technology. The benefit is sonic accuracy, the likes that have not been heard before in large scale sound systems.

Of course no Super Bowl event would be the Super Bowl if it wasn’t swamped with media from sunrise to sundown. Media earns their place in the sun through a week-long series of endless speculations; will the Broncos stop Cam Newton? Will Peyton Manning return next year? And, of course, there are many live interviews with players, coaches, team executives, and other luminaries. Some highlights included the live press conferences before the game, and of course the pre-game, halftime, and post game shows.

Freeman Audio Visual Solutions, the staging company, and the NFL itself, selected and approved various Alcons Audio Pro Ribbon systems to fill the bill in the vast media centre. The man behind the controls was Martin Reeves of MDR Productions.

Alcons Pro Ribbon Loudspeakers were deployed as follows:
In the main Room 1, nine LR7 (6.5”+ RBN401 pro-ribbon) were used for left and right, with three LR7 as centre cluster and two BQ211 21” subs for low-frequency extension. The system was driven by two Sentinel10 four-channel amplified loudspeaker controllers.

In the smaller break-out Rooms 2 and 3 the V-series VR8 (8”+ RBN401 4” pro-ribbon) and VR12 (12”+ RBN601 6” pro-ribbon) were deployed, also driven and controlled by Sentinel amplified loudspeaker controllers, however here the smaller Sentinel3.

“The system is effortless to operate,” stated Martin. “So natural with tons of headroom and so transparent, no matter the power requirement it always sounds balanced. Who says your rig should be big to sound big! Alcons is amazing!”

It appears that not only was Mr. Reeves pleased, but the NFL and Media folks lavishly complimented the sound quality throughout the week. Even Roger Goodall, the NFL Commissioner, was seen with a rare smile on his face and made the comment: “It sounds good.”

“Oh, I wanted to add something more that cemented my belief in the products,” Reeves continued. When comparing the board feed to the live response in SMAART, I've never seen a compression driver track with any sort of high fidelity above 8Khz... Conversely, these Pro-Ribbons are tracking with unprecedented resolution and the board-feed to live is essentially identical. Impressive guys!” Mr. Reeves concluded.