Parc and Dare Theatre
The Treorchy Parc and Dare Theatre continues to thrive as a working theatre despite decades of under funding and neglect. A recent change in management at RCT Council has seen this wonderful old building finally being treated with the care and attention that it deserves and the transformation, even in few short months, has been staggering. Neath Music's part in the overhaul of the Parc and Dare has been the specification and installation of a brand new KV2 ‘EX' active sound system. Theatres like this one need their in-house system to provide excellent coverage and enough horse-power to cater for anything from one man and a microphone, through to musical theatre shows and on to moderately loud bands: anything bigger will usually come complete with a toured PA system.The venue seats around 700 on three levels and whilst we have toured EX12 mid/highs and EX2.2 subs at this venue many times with no problem, the installed system needed some additional in fills at the upper levels in the form of the tiny EX6 active enclosures and one EX12 centre-fill flown from the ceiling. There are few sonic anomalies in this theatre; it's dry as a bone and no problem to work with but the left and right extremes of the upper levels extend behind the front of house PA and the EX6s were essential here. The centre fill covered the only other hole, which was at the centre of the top level. It's not so much a problem with a band or orchestra, but the dialogue in musical theatre shows needs coverage as opposed to volume, otherwise it can sound unnatural.
The system is controlled by the Apex Intelli-X 48, which is a very high-quality 4 in/8 out system controller. The Unit has 30-band graphic EQ on every input and since each element of the system has its own individual output with Delay, alignment, Parametric EQ, limiter and gain, alignment and level matching of this system couldn't have been easier.
Using the enclosed software, the Intelli-x was extremely easy and intuitive to use, with unusually all of the parameters visually accessible, so I could see at any point the flow of the signal chain. Also of applicable importance are the variable levels of security which can be applied, either a full lock out or allowing pre-chosen individual functions. Overall the sound quality of this unit is nothing short of superb and I will have no hesitation in utilizing this unit on forthcoming projects.
It may be necessary to add another couple of EX6s at the front of the stage to centre-fill the stalls - it's a very wide stage - but of course, the Intelli-X has a spare output to handle this. It has to be said that the guys at the Parc and Dare haven't had the luxury of that kind of nit-picking for many a year. They've have had a variety of shows in since the system was installed and it has behaved faultlessly in every case.
Adrian Bamford, Technical Director, Neath Music Pro Audio.
http://www.neathmusic.co.uk
http://www.kv2audio.com