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KV2 Audio upgrades Octagon Theatre’s immersive auditorium

The Octagon Theatre in Bolton, UK, welcomes a creative selection of bold and adventurous productions. From collaborative community projects to large-scale touring shows, its immersive auditorium is the heart of every performance. Here, the Octagon Theatre’s in-house team conducts regular quality checks to ensure all assets perform to their full potential, which recently led to the installation of a new KV2 Audio PA system.

The existing sound system was beginning to show its age. “As part of the Octagon’s long-term strategy for fixed assets, the in-house team identifies areas of concern before the equipment fails”, says Chris Whitwood, the theatre’s Head of Production. “The old system did not provide sufficient coverage across the auditorium and no longer delivered the clarity and versatility required for the scale and ambition of the theatre’s programme.”

“The auditorium is fully flexible, offering in-the-round, thrust, and end-on configurations for immersive audience experiences”, continues Whitwood. “Therefore, we needed a new system that would deliver reliable audio without the need for intensive equalisation work and re-rigging before every use.” Having collaborated with the theatre’s in-house team on previous occasions, the venue’s audio partner, dBS Solutions, was invited to design a new PA system suited to the theatre’s stage setup.

“The theatre required a system that delivers coverage across all audience spaces - including the balcony - for intelligibility and a cohesive sound image to complement the existing delay loudspeakers”, explains Chris Bogg, Director of dBS Solutions. During past productions, Bogg had implemented KV2’s EX and ESD series loudspeakers, so “when it came time to upgrade to a permanent PA system, KV2 was the obvious choice”, he states.

Chris Bogg collaborated with the Octagon Theatre’s in-house engineer, Gerry Marsden, to identify the most suitable loudspeaker solutions for the venue’s infrastructure, eventually landing on KV2’s passive ESD series. “We deployed a central cluster of five ESD10  loudspeakers, which now delivers even coverage across the entire audience when used in-the-round, whilst maintaining flexibility for other stage configurations”, details Bogg. “We also integrated KV2’s linear ESP amplifier series outside of the main auditorium to minimise ambient noise.”

(Photo: KV2 Audio)

www.kv2audio.com

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