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EAW helps historic Mabel Tainter Theater preserve its heritage with custom-crafted sound system

With hand-carved woodwork, hand-painted stenciling, angled surfaces and a uniquely shaped auditorium originally designed for Vaudeville theater, The Mabel Tainter Theater in Menomonie, Wisconsin, built in 1889, is both visually stunning and acoustically unconventional. Today, it hosts everything from plays and musicals to concerts, weddings and community events.

The venue’s previous system, a point-source setup installed in 2007, struggled to keep up with the demands of modern productions. “It was difficult to get any meaningful gain before feedback with actor microphones”, says Spencer Berndt, Technical Facilities Manager at The Mabel Tainter. “And balancing the pit with the stage was always a challenge. I could make certain things quieter, but I couldn’t make the actors or pit any louder.”

Systems Engineer and Integration Designer Jonathan Harlfinger, of Metro Sound & Video, says he immediately recognized the AC6 as the right fit. “When I saw these speakers debut at a trade show, I told Spencer, ‘These would be a fantastic fit’,” he states. “We’ve used them in large cathedrals and smaller contemporary churches, and they’ve always performed well. The size, the performance, the flexibility - it all made sense for a space like this.”

The AC6 also needed to visually disappear into the venue’s ornate proscenium. That meant custom paint. Working closely with Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW), the team embarked on a meticulous color-matching process using Rosco’s Metallix paint line. After testing multiple blends, they landed on an 80-percent bronze, 20-percent gold mixture that matched the surrounding woodwork under the venue’s lighting conditions.

Then came the stenciling. Berndt enlisted local artist Wade Lambrigsten, owner of Vintage Sign Shop, who handles much of the venue’s decorative work, to recreate the building’s historic stencil pattern directly onto the speaker grills. EAW shipped the grills separately so the artwork could be applied before final assembly. “It was a dance”, Berndt laughs. “But absolutely worth it. In low light, you almost can’t even tell the speakers are there. People who come to shows don’t even notice visually that we installed a new system.”

Beyond aesthetics, AC6 has dramatically improved the venue’s sound fidelity and flexibility, according to Harlfinger. For Berndt, the upgrade has unlocked entirely new workflow possibilities: “One of the biggest things is that I can finally use area microphones”, he says. “Before, stage sound was such a big issue. Now I can capture more of the space, create a better stereo image and actually mix the pit without worrying about feedback.”

AC6’s Adaptive technology, paired with EAW’s Resolution software, gives The Mabel Tainter control over where sound goes inside its auditorium. Coverage can be shaped and adjusted to match the room’s angled surfaces and varied seating areas, directing sound to the audience and away from reflective surfaces that have long worked against the space’s acoustics.

(Photos: EAW)

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