AudioSpectrum: KF Series At Madison Square Garden
AudioSpectrum of Boston recently provided a total “in the round” concert sound reinforcement system featuring EAW KF Series line arrays for a Christian revival that attracted thousands to Madison Square Garden in New York. (AudioSpectrum Owner Rafael Jaimes is shown in the photo at left with one of the revival sound engineers.)
Held over the course of three days at the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” the revival was led by Reverend Dr. Jaerock Lee of the Manmin Joong-ang Church of Seoul, South Korea. The program, also broadcast to a worldwide audience in four languages, included messages by the Rev. Dr. Lee and other pastors as well as contributions by a 20-plus-member praise band
AudioSpectrum, headed by Rafael Jaimes and one of the larger sound companies serving the Northeastern U.S., began system preparations for the revival several months in advance. The stage would be positioned at one “end” of the arena floor, with AudioSpectrum responsible for insuring delivering 360 degrees of full-range coverage to all seating levels.
Over the past several years, the company has acquired an impressive inventory of EAW KF Series loudspeakers to serve the needs of bigger-scale events. For this project, Jaimes chose to utilize EAW KF760 and KF761 large line arrays flown front, side and rear above the stage.
“What we like about the EAW approach with line arrays is that it presents that deep true-concert signature that’s consistent with their other live large-format systems,” Jaimes explains. “It’s big, it’s present and there’s that certain musical depth, while vocal intelligibility remains a solid constant.”
The front-firing line arrays were each made up of 12 KF760 line array modules and two KF761 wide dispersion modules at the bottom that reduced the need for extensive fill loudspeakers closer to the stage. Dual “front-side” arrays flanking the mains were each made up of four KF760 and four KF761 modules, while “rear-side” arrays, covering a nearer field and wider area, included two KF760’s atop four KF761’s. And, the entire rear seating section could be handled with just four KF761 modules.
AudioSpectrum used the EAW KF760 Wizard software program to help determine array structures and also to calculate each array’s dimensions, weight and center of gravity. SIA Smaart-Live proved instrumental in evaluating and optimizing overall coverage as well as that in the critical zones between the arrays, and it was also utilized throughout every session of the revival to insure the system remained consistent.
Stage-fill coverage was supplied by four EAW KF850 full-range loudspeakers flown left and right in pairs from truss, firing downward, while the large band’s monitoring needs were met with 14 EAW SM84 compact wedges. Four of the company’s SM200 wedges were also supplied for all people speaking.
“It was very gratifying to walk the arena several times during the proceedings, experiencing the tight, clean coverage and noting that the attendees were able to clearly hear everything being presented,” Jaimes concludes.