I’ve used Adlib in a live situation and now I’m using Adlib in an install situation and it just reaffirms to me that you get what you pay for. When you see a company that is publicly known for the big displays, the big festivals and is a well-supported, well-trusted company through touring engineers, through productions and through installations, why would you want to trust anyone else?
- David Hall, Head of Technical, Warner Hotels Cricket St Thomas
The Requirement
Warner Hotels (part of Bourne Leisure) is a chain of luxury adults-only country house/resort hotels and they were looking for a new rider-friendly PA for their cabaret venue.
Following an introduction from one of Warner’s sound engineers (who had previously been a guest engineer at a festival that Adlib was providing sound for), the Adlib installations team conducted a site visit including visiting one of the shows in the venue to get a better understanding of the requirements.
The Solution
Lengthy discussions with the venue team about their intended use, standard operating procedures, and shortcomings of the existing system, led Adlib’s installation team to model the venue in acoustic visualisation software (Soundvision) and specified an L-Acoustics system for the new installation – arguably one of the most rider-friendly brands in the world.
The final specification for the installation comprised:
- 12 x L-Acoustics Kiva II modular WST® line source elements
- 6 x L-Acoustics SB15m subwoofers
- 1 x X12 loudspeaker
- 2 x 5XT loudspeakers
- 2 x LA12X Amplified Controllers
- A QSC Q-Sys Core 110f and TSC7w provided control
A unique challenge presented by this installation was the positioning of the subwoofers. The existing system comprised two subs (each installed in a compartment underneath the outer edges of the stage). This resulted in uneven low frequency coverage, regularly leading to complaints from audience members directly in front of the stage whilst virtually no low frequency was directed to the furthest parts of the asymmetrical room.
The Result
Adlib’s Tim Robinson commented: “Having ruled out a left/right sub arrangement, our design team looked to arrange the subs centrally. However, as the stage featured a motorised thrust section (which would extend and retract several times during each show) there was no space available to accommodate them. There was insufficient height above the stage to install subwoofers more than one-deep. And so the solution had to be an arc-sub array: a line source, electronically curved using carefully calculated delay values, flown above the downstage edge and hidden behind the gold pelmet which was moved forward by Adlib to make space for the six L-Acoustics SB15m subwoofers.”
By supplying a QSC Q-Sys control system as a “front end” to system, it was possible to house a touch-screen controller in the venue’s control booth from which the L-Acoustics LA12X amplified controllers could be monitored and controlled without the use of LA Network Manager on a day-to-day basis (making it much easier to operate). This touchscreen also provided input routing control giving visiting engineers the ability to drive the system in a number of configurations including:
- Mono
- Stereo
- Left / Right / Sub
- Left / Right / Sub / Delay
Tim Robinson added: “The Q-Sys system also controls power/mute sequencing providing a one-touch “on/off” button for users whilst offering management an “emergency volume control” for the rare occasions when visiting engineers are not mixing to a level appropriate for Warner’s guests.”
Because the hotel has no “dark” periods (and enjoys greater than 90% occupancy year-round) all installation work had to be scheduled around events and activities taking place in the venue and the installation team worked closely with the venue to ensure there was no disruption to their programme of events.
David Hall, Head of Technical at Cricket St Thomas commented: "In terms of guest experience for the room, I personally knew that there would be a difference, but not quite the difference that we’ve experienced. The end guest experience has been so well received. The atmosphere in the room on an evening now is tenfold what it used to be."
"It’s really drawn everybody into the entertainment now, which before it was a little bit disjointed. That’s been a really big positive and to hear from guests when you tell them we’ve had a new system installed that cost x amount and they go: well that’s money well spent, is a real positive."
