For more than sixteen years, Big House Sound has provided sound support for fabled music scene in Austin, a vibrant Texas city famed for its cutting-edge SXSW festivals. Early in 2008, Big House owners Rod Nielson and Roy Kircher expanded the scope of their business – to take on larger arena shows and regional tours – with the purchase of 50 more Adamson cabinets and two dozen of PLM 10000Q Powered Loudspeaker Management systems.
“We wanted to break into a larger market while still serving our loyal clients,” states Kircher, “and we couldn’t do that without essentially doubling our Y18 and Y10 cabinets, plus adding sixteen T21 subs. For powering the rig, we decided that the PLMs, with built-in Dolby Lake processing and comprehensive load verification, would be our best choice.”
According to Kircher, in a typical arena show, the 24 PLM 10000Qs will power 24 each of both the Y18 cabinets and Y10 cabinets, along with up to 16 T21 subwoofers. Each PLM unit incorporates four output channels, with each channel rated at 2350 W at 4 ohms.
“The PLMs will have a lot of benefits down the road,” Kircher continues. “For example, the built-in Dolby Lake processing makes it easier to set EQ and control zones in the top and bottom of the array, because everything is now in one streamlined package. Also, compared to our older amps, the power density and weight reduction are amazing. With four PLMs per rack, we can easily stack racks in the truck to save space.”
The new Adamson/Lab.gruppen rig had its first heavy-duty workout when R&B/hip-hopper Chris Brown appeared at the 6,000-capacity Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. A few days later, on July 4th, the system demonstrated its quick-change versatility by spreading the sounds of the Austin Symphony over a vast expanse of the capital’s downtown to the enjoyment of an estimated 100,000 patriotic revelers.
According to Kircher, who mixed the symphony’s performance, the sound showed a noticeable improvement with addition of the Lab.gruppens. “For the past few years, we’ve used the same console and speakers – everything the same except the amplifiers. This year, the difference in the high end was night and day. It was so much smoother and silkier.”
Big House’s head systems tech, Mike Gazdziak, is already an enthusiastic convert to the PLM’s exceptional control flexibility. “It’s amazing to be able to carry around a tablet computer, solo up different parts of the line array, to check different parts of the array from anywhere in the venue. Essentially, you can listen to whatever you want from wherever you want, and make any changes you need to make right on the tablet.”
The unique benefits of built-in processing will be fully realized, according to Kircher, when Big House deploys a massive main-plus-towers system for the Nike 10K “Human Race” event, which culminates in a concert by alt-rocker Ben Harper. “We would normally have eight towers down four blocks on Congress Street,” notes Kircher. “When we did system like this before, we would need a processor at every tower, which usually meant we had to reconfigure all the racks. But this year, we’ll just throw in the amps we need at each tower. The processing is all built right in.”