Lab.gruppen amps up the Greek
The world-famous Greek Theatre is upgraded with a Lab.gruppen system
The internationally renowned Greek Theatre, an award-winning 5,800-seat open-air amphitheater located at the edge of Griffith Park near Hollywood, California has upgraded its system to include Lab.gruppen PLM Series Powered Loudspeaker Management systems and FP+ Series amplifiers.
Schubert Systems, the company responsible for supplying and operating the Greek’s state-of-the-art PA rig, decided to integrate the Lab.gruppen system at what many consider to be the Number 1 US outdoor venue.
“I have admired the company’s product line for many years,” explained company founder Dirk Schubert. “We received one of the first pallets of amps shipped to the US in 2002, and adopted Lab.gruppen for our systems the first time we listened to them. No other amplifier makes a rig sound as good as Lab.gruppen … period. I particularly like the new PLMs with built-in Dolby Lake processing, because they offer a truly integrated solution that is ideal for today's very challenging market.”
The new all-Lab.gruppen configuration, inaugurated in early May, features Lab.gruppen FP 10000Q four-channel amplifiers powering the main left and right JBL VerTec line arrays, with PLM Powered Loudspeaker Management four-channel models handling everything else: subwoofers, center-, terrace- and front-fills plus delay speakers.
Why the hybrid power configuration? “Simply so that we can make sure the system is 110% reliable prior to our 2008 Summer Season,” replies Dustin Delker, head of sound at the Greek Theatre. “Last weekend we had [Latin legends] WAR and Tierra playing here, and I wanted to try out the PLMs on the subwoofers, in particular, since they present a complex load for any amplifier. Then, when we have several weeks’ positive experience, we will probably swap out the FP+ Series amps for these remarkable PLM models. So far, the Lab.gruppen-powered VerTec system sounds amazing.”
“We already use Dolby Lake Contour Processors here,” offers Tim Davis, front-of-house sound mixer and system technician, “so we are very familiar with the processing functions of the new PLMs. We can adjust the overall EQ profile for each concert, according to the needs of each individual act performing here. We like that both the stand-alone Dolby Lake [processors] and the PLMs use the same GUI interface, which we are already familiar with – it makes the learning curve much easier.
“If the visiting act's sound engineer is handling front-of-house, I can walk through the Theatre with a wireless-capable PC and adjust EQ settings to ensure consistent sound coverage throughout the entire amphitheater. The FP+ and PLM provide great sound even at lower SPLs. We are limited here [by an LA County Noise Ordinance] to a maximum 95 dB A-weighted, so we need to ensure a 20 Hz to 20 kHz response at levels lower than a normal arena SPL. These Lab.gruppen amps are fabulous in that critical 85-95 dB range, with plenty of dynamics.”
“We compared the FP+ Series amps on external Dolby Lake processors to the new PLMs with their built-in Lakes,” Delker recalls. “They sound virtually the same although I could detect a slight advantage from the PLMs – the lack of extra D-to-A and A-to-D stages in each channel might explain the improved headroom and transient response that I would probably attribute to latency delays. Also, we save space with this new configuration. Last year, our [competitive-brand] amps took up six racks; this year we’re looking at just two racks plus the Drive Rack and a single PLM at the FOH position to drive the delay speakers.” Currently the external Dolby Lake units are located at the FOH position – more space will be saved if the facility elects to use PLMs with built-in processing.
“What I like most about these new Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q systems,” Schubert concludes, “is that each becomes a multipurpose unit, with presets for any cabinet in our inventory, from subwoofers and side-fills, to full-range line array cabinets and monitor wedges. Flexibility is a major advantage for a sound-hire company like ours. At The Greek we only need one spare PLM because every unit has all of the presets needed to run any part of the system.
“Also, the PLMs sound very, very good: powerful low-end, silky high-end, and ultra-smooth mid-range. They are capable of delivering full Lake Dolby processing with minimum latency” – 1.7 mS from analog-in to speaker-out – “which results from fast internal processing. There are many power amplifiers with internal loudspeaker processors we will not use because the latency makes them unacceptable. These PLMs are the only way to go!”www.labgruppen.com