Thunderbird Café and Music Hall Finds Budget-friendly Solution in Rock-ready L-Acoustics A15i Professional Audio System

“John Pergal is a musician and avid concertgoer and particularly requested L-Acoustics for the Roxian Theatre,” says Hollowood Sound’s Brad Hollowood. “When discussing an improve for the Thunderbird, the identical model was on the prime of his listing as soon as once more. John did take into account a number of different producers’ techniques; nevertheless, the A15 system completely met all their wants sonically and did so inside funds.”

Pittsburgh’s Thunderbird Café and Music Hall is a longstanding fixture within the metropolis’s distinctive and vibrant Lawrenceville neighborhood. First established in 1890 as a bakery, the constructing was transformed in 1933 right into a tavern often known as Michalski’s Café, which was granted Pittsburgh’s second liquor license following the shut of Prohibition. Since 2000, the venue has been owned by John and Ami Pergal, who additionally personal the 1,400-seat Roxian Theatre throughout city, which put in an L-Acoustics Kara system 5 years in the past. Today, Thunderbird’s 583-capacity Music Hall is an intimate mainstay on the nationwide touring circuit, and it just lately bumped up its audio services with a brand new L-Acoustics A Series loudspeaker system designed and put in by McKees Rocks-based Hollowood Sound.

A Series supplies loads of SPL and low-frequency response

Nathan Shapert, Hollowood Sound’s lead installer, labored carefully with L-Acoustics’ Chris “Sully” Sullivan on a system design that might custom-fit the three-level venue’s distinctive geometry, which included each a balcony and top-tier VIP space. “We tried to maintain sightlines, in addition to a {custom} mural on home proper, in thoughts when designing the system,” Shapert describes. “We had been restricted to a nook concrete stage with solely room for 2 KS21i per aspect, so the system options flown subs as effectively. A15i made probably the most sense contemplating the quantity of low-frequency response the field supplies in addition to output. Even although the venue is beneath 600 capability, it nonetheless required sufficient SPL to fulfill the necessities from touring engineers to supply sufficient headroom in addition to the sonic readability that comes with an L-Acoustics system.”

The venue’s new left and proper most important arrays are every comprised of two A15i Focus enclosures over a single A15i Wide and topped by a KS21i sub. A middle cluster, used to fill within the balcony, contains a related configuration minus the subwoofer. Four further KS21i are positioned beneath the stage, and your entire setup is powered by 4 LA4X amplified controllers.

Additionally, 4 coaxial X8 enclosures, pushed by an LA2Xi, ship supplementary VIP and bar space protection.

The proper rig for the room

“A Series was designed for rooms just like the Thunderbird,” says Brad Hollowood. “Between our lengthy tenure as a legacy L-Acoustics firm and our consumer’s want to decide on the model, it was a no brainer. The low-mid frequency response with A15i coupled with the KS21i made for an excellent mixture for the area. And the system is so budget-friendly for small-medium in addition to bigger venues which you can’t go improper. The weight, value, and sound high quality are what makes A Series a win.”

Thunderbird sound engineer Mike Jantho is jazzed with the venue’s new loudspeaker setup. “When I stroll into the room, I’m assured that I’ve the perfect instruments accessible to make a band or performer sound their greatest,” he says. “The identical goes when I’m handing drive strains over to a visitor engineer. ‘The room sounds nice,’ is a remark I’m now listening to again and again. When mixing on the A15 system, the containers don’t sound constrained. Everything is there to tailor an applicable combine it doesn’t matter what style. And the protection within the room has immensely improved—from the ground to the third balcony to the again bar, the protection is clean. Soundvision actually helped nail that.”

Clarity, protection, and headroom

For fellow Thunderbird sound engineer Alex Heard, listening to the room’s transformation from the earlier rig to the brand new one is tremendously satisfying. “The outdated system may very well be extraordinarily shrill within the higher mid-range, which may make for a really fatiguing listening expertise,” he recollects. “I all the time felt just like the outdated PA was yelling at me, however the A Series arrays have fully eradicated that downside. I can get the readability I would like however at a decrease quantity than I used to be ever capable of obtain earlier than. On prime of that harshness, we had been all the time pushing towards the highest of the subs’ skills, however now we’ve got headroom for days on the low finish. And I not concern blowing a driver within the subs to get the low finish I need.

“But the largest distinction for me is the even protection after I stroll away from the FOH place. The Thunderbird’s unconventional form and constructing supplies make for a visually gorgeous design, but additionally make the room fairly difficult from a mixing perspective. The room is taller than it’s lengthy and incorporates two balconies of various shapes, which implies a number of units of fills needed to be employed. In many rooms, I really feel like a number of fill zones are a compromise to an issue that by no means actually feels solved, and that was definitely the case with the outdated system right here. But with the brand new L-Acoustics rig, it simply works—left to proper, entrance to again, prime to backside, my combine seems like my combine. It’s fairly wonderful to stroll as much as the highest balcony and have the identical readability and low-end that you simply expertise on the ground.”

As each a venue proprietor and a gigging musician, John Pergal has a novel appreciation of the Thunderbird’s sound from a number of views, and he’s proud to deliver L-Acoustics to a different one in every of his areas. “There had been many explanation why we went with L-Acoustics, such because the rock-solid reliability of their amplified controllers, which have run flawlessly on the Roxian since 2019,” he says. “Plus, their L-Drive safety system units our thoughts relaxed figuring out that each one of our drivers have a critical safeguard. We had been in search of a system that might enhance our low-end reinforcement and protection, but keep inside our funds, and the A Series supplied a full-coverage answer that was the best choice for the room. With the 15-inch drivers within the A15i paired with the 21-inch drivers within the KS21i, we knew they might not fall brief, and so they haven’t. Plus, the Hollowood group is all the time nice to work with. They have the right mixture of ardour and data, and partnering with them and L-Acoustics once more made this venture a whole success.”