Bose Professional RoomMatch Solves Acoustical Challenges at New Mexico’s Spencer Theater

Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts upgraded to a Bose Professional RoomMatch loudspeaker system overcoming acoustical challenges.

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Bose Professional RoomMatch Solves Acoustical Challenges at New Mexico’s Spencer Theater

The exterior of Spencer Theater in Alto, NM, featuring a RoomMatch loudspeaker system from Bose Professional.

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One look at the Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts and it’s easy to see how the striking performance venue with its unique architecture and design might pose some acoustical challenges. However, it managed to overcome those challenges with a recent upgrade to a Bose Professional RoomMatch loudspeaker system.

Moyers Group was the AV systems integrator brought on to design and install the new sound system, in coordination with Bose engineers. The solution, a stereo configuration, consists of four Bose Professional RoomMatch enclosures hanging per side, powered by three Bose PowerMatch PM8500N networked amplifiers, according to a Bose Professional press release. The BoseRMSHAD gain shading kit was also used to smooth out the throw to the upper levels of the balcony.

“We demoed a number of other systems, and we also tried applying some beam-steering technologies, but these didn’t offer the full range sound that the RoomMatch did while it covered all the seating areas,” says Caleb Howe, design and sales associate, Moyers Group. “The Bose Professional RoomMatch loudspeakers are the solution they’ve been looking for here.”

Adding to the ongoing acoustical issues, the hall’s original sound system was no longer able to meet the expectations of a wide range of performances in the modern era. “We’re talking about bluegrass to Broadway and everything in between,” says Bob Phaup, Spencer Theater’s technical director. “From classical concerts and Broadway shows to Led Zeppelin- and New Age-style bands, the need for full-range versatility with all the essential coverage and frequency response was a tough match for some brands on the market today, but Bose was able to offer a real solution.”

Photos: Check out the acoustical challenges

Phaup says a number of leading brands did computer modeling of the venue, offering their product-based solutions, but he also realized that this venue needed more than that. “In my opinion, many computer models don’t look at the sound from the audience’s point of view,” he says.

“I’m pretty old school — I want to know how the sound is going to be in every part of the room, and so did the Moyers and Bose engineers: where everyone else sent print-outs of models, they sent their engineers here, three times, to establish a relationship with the physicality of the room to inform their powerful modeling. I think that’s how you should approach system design, and Moyers Group along with Bose delivered on that promise. They took the time to visit the hall and accounted for all the venue’s unique physical personalities to decide what setup was best suited to meet the broad spectrum of audio needs. As a result, the Bose RoomMatch system fit the Spencer Theater like a glove.”

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