DMT delivers Clair Bros into HKAC
Published: ASIA

HONG KONG: Having formally opened in 1977, the Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) has played a unique role in engaging the local community with art by promoting contemporary art and culture through exhibitions, art education and related programmes. Located on Harbour Road in Wan Chai, its theatres, galleries, classrooms and studios offer programmes on the performing, visual, film and video arts in addition to conferences and festivals. Being a self-financed, non-profit organisation, the HKAC is an arts and culture incubator for Hong Kong, which survives on limited budgets.
The Shouson theatre is 439-seat theatre with a stalls and upper circle that is also equipped with screen projection and surround sound for cinema shows. A proscenium opening surrounds the 8m (w) x 6m (d) stage, whilst a forestage lift can create an orchestra pit when required. A 40-channel Yamaha IM8 analogue console serves the needs of the theatre although touring acts can bring in their preferred boards into the upper control room. Four Apogee Sound AE-4 speakers augmented by two AE-SB 18-inch subwoofers had faithfully served the needs of the theatre since 1997, but were in urgent need of replacement.
Loudspeaker demonstrations were held by leading suppliers, for which a Clair Brothers system supplied by DMT Professional was judged best in category. L-R FF2 8-inch speakers have been affixed to the proscenium walls serving both the stalls and the upper balcony for their main sound reinforcement needs. Located in a rack in the catwalk above, two Lab.gruppen IPD2400 amplifiers provide the power and DSP for the four FF2 speakers. However, for those productions such as musicals and dance performances, a portable plug-and-play system comprising four KiT12 and dual CS18 18-inch subwoofers can be set up in a L-R configuration to the sides of the proscenium without any interference to audience sightlines. Connected by Mogami cables measuring 25m each, two PLM10000Q amplifiers provide the power and DSP for this separate system.
Artists and technical manager Mr Ho Wing Hun has been a part of the theatre’s furniture since 1995, and was full of praise for the Clair Brothers system. ‘We have so much headroom and power now, that we really don’t need to push the SPLs,’ he confirmed. ‘We pole mount the KiT12 speakers onto the CS18 subs in the M20 holes when required and tilt the speakers towards the audience, giving us just the right dispersion in the stalls and balcony when combined with the FF2s. The coverage is perfect using this three-way system, which can extend down to 40Hz as and when required.’
The theatre is currently under renovations until mid-2016, but recently acquired the latest DPA d:facto and 4099 microphones for its extensive inventory. A Shure SLX wireless system is used in addition to wired SM57 and SM58 models together with beyerdynamic M700N and AKG 190E microphones. Mixing in the analogue domain requires delicate controlling via Yamaha Q2031 equalisers and SPX-990 effects processors together with dbx Q2031 graphic equalisers and 160A compressor/limiters. A Symnet Radius 12x8 processor was recently added to provide enhanced BGM and announcements in the foyer and pre-function areas, which can be controlled via an Arc 2-e wall mounted controller.