Encore Event Technologies recently purchased a new Meyer Sound LEOPARD linear sound reinforcement system to satisfy challenging performance requirements in the world renowned Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom.

As the hotel’s resident production services provider, Encore supplies technology for more than 300 events annually, including such prominent entertainment industry gatherings as the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon, the Director’s Guild Awards, the American Cinema Editors’ Eddie Awards, the Visual Effects Society awards, and the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Party.

The system is required to supply speech intelligibility for up to 1,100 guests along with the power reserves and musicality needed for live music performances. These factors were considered by Rachel Wolfe, director of event technologies at Encore’s Beverly Hills location, in making her selection of the LEOPARD-based system.

Provided by Chicago-area integrator TC Furlong, the new audio reinforcement system is anchored by dual arrays of six-each LEOPARD line array loudspeakers and supplemented in sub-bass by four 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements. The setup also includes 11 UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers and four UPM-1P loudspeakers, one MM-4XP self-powered loudspeaker, and four MJF-210 stage monitors. The recent audio renewal by TC Furlong also included installation of a new Yamaha Rivage PM10 digital mixing console.

“The power and clarity are all I expect from Meyer, and LEOPARD’s wide coverage works well with the shape of the room,” said Wolfe. “Also, the slender profile of the arrays is visually appealing and fits in well with our other staging requirements."

Clint Rowland, a freelance FOH engineer frequently contracted by Encore to mix events at the venue, admits he was both excited and hesitant when the LEOPARD system made its debut, ”but I was relieved and excited when I first started pumping music through it,” he said. “I was even more impressed when they put up a podium mic and then walked around with a wireless lav. This is a tricky room to work in, with a low ceiling that’s covered with video and lighting gear, and layout changes drastically with different events. But LEOPARD is giving us great sound and superb gain before feedback."

For his part, Clint Rowland is particularly impressed with how LEOPARD responds to the full spectrum of program material and output levels. "With LEOPARD, it doesn’t matter if we’re doing a corporate show with talking heads, or a fundraiser with A-list bands, or an awards show. The volume level does not affect the tonality,” he explained. “Whatever you do, the system behaves in a linear fashion. You don’t have to push it to a certain volume to get the sound you want. You get ‘power without the pain’ as one of my colleagues likes to say."

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