Canada – TCU Place, a convention center and performing arts complex in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is home to the first permanent Meyer Sound TIGRA™ line array system in Canada. The new system, provided by Meyer Sound Canadian distributor GerrAudio and installed by Canadian integrator Sapphire, serves the 2,074-capacity Sid Buckwold Theatre, the venue’s main hall.
The Meyer Sound M’elodie system it succeeds served the theater well for many years. When the time came to plan its replacement, Technical Services Manager Devin Ferguson and Head of Audio Nicholas Hayes confined the search to current-generation technology.
Requirements drove the manufacturer search
“We took the brand out of the equation,” Ferguson says. “Our design process began with a ‘this is what we need the system to do’ approach. We spoke to different manufacturers about our designs to ensure that we’d get everything we needed.”
Pattern control in the array was a requirement from the outset. Several manufacturers offered it to some degree, Hayes says, but “with the TIGRA boxes, we have that cardioid control within the main hang, which was very appealing.”
What ultimately settled the choice was the breadth of what TIGRA brings to a single cabinet. “With TIGRA, we see the entire ecosystem of what Meyer Sound’s been working on over the years: the low-mid beam control, and Milan AVB connectivity,” he says. “And, with TIGRA having Meyer Sound’s GEN-1 platform, all those DSP and networking capabilities built in, and Meyer Sound’s Nebra software platform, we’re getting much more control and information on how the rig is performing.”
“It ticked all the boxes: It’s the ideal size/weight to power ratio and fidelity; I don’t think we’ll ever see a limit light on it.”
Physical constraints reinforced the decision. “It’s such a light box,” Hayes says. “It makes it much more feasible to put it in more places, and those weight savings also allowed us to go with a longer line length.”
Collaboration shapes the design and install
GerrAudio worked with Meyer Sound and Sapphire on the system design, and Sapphire led the installation following a site visit in early January. “It was a very tight collaboration,” says Ben Burrell, partner at Sapphire. “We met several times to review the project and work on the design collaboratively to help tweak it based on what we thought would be ideal. Then, onsite we made some decisions together and were able to get the performance TCU Place was looking for.”
GerrAudio Manager of Technical Services and Industry Training Ian Robertson tuned the system during the second week of the installation. “What I love about Gerr is the back-and-forth conversations about what you’re looking for in a product and aligning those needs,” Hayes says. “But also their follow-up, asking what workflows or other things you found work for you. Sometimes, as an end-user, you find another approach to something, and Gerr has always been very receptive to that and fantastic at passing that knowledge along.”
The M’elodie system, meanwhile, remains in service for events held in TCU Place’s 104,000 square feet of configurable convention space.
Covering the room without delays
Each side of the main system comprises 12 TIGRA-L and two TIGRA-W loudspeakers, with the TIGRA-W flown as the bottom elements of the left and right hangs. 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements fly in a cardioid configuration behind the main hangs. Six ULTRA-X20 point source loudspeakers on the stage deck serve as front fills, two ground-stacked ULTRA-X42 point source loudspeakers serve as out fills, and three ULTRA-X22XP point source loudspeakers per side serve as loge fills, resolving coverage gaps in the loge seating. “We were able to hit the whole theatre without delays, which I think is pretty incredible,” Burrell says. “The higher box density gives us more control, better coverage.”
Network design serves a busy roadhouse
Two Galileo GALAXY Network Platforms, one GALAXY 816 and one GALAXY 408, sit at the front of the system. Robertson suggested dedicating one platform per side to the arrays. “That way, if ever a processor failed, we’d have a failsafe so we can continue the show,” Hayes says. “Not that we’re going to end up there, but if we have a plan B and plan C in place, then everybody has a better day if something does happen.”
The array is fully redundant over Milan AVB, with an analog backup. Touring crews arrive at the roadhouse with their own consoles. “We put the two GALAXY units at the front of the system to ingest all the consoles we want, whether it’s over Milan AVB or analog,” Ferguson says. “Now we have several locations throughout the space where we can patch them in. That makes Nick’s life and the road crew’s lives easier when they come in. Now, it’s not ‘let me think about how we can do that.’ It’s ‘Absolutely. We can do that. Give me three minutes to make it happen.’”
Meyer Sound’s IntelligentDC technology feeds the loge fills over a single cable carrying both power and signal. “It really is the perfect system for fill boxes in locations like this,” Hayes says.
“It’s been a great journey so far,” Hayes concludes. “The system has exceeded expectations. There are things with TIGRA that I haven’t heard with other P.A.s, ever. The fidelity and coverage in the Sid Buckwold Theatre is the best it’s ever been, and we’ve got better sightlines. So, I’m looking forward to the next twenty years or so with this new Meyer Sound TIGRA system and the GerrAudio Team.”
