Moorestown Friends School Upgrades Auditorium

Moorestown Friends School has upgraded the audio system in its main auditorium with the installation of a Martin Audio TORUS constant curvature line array, replacing an ageing sound system to improve sound quality and coverage across the venue.

Founded in 1785, the coeducational Quaker day school in Moorestown, New Jersey, serves students from age three through Grade 12. The new installation is part of ongoing investments in the school's 48-acre campus, which combines historic buildings with modern facilities.

The project was completed by New Jersey-based live event and systems integration specialist Starlite, which has worked with the school on several previous audiovisual projects.

"We’ve been proud to partner with Moorestown Friends School on multiple projects over the years, providing professional AV, rigging, and lighting solutions tailored to their needs," explained Starlite's Nick Minieri. "When it came time to upgrade their ageing sound system, in particular to enhance both sound quality and consistency of coverage, the school once again called on us."

According to Starlite, the auditorium presented several acoustic challenges, including wide, curved reflective surfaces and rear-wall cavities. Those conditions led the integrator to select Martin Audio's TORUS constant curvature line array for its first deployment of the system.

"We have used Martin Audio speakers in the past but this was our first deployment of the TORUS Series," confirmed Minieri. "We knew Martin Audio would not let us down on sound quality and that this was the perfect application for the product. We were not disappointed."

The installed system consists of two flown arrays, each comprising two TORUS T1215 and one TORUS T1230 array elements. Starlite says the consistent performance of the arrays allowed engineers to concentrate on optimizing the room rather than compensating for loudspeaker characteristics.

"Having the consistency of a good sounding array we were able to focus on tuning the room and not “correcting” the EQ of the boxes themselves," noted Minieri.

Low-frequency reinforcement is provided by a Martin Audio SX218 dual-18-inch subwoofer, extending the system's performance for theatrical productions, musical performances and school events.

"Sub is often a requirement for the theatre spaces that we work in so the soundscapes that our end users create are immersive and utilise the entire frequency spectrum," he added. "It also means that the venues can comfortably support a traveling music group or host events such as their own battle of the bands."

The installation is powered by two Martin Audio iKON IK42 amplifiers, which also provide onboard digital signal processing for system tuning.

"The iKON amps are great because they have heaps of power and, of course, pair perfectly with Martin speakers."

Starlite used the amplifiers' integrated DSP capabilities to tune the room without the need for a separate audio processor.

"This was fantastic to eliminate a failure point and have the ability to save our customer the extra cost of a dedicated audio DSP processor that comes with control system features were not needed in this application," described Minieri.

With the new system now in place, the school has upgraded its auditorium to support performances, assemblies and community events with improved audio coverage and clarity.

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