Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China | May, 2014 –
On a busy thoroughfare in Changzhou’s Wujin District, the aptly named Phoenix Valley Cultural Center stretches its wings over more than 156,000 square feet. The vast complex is the largest and most modern of its kind, an urban nexus that is home to four cinemas, sports and dance halls, art galleries and an early childhood education center, as well as a retail hub, children’s playgrounds, and a public square with canals and gardens.
The complex’s crown jewel is The Grand Theater. Seating just over 1,000 across two floors, the Grand Theater shifts the typical theater paradigm into something just as unique as it is state-of-the-art. The venue’s classic stage can host a wide range of events, from musical to theatrical, and 17 projectors can transform the stage, as well as the walls of the auditorium, into an Omni-Max style theater.
Audio for the Theater needed to be equally versatile, able to accommodate a variety of events, from drama, live shows and TV to meetings, conferences and multi-media reporting. The main system, designed by prominent consulting firm Shanghai LeDian Audio Equipment Co., Ltd., comprises left, right, and center hangs of 14 Renkus-Heinz STLA/9 line array loudspeakers in all. Eight SGX41 four-inch loudspeakers are mounted on the orchestra rail for front fill, with six TRX81 boxes providing rear fill, and four DRS18-2B subwoofers adding low end reinforcement. Onstage monitoring is handled by a combination of PNX151T, TRX121/9, and CF81 cabinets.
For cinema presentations, a surround system is installed comprising 20 TRX81/12 boxes, along with three STX7/64 cabinets mounted up top for sound effects. Onstage effects are provided by a single STX5M2 loudspeaker and STX5 subwoofer.
Adjacent to the Grand Theater is The Small Theater, a 200+ seat auditorium designed for meetings, multimedia conferences, runway shows, small performances and other cultural activities. Shanghai LeDian selected left and right arrays of three Renkus-Heinz STX4 cabinets as the Small Theater’s main system, with four CFX81 boxes for front fill and a pair of DRS18-2B subs.
For Shanghai LeDan Audio Equipment Co.,. Ltd., the addition of one of China’s most prominent new cultural centers to the company’s portfolio is a prestigious one, to be sure. And for the Phoenix Valley Cultural Center, LeDan’s selection of Renkus-Heinz loudspeaker systems assures that the venue will continue to deliver the finest in audio quality, no matter what type of performance is on the program.
A version of this article appears in Pro Audio Asia, May 2014.