Meyer Sound Acheron for Cinema Applications
Apr 13, 2009 12:00 PM
The recent ShoWest exposition covered everything you need to outfit your neighborhood cinema—seats, screens, projectors, curtains, popcorn machines, candy, tickets, and so on. So what was Meyer Sound doing at the event?
Company founder John Meyer is no newcomer to film products, having created custom subwoofers for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 touring roadshow of Apocalypse Now. What is new is Meyer’s Cinema Experience series—offering no-compromise playback for theatrical exhibition, private screening rooms, corporate media facilities, and postproduction studios.
Lately, there has been increasing interest in theaters that provide an elite cinema environment, so is the world ready for Meyer’s new cinema loudspeaker series?
“Absolutely,” says Steve Shurtz, cinema manager at Meyer Sound. “The pipelines are improving for both movies and in-theater simulcasting of programming, events, and concerts. Even 384kbps Dolby Digital for six channels isn’t state-of-the-art anymore. The game is different now, with full-bandwidth 24/96 PCM available in 5.1 and beyond—up to 16 channels on DCI and 3D systems. This is a good time to talk about a more compelling sound experience.”
ACHERON DETAILS
Acheron screen-channel loudspeakers are compact, self-powered, two-way designs, with 100- or 80-degree horns to suit wide or narrow rooms. With a 21in. depth for tight behind-screen installs, the system can be voiced for perforated or non-perf screens. The front-ported enclosures have onboard Class-AB/H biamplification.
Matching powered Acheron LF
double-15 cabinets have the same footprint as Acheron 80/100 and can combine to form a single column with all three woofers in phase alignment, for extra punch in larger rooms. For the dedicated LFE channel, a Meyer X-800C powered double-18 sub provides a truly moving experience—down to 23Hz with a 136dB max SPL.
The new HMS-10 Cinema Surround loudspeaker has a 10in. woofer mated to a compression driver/80×80-degree horn combo in a slant-front cabinet. Surround loudspeakers are traditionally the weak link in most cinema installs, but the HMS-10’s 66Hz-to-18kHz bandwidth and 128dB SPL performance found favor with top sound designers who beta-tested the system.
INSTALLATION EASE
The surrounds were designed with the installer in mind. The HMS-10 is lightweight—only 40lbs.—but takes another step to make the contractor’s job easier. The self-powered, biamped HMS-10 would normally would be problematic in theater installs, where AC power would be required at each loudspeaker. Meyer solved the problem using 48V remote powering, which as a low-power
install, typically does not require conduit. Here, a single-jacketed multi¬media control cable, such as Belden’s 1502R—with a shielded pair for the balanced line feed and an unshielded pair for power handling—should make conduit- or surface-wiring a snap.
Rounding out the package in the Acheron toolkit is MAPP Cinema, a new version of Meyer’s MAPP Online Pro application for the prediction of system performance. MAPP Cinema combines data from the entire Acheron line with perforated screen data for reliable, accurate acoustical prediction of expected frequency response, impulse response, and max SPL output.
For more information, visit
Meyer Sound at www.meyersound.com.
