SLS Loudspeakers Installed at University of Massachusetts-Lowell Take Listening to a New Level
Dec 20, 2006 7:55 PM
UMass-Lowell’s Durgin Hall, home to the new recording studio.
Students enrolled in University of Massachusetts Lowell Sound Recording Technology Program are facing the music with great precision and accuracy thanks to the installation of state-of-the-art SLS Loudspeakers housed at the Department of Music’s newly refurbished recording studio, which debuted in October 2006. Maximizing its existing 300-square-foot control room, the university rebuilt the facility to convert it into a new and improved multi-track control room that is now outfitted with the superior surround sound of a SLS PS8R-V speaker system.
University Sound Recording Technology Program Coordinator William Molyan says sound quality is a “must have” for critical listening and audio education. “It is extremely important that our studios are equipped with the best speaker systems available on the market in order for our students to be able to objectively analyze their mixings and recordings with the most precision, clarity, and accuracy possible,” Molyan says.
Bob Alach, president of Alactronics Corporation, which designed the new studio as well as the university’s first studio established in 1990 and the acclaimed critical listening classroom in 2002, says each room is strategically built to allow students the experience of listening to audio at an extremely high degree of resolution. “The loudspeakers’ role in these rooms is to convert audio signals from the electrical domain to acoustical,” Alach says. “This task is performed with far more accuracy and resolution through the SLS system—providing students with the capability of hearing the effects of their production with much greater clarity.”
“Speaker quality is important to recording in the same way as a good camera lens is important for visual accuracy,” Alach says. “If you were to look through an average lens, you’ll see a picture, but a high-quality lens will offer far more details and resolve much more about the picture. Through the newly installed SLS speakers, these students are able to hear sounds that they would ordinarily be unable to hear through any other speaker. As a result, their end products and performances are better sounding and translate better to other systems.”
During his two decades in business, Alach has worked with a number of speaker systems, but says none have surpassed the superiority he has found in SLS. “For nearly six years, we have been using SLS exclusively for all of our designs. Their ribbon speakers, cabinet designs, and overall commitment to accuracy and precision makes them superior in terms of quality and performance. And now their new amplifier technology is redefining the state of the art for power amplification.”
The University of Massachusetts Lowell, which evolved from the establishment of the Sound Recording Technology Program in 1984, is a pioneer in audio recording studies among higher-learning institutions. Its Department of Music made history as one of the first few schools in the nation to offer a Bachelor’s Degree in sound recording technology and the first to introduce a Master of Music Degree.
