Dedicated to healthcare education since its founding as Jefferson Medical College in
1824, Thomas Jefferson University now comprises six healthcare-oriented colleges,
including the renowned Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Naturally, the university’s
buildings have evolved to suit changing needs, and Alumni Hall is no exception. Last
year, a space in Alumni Hall that had housed a small medical museum was
converted into a multi-use room to accommodate events, including dinners with
entertainment.

To meet the audio needs of this acoustically challenging space, the university
contacted systems integrators Advanced AV of nearby West Chester, Pennsylvania.
For the team at Advanced AV, a Renkus-Heinz steered-beam system was the
obvious answer.

“The space is like a large echo chamber, with brick walls except for the back wall,
which is glass,” begins Advanced AV account executive Rich Diperstein. “It’s a 50-
by-50-foot box, and in addition to very hard surfaces, it has 20-foot ceilings. Based
on past experience with Renkus-Heinz systems, we knew that Iconyx steered arrays
would allow the pinpoint accuracy and multiple beams needed to keep the sound on
the audience and off those walls.”

To achieve that accuracy, the Advanced AV team chose two Renkus-Heinz Iconyx-
series IC8-R-II digitally steerable line arrays. Featuring eight four-inch coaxial
transducers, each with three high-frequency tweeters, the IC8-R-II provides up to
four steerable, individually shaped beams. Advanced AV’s team directed the two
IC8-R-II systems toward the glass rear wall, carefully aiming the beams to deliver
the sound to the audience while avoiding the hard surfaces.

Since many events in the room involve presentations, speech intelligibility was a
primary concern. “The most important aspect was spoken word,” Diperstein
confirms, “but events also could include entertainment, audio from DVDs and
computers, and so on. The clarity and response of ICONYX loudspeakers means the
system can handle any event the university is likely to host in that space.”

The system is managed with a BSS Soundweb London BLU-100 DSP. Audio is auto-
mixed by the DSP unit, so a separate audio mixer is not needed.

At the last minute, the installers were forced into a change of plans. “Renkus-Heinz
perfectly colour-matched the speakers to the wall, and the IC8-R-II is slim and low
profile, so the speakers are unobtrusive,” Diperstein explains. “The client was very
happy with that. But unexpected architectural considerations prevented us from
placing the speakers where we originally wanted them. Instead of mounting them
back against the wall, we had to use brackets to mount them to the side of the
walls.”

Beam steering enabled the team to account for the acoustical considerations of
relocating the speakers. Sound wasn’t the issue. But the brackets made the
carefully camouflaged speakers noticeable. “Fortunately, we found a way to
fabricate a cover for the brackets,” Diperstein relates, “and that resolved the
issue.”