A four panel per side Tectonic Audio Labs PL-12 system is the house loudspeaker
choice for this year’s flagship PBS Fall Arts concert special; “UNITY – Latin Tribute to
Michael Jackson’.

Tectonic and Unity first met at Winter NAMM 2015 and found a common goal of
artistic and sonic fidelity. As a “sound-check’, Tectonic provided their smallest
speaker system – a pair of PL-11 half-panels and subs – for Unity’s Universal Music
Group labels album release party last spring. “Our CD Release party was a slam
dunk in terms of sound’, says Succar.

With a successful debut show for both parties, Tectonic was specifically requested
to provide speakers for Unity’s Fall Arts Festival PBS live concert special at the
historic Olympia Theatre in Miami FL.

“In order to cover a 1,200 seat theatre with a very high balcony – while still
maintaining sightlines for cameras ─ we decided to place four full-panel PL-12s per
side’, explains Tectonic system engineer Chris Wilson. “There was some give and
take to find the right solution, and an emphasis on the orchestra level seats vs. the
balcony which was devoted to a large camera jib and over-flow seating.’

The final loudspeaker solution was to place the four-panel hangs at extreme stage
left and right on 25-foot lifts from the floor. Two RCF TT series dual-18′ subs per
side provided plenty of low-end support.

“Even though emphasis was placed on covering the orchestra level before the
balcony, we were committed to giving every seat the same audio experience’, says
Scott Garside, Tectonic Marketing Director. “Thanks to our panels’ 165⁰ horizontal
and vertical coverage in the vocal and instrumental range, we were able to set a
fairly extreme angle for the top panels per side leaning back 7⁰ from the main hang
to hit the balcony, and then continued with panels two through four to cover the
sloping main level with a more standard 0⁰ – 3⁰ curve.’

“Pre-production meetings were perhaps unique for the Olympia Theatre staff as we
explained our requirements for the event’, adds Garside. “We told production leads
that we would be off-loading from a 14’ U-Haul truck and needed a single 110V, 20A
circuit per side to power the Tectonic panels, plus some power for the subs.’

After the show, Tectonic won a $1 bet with the Olympia Theatre staff by having the
entire FOH panel speaker system and amps packed and driving away in 45 minutes.