ProMedica’s new parking structure abuts Promenade Park, and the non-profit health care provider recognized that a large LED screen could attach to the parking structure and serve as a movie and event venue for over 10,000 spectators in the park.
Great Lakes Sound designed and installed a new sound reinforcement system comprised of two Danley Sound Labs J3-64 Jericho Horns, two Danley BC-218 subwoofers, and three Danley DNA 20k4 Pro amplifiers. The sound system complements a 50 x 30-foot LED screen that was designed and installed by Visua of La Crosse, Wisconsin, under the direction of Chris Stark, senior vice president of sales operations.
“In our neck of the woods, the leading healthcare provider is ProMedica,” explains Bill Robison, pro-audio veteran and president of Great Lakes Sound, a Toledo, Ohio-based A/V integration firm. “They are currently in the process of building their world headquarters along the Maumee River in downtown Toledo and seized an opportunity to give back to the community.”
“For point-source, high-fidelity, high-output sound systems, Danley is at the top of the game,” says Robison. “Point source systems are the easiest things for human ears to listen to because they have less intelligibility-killing interference. And Danley’s technology allows their boxes to produce tremendous SPLs. If they want to, ProMedica will be able to host concerts with this system.
“In addition, Danley was able to give us the ‘aqua tight’ option on both the loudspeakers and the subs so that they can stand up to Toledo’s summertime storms. Danley was a great partner through the entire project, and I love that I can call Danley, speak to a human who will immediately connect me with another human who knows the product inside and out. That’s a real rarity these days.”
The system itself is straightforward. One Danley J3-64 Jericho Horn sits on either side of the screen for true stereo performance. The Danley BC-218 subwoofers are coupled to synergize their already-directional nature for greater bass impact in the park (and less in the parking garage).
Three of Danley’s most powerful amplifiers, the DNA 20k4 Pro, power the system. Each amp has four 5000 watt channels, which align nicely with the quad-amplified requirement of the J3-64 and the bi-amplified requirement of the BC-218 subwoofer. The Danley DNA 20k4 Pros are also DSP enabled.
“Danley gave us excellent presets for use with the Jericho Horns and BC subwoofers,” Robison said. “Whereas other manufacturers seem to create presets in the overly idealistic conditions of testing facilities, Danley’s presets are obviously created for the real world. So far, we’ve left them ‘as is,’ but we may modify them a bit as the system settles in.”
A Yamaha TF Rack serves as the mixer for the system. Great Lakes Sound ordered it with a Dante expansion card, which allows the mixer to send signal via Dante to the Danley DNA 20k4 Pro amps, which have native Dante capability.
“Dante is a simple and clean connectivity solution, and it gives us options down the road if ProMedica decides it wants to expand the system,” Robison says. “Working with Dante and the Danley amps was easy: plug and play, worked as advertised.”
