Nanjing’s Canton Upgrades Audio for In-The-Round and More

A community arts center in southeast Nanjing, The Canton recently replaced its long-standing audio system with an eye towards future projects.

Nanjing, CHINA (March 20, 2022)—A community arts center in southeast Nanjing, The Canton was founded in 1999, suffered a fire in 2008 and was rebuilt to better serve the region with concerts theater, children’s programming, workshops, lectures and more. With the long-serving P.A. no longer keeping up with that busy pace, the venue recently hired Stage Electrics to replace the audio system with a new BADOO SOUND Reference Series P.A.

Head of Production at the Canton, Mr ZHEN, explained, “We looked at a lot of different options, but the eureka moment came when Badoo’s manager Frank visited us with the LS-210. Being able to talk to the person that actually designed the loudspeakers in the context of what we have to achieve every day was amazing. It was like the most fantastic play date! We looked at all the speaker placements and tried out all sorts of combinations and configurations – the technical team were like kids in a sweet shop.”

Arts Center Reaches for the Sky

In consultation with Frank, it was decided at an early stage that a point source solution would be the most appropriate for the space. As a result, the full system comprises eight LS-210, two LT-18S compact reflex subwoofers, two LT-2218 high power compact subwoofers, four HE-615 fills and eight SM-12 stage monitors. Power is supplied via two K420, three K410 and a K30 advanced system amplifiers.

“Acoustically, the space is extremely demanding,” said Mr ZHEN. “Sonically it’s like an 18-sided mirror ball – or theatre in-the-round with angles if you prefer. Our previous system was large and heavy and difficult to reconfigure, but the new one is wonderfully agile. We treat it a bit like a touring system, and we can reconfigure it at the drop of a hat. The interchangeable waveguides of the LS-210 are a real bonus; they are quick to change over, and effectively give us four systems in one. When you’re switching from a full-on music gig in the round or club night on a Friday to end-on children’s theatre on Saturday morning, you really appreciate a versatile system.”

“We used to run 12 main top boxes, but we can do the same job with just eight LS-210; fewer sources means fewer reflections, so we have gained enormously in clarity and punch, not to mention space and weight,” he added. “We have also moved to much physically smaller subs, and have gained an extra 1.5 sq m of stage space as a result. Previously our subs quite often only served as very expensive speaker stands for our top boxes; in fact, they were so obtrusive, we could only put them in one place, which used to result in a lot of sub traps and of course took up space on the stage. Now, we can place the subs wherever we like according to the application – for example, they can go under the seating rake for a theatrical system that might require effects like a rumble of thunder or an explosion.”