QSC revs up theatre sound at pit crew training center
Oct 27, 2004 3:34 PM
Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy almost 25 years ago, it seemed a sure bet that Mooresville, N.C., a small town north of Charlotte, was on its way to becoming a fading dot lost within the folds of an old road map.
But that was before NASCAR. Drawn here in part by a favorable business climate and location, drivers and their teams started descending upon Mooresville about a decade ago, bringing with them a construction boom, jobs, tourists, motels, and restaurants. Today, racing museums stand on sites once occupied by aging textile mills, rubbing shoulders with local strip malls. Streets have names like Speedway Drive, and tour bus operators shuttle visitors to "Garage Mahal", headquarters of Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
A relative newcomer to the scene, 5 Off 5 On Race Team Performance specializes in training pit crew personnel and offering reality experience packages. Taking its name from the number of lug nuts NASCAR pit crews must remove and replace in order to change a race car's tire, the facility rests on 5.5 acres adjacent to the NASCAR Technical Institute. Equipped with its own ¼-mile track, pit road, classrooms, multipurpose training room, and many other amenities, the property also has a 100-seat theatre on-site, which is used for everything from lectures to corporate events. Featuring surround sound audio utilizing loudspeaker components and amplifiers supplied by QSC, the theatre is the beneficiary of a sonic blueprint developed by Armando Fullwood of Charlotte, N.C.-based Design 2020.
Additionally given responsibility for the room's acoustical treatment, Fullwood relates that the client came to him with an expressed interest in audio realism. "Right from the very beginning, they wanted a system that could accurately reproduce the sounds of a real NASCAR track," he relates. "The room is regularly used by corporate guests for actual race day simulcasts, so the goal was to make the experience as convincing as possible."
To that end, Fullwood enlisted the aid of loudspeakers from QSC's ModularDesign and AcousticDesign Series, as well as amplification from the company's CX Series. In total, four ModularDesign MD-L118 single-18 low-frequency loudspeakers were employed, powered by a CX1102 amp, while left-center-right screen channels were given over to bi-amped MD-F152 full-range cabinets fueled by CX702 and CX502 amplifiers. Surrounds chosen were model AD-S82 two-way enclosures from the AcousticDesign product group, each of which receives power from a four-channel CX404.
"They wanted an in-your-face theatre, and that's exactly what they got," Fullwood says, giving accurate description to his creation. "When we first unveiled the system with the client present, we played a DVD of The Fast and the Furious. The sound actually made them jump, and pinned them back in their seats. Once the system was officially commissioned and we handed over the keys, there was no way they were going to give them back."
Making its debut at this year's NSCA, the ModularDesign Series comprises eight models. Ideally suited for houses of worship, performing arts facilities, hotels, casinos, and anywhere else a fully arrayable, modular approach makes sense, the line includes six full-range models offered with three different coverage patterns, either 12 or 15-inch LF drivers, and a rotatable HF horn section that facilitates either vertical or horizontal use.
"Installation was easy too, using each cabinet's own rigging points," Fullwood adds. "Overall, they are well conceived boxes, and that's part of their real beauty. They're capable of handling quite a bit of horsepower as well, and simply sound fantastic."
5 Off 5 On is owned by Pit Instruction and Training, LLC (PIT). For more information about QSC, visit www.qscaudio.com.
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