Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) in Nampa, Idaho, uses its 1500-seat Swayne Auditorium primarily for University events, including worship services and performing arts concerts (choir, orchestra, band, theater). The theater department produces several musicals per year. They also hire out the space for events, including Philharmonic performances and community activities.
NNU looked to Production Services International (Boise, Salt Lake, Denver) for a replacement to its old sound reinforcement system. “During the long design/sales process, three different systems were demonstrated,” explains Noah Bard, Operations Manager, PSI International. “Each one was considered, but, due to budget constraints, none was installed. We have an outstanding partnership with NNU, and Yamaha worked with us over several years to ensure we could provide the university with the proper system. Finally, in 2015, funding came into place, and we demonstrated the GEO M6 installed at a nearby church. NNU was impressed, and we knew it was the right fit. The NEXO M6 decision was a combination of size, superior performance, and price.”
Bard said the old audio system did not work well and needed to be replaced from an acoustical perspective. “Aesthetically, NNU wanted the sound system to disappear as much as possible. The old center hung system was very much a part of the room. The change had been a part of the initial master plan for upgrades.”
The new compact system consists of left/right arrays of M6 cabinets, 12 per side. Each line consists of 3x M6Bs and 9x M620s. Adjacent to each array, behind scrim, are 2x NEXO LS18 subwoofers. The entire system is powered by 2x NEXO NXAMP 4X1s for the mains and 1x NEXO NXAmp 4X4 for the subs. All the amps are fitted with EtherSound cards.
Several years ago, PSI installed a Yamaha M7CL-ES Digital Audio Console with three stage boxes. “The theater was originally installed with a network of analog jacks so, rather than installing new stage boxes on the stage, we installed the stage boxes in the patch bay, and the students made TRS/XLR cables to patch existing house jacks to the stage boxes.” PSI extended the EtherSound network to the new NEXO amps so the whole system is running off EtherSound.
For more information on Production Services International, visit www.psiiusa.com.
