Designed in 1987 and completed in 1989, this beautifully restored Rapp and Rapp theater was our first permanently installed full stereo system, and it happened almost by accident. The budget was tight, so the plan was for the system to be exposed in front of the proscenium. At the final meeting with the client's board just before release of the project for bid, a major donor asked, "What's all that stuff in front of the arch?" We responded, "Oh, that's the sound system." To which she replied, "Not in my theater, you don't." Hoping to save the project, our team leader committed to hide the entire system behind the existing gingerbread above the arch if additional budget could be allocated to doing so. We got the money to do it , but he didn't sleep much that night, worried that it couldn't be done.
Back in the office, I redid the acoustic model of the system and, with the increased budget, decided to look at a stereo system. We had done some stereo reinforcement of outdoor concerts on a rental basis, with excellent results, but had never done an indoor system. The PHD model (this was in 1987, long before EASE was available) showed that stereo would work and we decided to go for it. The proscenium clusters cover the front two-thirds of both the main floor and balcony, with four big JBL horns and four bass boxes per channel and a pair of Intersonics Sub-woofers. A network of 12-inch PAS coaxial loudspeakers covers seating under the balcony which can't see the clusters and the top third of the balcony.
The performance of this system exceeded our wildest expectations. The system is very powerful, with execellent dynamic range. It provides very good stereo for more than 80% of the audience (and great mono with some stereo effect everywhere else). After it had been in use for about a year, theater tech staff told us most bands were leaving their systems on the semi, and loading in only their monitor and mixing rigs.
For a hint of what's concealed behind the gingerbread over the proscenium, take a look at the Ohio Theater in Cleveland. (The loudspeaker system is nearly twice as large here at the Tivoli.)