bose & tsg - the toast of the master cutler

An innovative solution to problems of sound reverberation has given new life to formal events held at the prestigious Cutler's Hall in Sheffield .

The 80' long livery hall of The Company of Cutlers is a truly magnificent sight with its marble walls, ornate pillars, polished wooden floor and lofty ceiling, but event organisers have struggled over the years to overcome the problems of sound echoing and reverberating around the hard surfaces. Speeches had become less than distinct, despite the fact that there were 24 loudspeakers ranged around the hall.

However, once the Clerk to the Company, Peter Gardner, called in specialist audio company, tsg, a solution was quickly found. Instead of a large number of conventional loudspeakers, tsg recommended replacing them with an installation consisting of four double-stacked Bose Panaray MA-12 line array speakers. The line arrays are ideal for large reverberant spaces as they deliver a ‘wedge' of sound that travels directly to the audience rather than towards the ceiling or floor, thus reducing confusing echoes and minimising reverberations. The MA-12 also offers longer throw and gradual roll-off, allowing it to deliver uniform sound to listeners in all areas of the hall. Standing just one metre high, but measuring just over 10cm across, the MA-12s can be double stacked to give greater coverage, and the slim and elegant design allows them to blend unobtrusively into their surroundings.

According to tsg's Operations Manager, Paul Kemp “The Bose MA-12 offers an unrivalled controlled dispersion performance. At this particular site, we had to overcome inherent acoustic challenges, and get the sound and speech content directly to the listener with minimal reverberation and reflection”.

Peter Gardner is absolutely delighted with the result. “Having battled with poor speech delivery for many years, we were willing to try anything that might have solved the problem. We ran an initial trial which was impressive, and then installed the new Bose system for an event attended by the Lord Mayor of London . The Bose line array speakers worked even better than we expected, and everyone in the hall heard every word of the speeches. One guest was even able to remove his usual hearing aid! Aesthetically the speakers are exceptionally discreet, and we have been able to fit them into narrow recesses with no loss of wide dispersion. Financially, the system was also relatively inexpensive, which means that overall, for many reasons, we now have an audio delivery system that is perfect for the job!”