Audiosure AV Intergrate the Galaxy Hall at Curro Aurora

The Galaxy Hall at Curro Aurora in Sundowner is AV integrated by the Audiosure Solutions team together with First Technology

Curro Aurora is an independent school in Sundowner, Randburg, that provides high-quality education for learners from 2,5 years old to Grade 12. The school’s emphasis is on small class sizes, enhanced curriculum and Robotics and IT labs to empower learners with 21st-century skills and knowledge.

In the middle of 2019 the Audiosure Solutions team met with the principal of Curro Aurora, JC Engelbrecht, to offer their consultation on their flagship Galaxy Hall. The Audiosure Team presented a custom computer mapped model of the space handling the full AV integration into the venue to the exact specification of the board and principal which included the finishing of the speakers, positioning of the subs, and multiple AV inputs across the stage.

The Audiosure Product Specialist, John Greaves, commissioned the audio installation of four Martin Audio CDD12’s finished in black, with four Martin Audio CDD8’s also finished in black as delay speakers together with a pair of Martin Audio Blackline X118 subwoofers. With the venue being quite wide, the Martin Audio CDD12’s and CDD8’s are a perfect fit with their unique 110 degrees of horizontal coverage due to the Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology featured in the cones. The four CDD12’s are mounted off the stage wall, while the position of the delay stack of CDD8’s was calculated for the space and lowered to their positions in a horizontal arrangement by poles. These custom-made poles house and hide the wiring while offering a stable anchor point. The drivers in the CDD8’s are rotated by 90 degrees to fill in the balcony area and small spaces not covered adequately by the wide splay of the CDD12’s. This unique speaker array ensures that the entire venue is blanketed/covered with crisp audio with no hot spots or dead audio spaces you might encounter with conventional systems with even higher speaker counts.

The Blackline X118 Subwoofers are floated off the floor by custom brackets for easy cleaning of the space. The audio is governed by the Martin Audio DX05 Speaker Management system which has custom programmed settings loaded in to accommodate all the speakers dynamics, their positioning and the venue acoustics which features soundproof ceiling tiles and blinds. The result is a beautifully balanced audio experience with great voice intelligibility and musicality. Power amplification is via a single Wharfedale CPD3600 to drive the subwoofers and three Wharfedale CPD2600 amps to drive the assortment of CDD’s.

Digital Mixer specialist Marc Paynter chose the versatile Allen & Heath QU16C for the Front of House with an AB1608 rack mounted stage box to accommodate audio inputs and outputs on the stage with a Samson SMAX MCD2 Pro for balancing and improving audio from digital devices via Jack, RCA or Mini Jack from the main presentation point. Custom Layers were designed and loaded up to the desk so that students could easily operate the desk and do basic fader mixing while teachers and professionals could unlock all the features via a passcode. A training course was run for the AV club and teachers to orientate themselves on the desk and understand digital mixing.
The Audiosure Lighting Specialist opted for the Chauvet Professional Ovation Range to light up the stage with six of the Ovation F915Variable White Fresnels mounted onto a lighting bar in front of the stage. These RGBAL LED lights project a bright beautifully soft, field of light from subtle pastels to punchy saturates and nearly any temperature of white. Ten of the Chauvet DJ P130RGB LED Parcans are mounted onto the bars on the stage to offer a robust RGB wash light on the stage deck. All the lighting is linked by the Chauvet Net X II DMX distribution system using CAT cabled and all controlled by the very capable Chamsys QuickQ 20 lighting controller. This amazing, large touch-screen DMX desk is not only easy to use, it also features WiFi so you can download the QuickQ app and control the lighting and action changes via an Android or Apple device.

For the Audio Visual perspective Audiosure fitted two of the amazing Vivitek DH4661Z WH 5000 lumen laser projectors which carry Vivitek’s 5-year warranty for all education and large venue models. Designed lamp-free, the projectors provide a low cost of ownership, with minimal maintenance, and gives a stable, high-quality projection for up to 20,000 hours. Splitting of the video signal to the two projectors is managed by the very capable Kramer VM2DT 1:2 HDBaseT Distribution Amplifier paired with a Kramer VS411UHD 4 Input HDMI Auto-Switcher to ensure quick and seamless changes from the different Kramer TP 508T points around the stage and at Front of House, without the user even being aware. A pair of 196” motorized screens were fitted on either side of the stage to host the 16:9 imaging format.