MOORESTOWN FRIENDS SCHOOL UPGRADES AUDITORIUM AUDIO WITH MARTIN AUDIO TORUS
Moorestown Friends School is a coeducational Quaker day school in Moorestown, New Jersey. Founded in 1785, it serves students from age three through to Grade 12. The school’s 48-acre campus blends historic structures with state-of-the-art facilities, recently bolstered by a newly installed Martin Audio TORUS sound system in its main auditorium.
To facilitate the upgrade, the school turned to New Jersey-based live event and system integration specialists, Starlite.
“We’ve been proud to partner with Moorestown Friends School on multiple projects over the years, providing professional AV, rigging, and lighting solutions tailored to their needs,” explains Starlite’s Nick Minieri. “When it came time to upgrade their ageing sound system, in particular to enhance both sound quality and consistency of coverage, the school once again called on us.”
Starlite immediately recognised the acoustic challenges of the space, which features wide, curved reflective surfaces and cavities along its rear wall. And it was these challenges that led to Starlite's first deployment of Martin Audio’s TORUS constant curvature line array, a system specifically designed to overcome such difficult acoustic environments.
“We knew Martin Audio would not let us down on sound quality..."
“We have used Martin Audio speakers in the past but this was our first deployment of the TORUS Series,” confirms Minieri. “We knew Martin Audio would not let us down on sound quality and that this was the perfect application for the product. We were not disappointed.”
The final system design comprises two flown hangs, each featuring 2 x TORUS T1215 and 1 x TORUS T1230 array elements.
“Having the consistency of a good sounding array we were able to focus on tuning the room and not “correcting” the EQ of the boxes themselves,” notes Minieri.
The main arrays were supplemented with a Martin Audio SX218 dual-18in subwoofer to significantly enhance low-frequency response.
“Sub is often a requirement for the theatre spaces that we work in so the soundscapes that our end users create are immersive and utilize the entire frequency spectrum,” he adds. “It also means that the venues can comfortably support a traveling music group or host events such as their own battle of the bands.”
The entire system is powered by a pair of Martin Audio iKONIK42 amplifiers. “The iKON amps are great because they have heaps of power and, of course, pair perfectly with Martin speakers.”
For this project, the iKON amplifiers were also utilized for their onboard DSP to handle all room tuning. “This was fantastic to eliminate a failure point and have the ability to save our customer the extra cost of a dedicated audio DSP processor that comes with control system features were not needed in this application,” describes Minieri.
The final installation represents a significant, future-proof upgrade that has fundamentally transformed the venue’s audio performance. “We were confident we could deliver a system to support the school’s performances, assemblies, and community gatherings for years to come,” concludes Minieri. “Thanks to the Martin Audio TORUS system, the school now benefits from clear, full-range sound to every seat in the house.”