Meyer Sound Laboratories, Inc.

Following 12 successful years with its Meyer SoundMSL-4 loudspeakers, the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Japan returned to Meyer Sound when it came time to upgrade. With an emphasis on exceptional audio quality and system reliability, the 2,550-seat venue chose a design based on M'elodie and MICA line array loudspeakers.

"In my opinion, the best equipment should be robust and reliable," says Masaru Kirie of Takarazuka Stage Co., Ltd. "The new system's performance lives up to the prestigious Meyer Sound brand, and the sound quality is excellent in all respects."

The theatre's main system is anchored by left and right lower proscenium arrays of 13-each M'elodie loudspeakers and three over-proscenium L-C-R clusters consisting of seven MICA and three M'elodie loudspeakers each. Ten 700-HP subwoofers provide low-end reinforcement, with six placed overhead and two located with each of the side arrays. All arrays are hidden behind screens and walls to stay out of sight.

In addition, 32 UPA-2P and two UPA-1P loudspeakers, four M1D line array loudspeakers, and six UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers provide secondary fill, delay, and stage monitoring, while four HD-1 studio monitors are used in the control room. The entire system is driven and aligned by a Galileo loudspeaker management system with 10 Galileo 616 processors. For special effects, signal matrixing, and Wild Tracks playback, the system includes a D-Mitri digital audio platform with 24 modules.

The system was designed in consultation with Meyer Sound Japanese distributor ATL, Inc., and installed by JATO Co., Ltd. of Osaka.

Located in a suburban resort city, the Takarazuka Grand Theatre was built in 1993 to host productions of theTakarazuka Revue, an all-female theatre troupe that presents lavish, large-cast musicals based on Broadway productions and Japanese folk tales. Both the theatre's operating company and the Revue are owned by Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc.

The Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre, which serves as another home venue for the Takarazuka Revue, is also equipped with a Meyer Sound system.