Crest Audio, a Peavey Commercial Audio brand, proudly celebrates the inaugural installation of the Versarray PRO at The Mill on Etowah in Canton, Georgia. The fully articulating line array system with ribbon drivers provides a customized solution for this historic venue, which sits on the Etowah River and serves as the centerpiece of Canton’s downtown revitalization program. As an adaptive reuse development, the venue was in need of a flexible, configurable sound system that could deliver high output, optimized coverage, and pristine high-fidelity audio. The mid-size Versarray PRO system chosen by the development team is a state-of-the-art configuration that’s capable of enhancing the venue’s immersive experience.
The Mill on Etowah combines an outdoor amphitheater and an indoor music and wedding venue, connected by the fully functional Reformation Brewery onsite. In the transformed textile mill’s central space, the development team wanted to showcase how the mill looked in its industrial prime, which inevitably created some sound reinforcement issues.
“With hardwood floors and ceilings, ancient brick walls, and expansive windows, any compression driver-based loudspeaker would be inappropriate in the space,” said installer/contractor Kent Morris of Cornerstone Media. “Fortunately the ribbon-based Crest Audio Versarray PRO system offered the smooth response and balanced tone the room required. And, with full Dante integration, the solution allowed for simple connectivity coupled with extensive control.”
The indoor performance venue uses eight Crest VR PRO 112, 12″ two-way powered ribbon line array cabinets, which are designed to provide modular coverage of small to medium-size venues while offering excellent versatility and high-performance capability. The 112 modules are perfectly paired with two VR PRO 215 (2 x 15’’) powered subwoofers running in a staggered four-post layout. The system is supplemented with eight Peavey Impulse 5C, two-way weather-resistant, indoor-outdoor loudspeakers surrounding the main area. In the VR PRO modules, the smoothness of the Crest ribbons mates perfectly with the natural aesthetic of the wood and brick surfaces to create a compelling sonic landscape.
To further enhance the room’s overall ambience, the Versarray PRO modules are positioned discretely thanks to the advanced adjustability of the rigging system. The flexibility of the Versarray FlyQWIK™ system allows for the use of anywhere from one to five Versarray PRO 215 subs in conjunction with an appropriate number of Versarray PRO 112 cabinets. Angles between the array modules are adjustable from 0 degrees (straight) to 7.5 degrees, in 2.5-degree increments. The total angling possible between two cabinets is 15 degrees.
“Add in the straightforward suspension design, and the VR PRO system made for an elegant answer to a complex problem,” Morris summarized.
Reliability is key for any professional audio system, but especially for the very first application of new sound technology in a groundbreaking venue. Just as the development team leveraged the beauty of this 120-year-old mill to create a functional community development for the 21st century, Crest Audio brought together decades of sound reinforcement research and development to ensure that the Versarray PRO will deliver uninterrupted performance and unrivalled high-end clarity for years to come.
