Someone on the Sun City Facebook forum posted a live clip last night! It looked so fun and sounded great...wishing we were there!
Here's the deal on the sound system at the Sun Bowl. If you watched the first open meeting (work session) last week you saw Theresa Cirino make a proposal to the board. The cost for the refurbished system was $50,000 (or somewhere in that neighborhood). A director asked about other bids and the one comparable new system was about 200K. They will get another bid so they have three. Theresa told me this is a floating system which means it is raised up on poles so it gets above the crowd and the sound doesn't get muffled by the large numbers in attendance. I didn't go to the show but stopped down last night just to hear it and it was 100% better than is has been. The board hopefully will approve this purchase; money well spent. I've been harping about this for years, about time eh?
I was near the back center and the balance was right on. Not sure whose amps were used last night. Audio is only as good as it's weakest link. $50k refurbed sounds like a good value.
I was thinking the same thing. So you get a good deal on used, but is there any kind of warranty? What is the price of a moderate system with a full warranty? Kind of reminds me of purchasing a used car, the former owner claims everything is great, but how can you trust it is. Why is it OK to go big on golf but purchase used equipment for other amenities? Since when is a great venue like the Sun bowl not deserving of top quality sounds? Just my opinions
The speakers being trialed at the Sunbowl are for sale and are being offered to the RCSC for a reduced price. My contention is what happens to these used speakers if all of a sudden two channels blow? Are they still a good deal or did we now cost ourselves more money to get a used pair of speakers. They have not been purchased yet.
The RCSC has them on a trial basis. On this Thursday is the second reading of the motion to consider buying them, or another set of speakers. The board asked to see three bids. The ones they are using are refurbished. They are 25% of the cost of a new set. I suspect they would want to know what kind of a warranty there is on the used compared to the new ones. Unfortunately speakers are one of those topics way beyond my pay grade. I only know what they had bought 9 or 10 years ago were horrible and they absolutely need to do something. It makes no sense to have good groups, huge crowds and abysmal sound. The bigger challenge in the coming years will be how to deal with the attendance and how to manage it.
LOL, like I said a few months ago, it's all about their need for expensive new equipment to wash those dirty (golf) balls. To be serious now -- there's a lot more to good sound in an open air venue than big amps and big speakers. Loudness alone isn't better in most cases. The sound system should reproduce the full range of vocal and instrumental sounds accurately throughout the venue. I'm no expert, for sure, but the world's great outdoor venues mostly have a natural rock or man-made wall or building behind the venue to reflect sound back into the audience. Lacking that, as is the case with the Sun Bowl, requires different speaker placements to compensate and proper sound delay settings to the dispersed speakers so sound from the rear and side speakers is in-phase with sound from the front speakers. Balancing the sound level throughout the venue can get tricky since temperature and humidity affect the speed of sound. The Sun Bowl is small enough that these effects may not be terribly noticeable, but if they are, theoretically, adjustments may be needed before each performance for optimal sound. Whatever the BOD decides, I'll be happy if it can be faithful to “Black Napkins” by Frank Zappa, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, and the lows of Richard Sterban in the Oak Ridge Boys' "American Made" or his 'pa-oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa-mow-mow' runs in "Elvira".
IC, I was doing some reading and there are some excellent speakers out there for the money. I just came across a brand called BASSBOSS. They have speaker arrays designed to top the sounds needed to get above the crowd as well as provide an array of woofers and tweeters to help boost the music and the sound with clarity. I am not a speaker aficienado, but I do know I still have concerns about $50k for used speakers. As I read other specs, there are system arrays which will maximize the sound and amplify the sound to the level desired. So, is the issue the sound board the RCSC currently have not support a greater array of speakers? Is there a limit as to db output and noise reduction due to needing updated equipment? Is a second mixer needed to get the quality of sound we would all love to hear at the Sunbowl? Just a few passing questions about the choice of speakers and utilizing a true sound based system to cover the entire seating area.
