L-ACOUSTICS Brings Voice To Ha: Breath Of Life

Polynesian Cultural Center installs dV-DOSC for new show at Pacific Theater

LAIE, Oahu, Hawaii - January 2010 -- Three years and $3 million in the making, Ha: Breath Of Life has now made its premier as the new production staged nightly at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Presented in the redesigned 2,675-seat Pacific Theater, the 90-minute show features over 100 performers -- many of whom are students at neighboring Brigham Young University Hawaii -- an active backdrop of volcanoes, waterfalls and fountains, and a new amplifier and loudspeaker package from L-ACOUSTICS.

Salt Lake City-based Poll Sound was responsible for the design, install, tuning, operator training and follow-up on the system, which now features a wide arc of five L-ACOUSTICS line source arrays, each comprised of five dV-DOSC elements. A total of four dV-SUB enclosures deliver low-end reinforcement throughout the venue, while a delay ring of ten 12XT coaxial enclosures address the upper bowl seating areas. Six LA8 amplified controllers are onsite to drive and provide DSP for the FOH system and subs, with three additional LA4 units powering/processing the delays.

"We modeled this system using SOUNDVISION and the final result sounded really good and matched the prediction very closely," says Deward Timothy, senior sound system designer, Poll Sound. "I consider L-ACOUSTICS to be our premium loudspeaker brand and, knowing what the center was wanting to accomplish with this new production, I knew that dV-DOSC would be their very best option."

Timothy notes that he was particularly impressed with the performance of the compact dV-SUB enclosures. "When the PCC crew initially saw the dV-SUB, they immediately told me that it wouldn't be nearly enough. But I told them to give them a chance and, once we fired them up, it quickly became obvious as to what a remarkable difference just four of them made. Whereas the bass on the previous show sounded honky and disconnected, the dV-SUB represented an overwhelming improvement in sound and output -- and they're not even close to peaking out."

Ha: Breath Of Life replaces Horizons: Where The Sea Meets The Sky, which had been the park's showpiece for the past 14 years. One of the most challenging aspects of the changeover to the new production was the tight installation timeline. The final performance of Horizons took place on a Saturday night, and Poll Sound's crew removed the previous system and both installed and commissioned the new system in time for Ha's debut performance on Monday evening.

Since opening its doors in 1963, over 34 million people have visited PCC, making it Hawaii's number one paid attraction. Owned by BYU Hawaii and located in Laie, on the northern part of Oahu, the 42-acre living museum is particularly beloved for its productions like Ha, which combines music, drums, dance, special effects -- including a fire spewing volcano -- and a world-renowned fire knife performance. For more details on PCC and Ha, visit www.polynesia.com.

Poll Sound can also be found online at www.pollsound.com.

L-ACOUSTICS is a leading innovator and manufacturer of high-performance loudspeakers, amplifiers and signal processing devices for touring and installed sound markets. Known around the globe for pioneering and championing the modern line array loudspeaker concept with V-DOSC, the company has received numerous accolades for its K1, KUDO, KIVA, ARCS, XT coaxial loudspeaker systems and SB line of subwoofer enclosures, all powered and processed with the LA4 and LA8 amplified controllers in fulfillment of a "total system approach." L-ACOUSTICS products for the North American market are manufactured and distributed by L-ACOUSTICS US of Oxnard, California.

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