[Editor’s Note: The following was submitted at the end of April, on time, by our live sound man in the field, Steve La Cerra. But the editors—i.e., me, Tom Kenny—sitting back at home seem to have placed it in the wrong folder until it mysteriously re-surfaced in early July.]
A few weeks ago (in mid-April), I had a show on the calendar at the Casino Rama Resort Entertainment Centre up north in Ontario with Blue Öyster Cult. I had been there quite a few years ago, but had long forgotten the gig. Little did I know the treat that was in store…
Until recently, the Entertainment Centre hosted an L-Acoustics V-DOSC system, which was an impressive P.A., if a bit long in the tooth. That system has been replaced with a brand-spankin’ new L-Acoustics K2 rig consisting of left and right main arrays of 16 K2 cabinets per side, plus six additional K2 per side focused on the outer seating areas of the main floor. A pair of Kara II provide fill coverage for the front-center section.
Low frequencies are supplied by 12 KS28 subwoofers per side, flown in a cardioid configuration and positioned within 11 feet of the five-foot-high stage. Six LA-RAK II AVB touring racks (each loaded with three LA12X amplified controllers and two LS10 Milan-AVB switches) were added to the Entertainment Centre’s existing 10 LA-RAK II to round out the infrastructure.
The upgrade was executed in two stages so that the venue wouldn’t have any down time. The initial phase addressed the amplification, cabling and background infrastructure initially powering the then-current V-DOSC and dV-DOSC speakers. The second phase of the upgrade brought in additional amplification to support the new K2 enclosures, added another complement of subs per side, and completed all the cabling. Design and installation of the system was overseen by Perry Disera, A1 at Casino Rama Resort Entertainment Centre.
The results are impressive. When I mixed Blue Öyster Cult in the venue, it was clear (literally) that the system has tons of headroom—when the band got louder, so did the P.A. (!), with no evidence that I was even tapping the gas pedal. I love headroom! I was advised by the house techs to keep an ear out for 50 to 60 Hz and 120 Hz during soundcheck and not to over-EQ them. Those areas were a bit loose when the room was empty but tightened up nicely once the audience filled the seats.
Something that surprised me was that the intelligibility of vocals through the P.A. (which was quite good during soundcheck) actually improved noticeably during show time, and was consistent throughout the room, with the K2 outfills doing an excellent job of covering the outer seating areas, and the Kara II cabs providing presence in the front and center seating areas.
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It was no surprise that the house crew is totally on-point, with Rob Howick (Assistant Manager Venue Operations) and his tech crew doing everything you could ask to make it an easy day. We like easy days.
Thank you Casino Rama.