Located below Melbourne 's famous Regent Theatre you will find the heritage-listed Plaza Ballroom - a multi function venue which is perfect for grand gala dinners, cocktail receptions, weddings or AGMs. It is also the host of some less formal events such as breakfast seminars, luncheons, conferences and trade shows. Owned by the Marriner Theatres Group, the Plaza Ballroom is, without doubt, one of the most spectacular function rooms in the country.

The theatre was built in 1929 and became a landmark for Melbournians, despite a devastating fire in 1945 which, remarkably, left the Plaza Ballroom intact. The theatre was re-built and continued operating until the early 70s by which time TV had become the preferred entertainment medium and such old grand theatres were no longer viable. Consequently, the theatre lay dormant for many years.

In 1990 David Marriner approached the Melbourne City Council to restore and refurbish the venue. The restoration commenced in 1993 and 3 years later both the theatre and the ballroom rooms were restored to their former glory. Mark Allen, technical director of all Marriner Theatres, made the decision this year to upgrade the audio system in the Plaza Ballroom. After talking to a number of sound engineers and venue operators, they made the decision to use HK Audio . 'We had a lot of problems because the stage of the Ballroom is directly under the Regent's orchestra pit. When we had a band on downstairs, the bottom end would travel upstairs and this created huge problems for us,' says Mark.

CMI, along with Parker Black Pro Audio, were brought in to help solve what was a very complex problem. After trying different positions with subwoofers and taking readings from around the venue - both down stairs and in the Regent - it became very clear that Line Array technology was to come into play. 'We needed to use a line array due to the fact we had a wide vertical dispersion and a need to throw the sound forward,' says Brad Parker of Parker Black - the head consultant for the project. 'One of the best things was that there was very little sound coming out from behind the front of house system which means it wasn't travelling upstairs,' he continues. 'We went with the HK Audio Contour Array set up and, to offset the low end problems, we chose to run with three CTA-208s a side with a CT-118 . This was great because we could get the bottom end out of the top boxes and the subs have more than enough down really low. We ran the top of the arrays at 4 ohms and have the bottom cabinets running at 8 ohms which gives us the perfect 3db drop we were after in the near field.'

To run the front of house system MC 2 T-3500s are being used in-line with the HK Audio DSM-2060 controller. 'We went right into the DSM and set it up especially for the job. I must say it is an excellent controller you can do so much with it,' says Brad. 'We also incorporated the dance floor fill into it and set it up so it can be used in various configurations around the stage area,' he continues. 'The T-3500s are one of the most amazing amps. I don't think we could ever get them to clip and the sonic capabilities make these one of the best amps on the planet everything out the front is just flat - and that's the way it should be.'

The monitor system chosen is made up of the new dB technologies DVX enclosures. DVX-D12s are being used for near field and side fill with four DVX-DM12s and four DVX-DM28 dual 8-and-horn cabinets for stage monitoring. 'Due to the bottom end problems we use in-ear monitoring when ever we can but there is always the odd artist that must use a wedge so the dual 8s are definitely the way to go,' says Andrea the in-house technician for the ballroom. 'Powered monitors are the way to go for us. We move them around and the beauty of the DVXs is high power and light weight. When we tried them out before we the install I was blow away by how loud they go,' says Andrea. 'Quite often we are moving the dance floor and near fills so this solution is just fantastic,' he continues. 'An added bonus was we are able to use the existing cabling from the speakers we replaced'.

With the install up and running, Mark Allen is very pleased with the result: 'It has been a fantastic experience. The guys from both CMI and Parker Black have been great and they have come up with a great solution. Anywhere you walk around the venue the audio is smooth and a pleasure to listen too. I am rapt that they have not only found a solution to a problem we have been having for years, but they have also made a very easy-to-use and great sounding system as well.'

System details:

HK Audio

• 6 x CTA-208
• 2 x CT-118
• DSM-2060

dB Technologies

• 4 x DVX-DM28
• 4 x DVX-DM12
• 4 x DVX-D12

MC 2

• 3 x T-3500