May 2009 saw the long-awaiting complete redesign and reinstallation of the ageing audio system in Basingstoke’s main performance venue, The Anvil.  After several demonstrations and trial shows, The Anvil’s technical manager Jim Johnson selected Surrey-based professional loudspeaker manufacturer EM Acoustics’ flagship HALO compact line array system as the optimum solution.

The system was designed by EM Acoustics’ Ed Kinsella and Mike Wheeler, after close consultation with Jim Johnson as well as other Anvil staff.  The venue’s requirement was a system which would be capable of covering every performance aspect for the receiving house – from spoken word to rock & roll.  Ease of use, consistency of coverage throughout the venue, as well as service & reliability were also key factors.  Added to the complexity are the various different configurations that the venue can be used in.  Everything from open flat floor, to fully seated, including choir stall areas behind the stage had to be catered for, including some awkward coverage areas where intelligibility had always been a problem.

EM Acoustics’ Ed Kinsella, after visiting the venue and discussing the requirements with the Anvil staff, designed a system based around two hangs of 12 HALO elements per side, underpinned by a pair of EMS-215 subwoofers and a single i-12 ULF subwoofer per side.  Front fill requirements are handled by six i-2 2 x 5” & planar wave HF enclosures, for those performances which require them.  To cover difficult side areas, additional i-2 loudspeakers and EMS-81 8” x 1” full-range enclosures provide additional coverage outside of the HALO array dispersion.  Lastly, to cover the back-of-stage choir stalls, six of EM Acoustics’ EMS-61 6.5” x 1” passive enclosures were specified to cover this area.  Additional elements such as a custom mounting bracket to attach the Sennheiser IR emitters to the bottom of the HALO arrays were also designed and supplied with the system.

The entire system is powered with FFA amplification, and processed by XTA Electronics.  Additionally, a Midas Verona 400 console was also supplied.

The Anvil’s Jim Johnson says “The Anvils’ primary function is as a Concert Hall, and as such it has a world class acoustic. My brief to EM Acoustics stated that we needed a system to match that quality and the HALO does not disappoint. Its intelligibility is remarkable yet it packs a mighty punch when it comes to it. It is an amazing system to work with and a pleasure to engineer on.  With a program as varied as our the Anvil has, the system has to be flexible and we’ve thrown everything at it and there has been nothing that it can’t handle with the greatest of ease. The guys at EM have done an amazing job it’s an absolute pleasure working with them.”

Additionally, EM Acoustics’ Mike Wheeler adds “The Anvil is a fantastic venue to work in.  It is exactly what HALO was designed for – a highly flexible venue, which requires a system capable of mirroring this flexibility whilst retaining the utmost in sonic performance.  HALO is working extremely well in this venue, providing the ideal solution for them.  This is clearly reinforced by the number of touring shows that don’t take their systems off the truck and instead use the in-house HALO system.  We’ve seen everything running through the Anvil, from stand-up comedy and speech, through to full on rock & roll shows, and HALO has handled everything exactly as we expected it to.”