Ruby Diamond Concert Hall in Tallahassee has served as Florida State University College of Music’s primary performing arts venue since 1911. Its program ranges from opera, touring artists, and ballet to graduations, lectures, and classical concerts, so the replacement PA had to support amplified productions while disappearing into the stage acoustic shell when unamplified performances need a clear stage and acoustic environment.
The installed system uses left and right main hangs of 10 L-Acoustics K3i per side, plus a center fill hang with one A10 Wide and one A10 Focus. It adds three KS28 subwoofers below each K3i array, six X8 coaxial speakers across the stage lip for front fill, and 10 X15 HiQ wedges for stage monitoring, with LA7.16i amplified controllers for the house system except the subs, LA12X for the KS28 and wedges, and a DirectOut Prodigy MP with six LS10 AVB switches for Milan-AVB distribution.
Clark retained the retractable approach created during the hall’s $38 million 2010 renovation, but the existing hoist motors had to be removed, serviced, and reoriented so the new arrays could pass through the narrow shell openings. Because flown subwoofers would not fit, the K3i hangs provide much of the low-frequency extension on their own, with KS28 units rolled out when needed; Panflex dispersion helps keep energy off the muralled side walls and side boxes, while the Milan-AVB network lets the Avid S6L console operate from either the booth or a mid-house mix position.