Danley Refits Chicago OMNIMAX

05.19.2009

2009-05-19-imax Chicago, IL (May 19, 2009)--The OMNIMAX theater at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) boasts a fresh set of Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers following a refit.

MSI hired MediaMerge of Chelsea, AL--the largest servicing agent for IMAX technology--to tear out the old audio and control systems and replace them with forward-looking technology. Noted Mike Hedden, Danley president, "When Tim Olgetree at MediaMerge called, he requested a loudspeaker with the sonic characteristics of our flagship Danley SH-50. But instead of the SH-50's 50 by 50-degree dispersion pattern, he needed a 90 by 60-degree dispersion pattern to fit the theater. Tom Danley and I discussed the details and ultimately the SH-96 was born with pattern control down to around 100 Hz, together with a flat phase response and flat magnitude for three pass bands. From the initial request to shipping the initial SH-96 was only six weeks."

The new speakers replaced the six old speakers in a one-for-one swap. In addition, four new Danley TH-50 subwoofers generate the low-end rumble for avalanches and the like. Lab.Gruppen amps power the system.

Hedden summarized, "The TH-50 actually challenged the sample rate of the FFT analyzer being used in the final testing in that due to the combination of cabinets and room gain we are flat to 10 Hz! Additionally our loudspeakers, especially ones as large as the SH-96 that have tight pattern control, don't energize the room like other systems. We deliver extremely high direct to reverberant rations that translate into clear, phase-coherent sound to the audience, and to the audience only. The fidelity is truly remarkable, so much that, to the listener at the OMNIMAX, the speakers effectively disappear."

MSI has entertained and educated over 175 million visitors since opening in 1933 on the former site of the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition. The museum built its OMNIMAX theater--the city's only five-story, domed IMAX venue--in 1986.

Danley Sound Labs
www.danleysoundlabs.com