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Projectors are Kinoton FP30e with reverse-scan LED readers.

Never had a problem with DTS. Never drops out, which is a bit disappointing because I take pride in tweaking our system so well that you can flip back and forth between DTS and analog with barely a hint of any audible change in the house. I agree with Scott -- get your analog SR to sound sweet and your digital will easily fall into place.

One of the things that is problematic in large rooms is speech intellegability. We were no exception. Walls had to be treated, you've got to measure slapback carefully and then deal with it acoustically. Getting even coverage to every seat is no picnic either. We use an Aphex Aural Exciter in the system and it adds a remarkable clarity to dialog as well as firming up localization in a nice, airy stereo soundfield. As for the DTS, I heard so much about the trouble with the disk drives that I have a TEAC backup just waiting to get plugged in -- probably will never have to.

Some unique things about this sound system -- everything runs through an 18 channel Allen-Heath studio console, which is great for precise signal control; I can do the gross eq, not with the dinky two controls on Dolby processor, but with the 4 band channel parametric eqs on the console -- then very little has to be done with the CP's on-board 1/3rd octaves. Only downside is that after hours of alignment and after you've got everything tweaked, it is way too easy for someone to mess everything up with his big fat, stupid fingers. So I have a big sheet of Lexan that screws into the rack and covers the mixer. Sometimes I want to just pour epoxy over all the controls and encase it in one big block of plastic, like Hans Solo.

Another unique thing is, we don't use Dolby's bass enhancement. We use a great piece of recording studio equipment from DBX -- their Bass Enhancement processor which gives me a lot more control and quite frankly, it sound much better than Dolby's BE processing. The DBX *halfs* frequencies in the 50-150Hz range; we pump that into quad JBL 18in subbass drivers housed in 2 throated fiberglass Community bins and get a result that slams you into your seat and rattles the fillings out of your teeth. When we play EARTHQUAKE, we don't need to bring in those wimpy Cerwin-Vega folded horns as our subbass bins couple along our the arched ceiling in a special "speaker loft" above the screen. We use 8 HH 800w monolithic amps with incredible damping factor to drive the low-end drivers and 6 Adcom 400w amps to drive all JBL Constant Directivity horns.

Also unique, the screen is not perforated. Our horn clusters are on either side of the screen, with the center channel up above it in the loft along with the 6 dual bass bins for the L/C/R channels. This is nice because a non-perf screen gives us about 10-15% more light that is not wasted going through the holes -- totally free extra foot lamberts. Another nice thing about using the console is that it allows me to play non-sync music with the first notes of the movie sound OVERLAPING the last few seconds of the non-sync music as it ends. Can't do that with the Dolby either/or switching arrangement. Our preshow music is programmed to end EXACTLY at showtime as the CURTIANS being to part....to the second. I use a Cannon 8T sexagesimal calculator to makeup the time schedule.

Unique surrounds in this theatre -- not on the side walls, but two JBL double bins with 90 degree CQ horns in the Left and Right rear corners of the theatre to provide point-of-source surround sound, something THX in their early specs recommeneded over smaller, multiple source speakers along the walls. Once they saw that no one was doing that, they relaxed that requirement and allow multiple sides.

In the smaller Museum theatre (400 seats), no digital at all, just a CP55 with SR/A card modification -- a Dolby Digital unit WAS on the budget before 9/11, but since then the cinema program, like all arts programs in the city, lost 30 -50% of their operating budget. Maybe in time.

The unique thing about this theatre is that the surrounds are not along the side walls but mounted in the ceiling. There are 12 wide-range, 8in speakers in acoustic enclosures mounted in such a way that their dispersion covers all seating areas. I don't know what can be done if they do get digital -- no way to effectively split the surrounds. This theatre uses a powered BGW 1000W RMS Subbass system (dual 18" drivers in it) It isn't behind the screen because the speaker room has cuttouts thru the wall behind the screen and the L/C/R speakers fit through each of their holes. There isn't any space in that room for the big BGW unit. Besides, I heard that putting a subbass speaker system of this size up against a perf screen has a tendencey to make the screen itself pulse with the beat. Great, something else to make the picture look out-of-focus.

The outdoor Movie-in-the-Park setup is also just analog; we use an UltraStereo unit with SR. Decent sounding, but here I can never tell what I am hearing because everything goes through the sound mixer's console and he is forever adjusting stuff. Whis is fine because he runs it like he is running a show, always at the board and always tweaking. I stopped trying to tell him he doesn't have to touch anything since he has a good ear and he does make everything sound quite good. How close that is to what the director heard in the mixing sessions I will never know.

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