Further investigation by them revealed that, in of the three JBL 4670 speaker systems behind the screen, one 2225 woofer had been removed from each cabinet.

As this news filed through the appropriate channels at Head Office, I was summoned to investigate some three days later.

As it turned out not one, but several auditoria at this theatre had been "hit", all in the same manner. The theif removed only one of the 2 woofers from the cabinet (total of 13 units lost).

Strangely, the theif had the audio professionalism to replace the speaker cabinet back into the correct position. What made this even more of a mystery, is that the theif completely ignored the sub-woofers, which because of their position. at floor level, would have made a much easier target.

Obviously, in my mind anyways, this was not a "smash and grab" but a planned robbery by someone who not only brought in the correct tool, but realized that the removal of only one woofer would not be obvious to the theatre staff. Had it not been for the cleaner's missing broom, this crime might never have been reported until the next time (if we only had time) to run a Dolby test reel. By the way, there were no audience complaints of poor sound reported.

In any event, we had a number of replacement units from recently closed theatres. Before installing more speakers, however, I should like to take steps to try and ensure that the replacement speakers will not themselves be easily stolen in the future.

To this end, I am thinking of "theft proof screws" (those with the two indentations) in all speaker systems. I realize that these cannot be torqued the same as the original 10-32 Phillips screws or allen screws. My question is, has anyone tried these and can they be torqued sufficiently to properly mount the 2225 speaker?

Thanks for any replies.

You guessed it: The entire speaker box (Including the driver, horn, and cross-over) was stolen! It has been known to happen.

It also sounds like it's only one person since they are ignoring the subs which are pretty heavy to move far distances by yourself. However if you make it difficult to steal the woofers from the 4670's they might bring a dolly and take the subs instead. Mind you the 15" woofers would be a lot easier to fit in the back of a car than the 18" ones.

Good point, Dayrl, except that this could have occured over some time, due to the number of speakers to carry away. Because the staff did not notice the difference in sound quality, I am becoming more and more suspicious that the person who did this knew exactly what he/she was doing.
 

We had lost both of the transducers in all of the Left and Right speakers. We had also lost about 3 subwoofer transducers and a similar number of HF horn systems for the 4670D.

I have my suspicions as to who carried them away. There aren't too many people involved with the company who have what it takes to pull off a stunt like that...

1. What to remove
2. How to remove
3. When to remove
4. Need for the stolen property

In addition to the tamper-resistant screws, I have secured a quantity of those metallic "Property of" tags from the accounting department and I am putting them on everything (cabinets, woofers, horns, mounting brackets...everything). I am also keeping a log of the serial numbers of the actual product and also the corresponding property tag.

By the way, the 2035 is the spec replacement for the 4670, not the 2225...although, there's probably some wiggle room there. Personally, I would verify what was actually in your cabinets and order whatever is needed to make them all match one another. If that's the 2035, then get those. If it's something else in there, then get that instead. It's probably more important that they match than to get the spec replacement and have mis-matched units.

~Manny.

I just can't wait to start screwing!

Apparently, (and I didn't have time to look at them since the theater was closed and stripped by this time) they had installed some sort of devices that sense when a speaker has been moved or removed. Who makes something like this?

Our theater had the subwoofers stolen out of our largest houses. In one of them, only one was gone, and just the speaker itself. In the other house, BOTH were gone, cabinets and all, and according to the tech that came out because we had no low freq. in that house, they somehow managed to short out the amp during their little robbery!! Savages.

I've often thought about how easy it really is to steal equipment or fixtures from an auditorium. Someone could, for exampe, buy a ticket for "Pluto Nash" on a Tuesday afternoon and be the only one in a dark room for 2 hours to plunder as they please.

=TMP=
 

Don't most larger theatres have security cameras in the exit hallways, anyway?
 

quote:

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How are these thieves getting behind the screen? In a procenium theatre, of course, they could just climb up on the stage, but in a typical multiplex, access is usually through a door (which should be locked) in one of the side exit hallways.

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In most theaters I have been to, it is very easy for anyone to go under the skirting and get behind the screen. I have never seen any doors leading to the back of the screen.
 

I think it would be OK to have two screws less torqued than the others. I'd probably also take that ladder away.

At a theater we no longer own, the cleaners keep "accidently" setting off the alarm until the maangers stopped using it. We got robbed two days later. We fired the cleaners.
 

This auditorium, like most, has an exit door which leads to a common (for all auditoriums on that side of the building) hallway, which leads to an outside exit door.

It is even possible that these speakers were removed, one or two at a time, over a period of weeks, during operating hours.

On a matinee when attendance was poor, the theif could wait until the credits start to roll. As the last of the customers leave the auditorium, the theif could then slip behind the skirt at the bottom of the screen and up the ladder. As the ushers would not be very long in cleaning up the auditorim, they would have several minutes before a new audience began filing in. Exiting by the rear exit, they would not be seen by the staff, with a speaker obtained for the price of an admission ticket.

Manny, interesting thought about "Need for the stolen property".

I can't see an easy solution to this, but for an existing theater I think the best cost vs. gain is security screws. For a new theater, placing all speakers up on platforms without access. I realize the output of subwoofers are reduced when placed up higher, but it's better than no output.

I think the big problem is a person usually can't be seen back there, (especally if there's a THX-like baffle wall) and they can take their time to defeat almost anything. They can work even while the theater is open, when building alarms are not on.

It's also tough to get money to prevent this. For some reason, accountants would rather spend $300, three-four times a year replacing speakers than spend $1200 once to solve the problem.
 

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