Being able to adapt the acoustics instantly for everything from intimate chamber performances to larger festival events keeps the theater a true showcase for the arts on campus, especially for our highly renowned Summer Music Festival that invites rising-star musicians to study and perform with elite performance faculty for three weeks every summer.”
Randy BabbAV Manager, Colorado College
Meyer Sound has completed an upgrade of its Constellation acoustic system at Colorado College’s Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center in Colorado Springs. Installed in the center’s 450-seat Celeste Theater, the update replaces the original Matrix 3-based processing with the new NADIA integrated digital audio platform, bringing enhanced flexibility, modern control options, and long-term efficiency to the intimate performance space.
The Celeste Theater, part of the LEED-certified Cornerstone Arts Center, serves as a showcase for the arts on campus. With its amphitheater-style seating and reconfigurable architecture, the building supports a wide range of performances, screenings, and exhibitions, and the theater is a centerpiece for the college’s annual summer music festival.
“This was a 20-year-old Constellation system that had served the theater well, but it was time for a head-end replacement,” says Daryl Porter, vice president of operations at integrator CSD Group. “We replaced the entire processing backbone with NADIA, which is amazing technology. It gives the venue a lot more options in a much more compact and efficient system and brings the technology fully up to date.”
The original Constellation transducer array, still in place, is based around Meyer Sound MM-4 miniature loudspeakers and UMS-1XP ultracompact subwoofers, along with omnidirectional microphones, reflecting the early generation of Constellation installations. The new NADIA platform modernizes the processing and networking infrastructure, reduces rack space and power consumption, and integrates intuitive user control via web GUI, iPad, or Crestron interface.
According to Pierre Germain, Constellation Director at Meyer Sound, day-to-day usability has seen a big improvement. “The old interface was limited in its functionality, so we revamped it with faders that feel more like a mixing board,” he says. “It makes the system more intuitive for anyone using it.”
“We gave them the ability to customize their presets to exactly what they want to do, while keeping the interface as simple as possible,” adds Porter. “All the heavy lifting is under the hood. They can walk in, select a preset on the iPad or from the control booth, and have the room tuned for a string quartet, a larger orchestral ensemble, or even a backbeat rock performance. It really covers the gamut.”
During commissioning, the flexibility of the updated system was immediately clear. “They brought in a string quartet, and it was amazing to hear how the space could be reshaped to support that kind of performance,” recalls Porter. “Sometimes they’ll turn Constellation off completely for a rock event, then bring it back for classical or electroacoustic work.”
The update was an early project under Meyer Sound’s new Constellation Certified Integrator Program, which trains AV integrators in the specialized requirements of Constellation design and installation. Porter and the CSD team completed the certification shortly before the Cornerstone update. “Constellation is not like a normal audio system,” says Porter. “We’ve supported this venue for years, but the certification program was a great opportunity to connect face-to-face with Meyer Sound’s Constellation team and see how their approach has evolved.”
Alongside its performance benefits, the NADIA update contributes to the college’s long-term sustainability goals while maintaining the theater’s full acoustic flexibility. “NADIA is more efficient as far as power and rack space,” says Germain. “It takes less cooling and less power draw, which helps the system run leaner over the long term.”
“The Constellation system has always been a defining feature of the Celeste Theater, and this upgrade makes it even more flexible and intuitive for our team,” says Randy Babb, AV Manager for the College. “Being able to adapt the acoustics instantly for everything from intimate chamber performances to larger festival events keeps the theater a true showcase for the arts on campus, especially for our highly renowned Summer Music Festival that invites rising-star musicians to study and perform with elite performance faculty for three weeks every summer.”