I was immediately impressed with the sound quality of CAL. No matter where you are sitting in the audience, the sound is always present, at just the right level. It goes beyond just excellent intelligibility—you get the feeling the person is right there in front of you, even when speaking from across the room.”
Arlen SandersProject Manager, LA Metro
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CAL, UPM‑1PA new pair of Meyer Sound CAL column array loudspeakers has improved intelligibility for speech, video playback, and music in the public boardroom of LA Metro, the regional transit agency serving Los Angeles County. The CAL system is a keystone element in a complete AV retrofit of the 300-seat facility designed and installed by the Los Angeles office of AVI-SPL.
“I was immediately impressed with the sound quality of CAL,” says Arlen Sanders, project manager for LA Metro. “No matter where you are sitting in the audience, the sound is always present, at just the right level. It goes beyond just excellent intelligibility—you get the feeling the person is right there in front of you, even when speaking from across the room.”
The prior system was prone to comb-filtering effects that impaired intelligibility and generated feedback when the system was pushed louder to be heard by capacity crowds. After consulting with Jon Chang, senior designer for AVI-SPL, Sanders determined that CAL offered the best solution for covering the audience area.
“Before, whenever we had a controversial issue it would raise the stress level on everybody, and that’s when feedback would rear its ugly head,” says Sanders. “We needed a better solution, and we found it in CAL.”
Beam presets for the two CAL 32 loudspeakers precisely direct audio energy to cover the room’s wide, auditorium-style seating area. Two UPM‑1P loudspeakers complement coverage for a few front corner seats.
In addition to its primary use as speech reinforcement, CAL also supports the video playback system, and some presentations include music tracks. “We’ve used CAL for music on some occasions, and have been impressed with what we’ve heard,” reports Sanders.
The complete AV renovation also includes a Biamp Tesira DSP system, a Listen Technologies assistive listening system, Shure ULX-D wireless microphones for audience questions and comments, and Clockaudio C34E Halo and C36E Halo gooseneck microphones on the board dais and presenter podium.