San Diego Symphony’s Jacobs Music Center Caps Off Three-Year Renovation With Installation Of New L-Acoustics K3 Professional Sound System

The Jacobs Music Center, home of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, reopened in fall 2024 following three years of renovations that included improvements to the hall’s acoustics, the addition of a choral terrace behind the orchestra, and the installation of brand-new sound, video, and lighting technologies. The hall, which seats just over 1,800 patrons, now features an L-Acoustics K3 LCR professional audio system with KS21 and KS28 subs, a separate Syva voice audio system, and X Series choral loft reinforcement, together with an assortment of front-fill and under-balcony speakers.

Originally built as The Fox Theatre movie palace in 1929, the ornate hall has been the orchestra’s home since 1984. “The main reason for this renovation was the acoustical transformation for the orchestra on stage,” says Joel Watts, San Diego Symphony’s Audio Director. The orchestra is never amplified for strictly classical concerts, he stresses. “We don’t amplify unless it’s a creative stylistic choice.” But the various L-Acoustics systems, separately or in various speaker combinations, are available for the busy calendar of other concerts, comedy shows, corporate and civic events, and film screenings in the hall, which offers changeable acoustics around the stage following the upgrades.

A Collaborative Design Approach
The sound system design was a collaboration between the venue, L-Acoustics Applications Manager André Pichette, and François “Frankie” Desjardins at Solotech, which managed the integration. Audio consultant Shawn Murphy, a longtime symphony partner, also heavily contributed to the project. “Frankie has been instrumental with the audio design and Andre and the entire L-Acoustics team have been exceptional partners throughout the entire experience,” said Watts. The team had previously collaborated on the orchestra’s outdoor home, the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, which installed an L-Acoustics K2 system in 2021.

Two Systems for Ultimate Flexibility
The Music Center’s main sound system comprises three hangs of 13 K3 enclosures in an LCR configuration. Six KS21 subs, in cardioid configuration, are flown at the apex of the proscenium arch above the center K3 array. Six KS28 subs, also in cardioid, have additionally been permanently installed beneath the front of the stage. A dozen compact 5XT coaxials spread across the stage lip provide front-fill, augmented by individual X8i speakers mounted to the walls just beyond either side of the stage for expanded front-fill. A combination of five A10i and two X8 speakers are deployed as under-balcony fills, and one 5XT per side is installed in the venue’s upper-level “Angel Way” areas.

The main performance system was designed with hang points, cabling, and power runs already implemented in preparation for the addition of two more arrays and surround speakers for an eventual upgrade to an L-ISA immersive configuration. “We’re ready for that next step and to be a leading partner in terms of technology and how we present the orchestra, or any music we do here,” Watts says. That pre-wiring means that the 5XT front-fills are driven by individual channels of an LA7.16i amplified controller, providing audience members in the front seats with stereo images. “Having that flexibility in amp channels and cable routing means those incremental improvements in resolution really make a difference for the audience.”

The Performance system incorporates the Chorus Loft system, which covers the new upstage seating area. That system is deployed in a U-shape around the sides and back of the stage, configured as six pairs of two 5XT, each with a single low-profile SB10i sub, for a total of 12 5XT and six SB10i speakers. “We’ll either have patrons sitting there or we’ll have a chorus,” Watts explains. “If we’re doing a jazz show or a Pops concert with a chorus that needs a little piano or the main vocalist, they become monitors. For rock shows or more low-end-heavy shows, we’ll put up the SB10i subs.”

A separate Voice audio system comprises six colinear Syva enclosures mounted on the hall’s front wall in three L/R pairs covering the orchestra, mezzanine, and balcony seating levels. Six ultra-compact X4i speakers are mounted below the 5XT front-fills in the stage face to support voice front-fill.

Tailored Sound Throughout the Space
“It’s a really tall room with three distinct acoustic environments: in front of the balcony on the lower level, behind the balcony on the lower level, and upstairs,” Watts comments. “They all sound different, so how do we make them translate the most similarly?” The solution lies in the PA’s dual-system design; because the configuration is essentially two systems in one, components can be mixed and matched for optimum performance. “We can use anything that’s permanently installed, like the subs under the stage, with our Voice system,” he notes.

The new sound systems are controlled using several processors, mostly driven with L-Acoustics amplified controller DSP and DirectOut PRODIGY.MP devices. There is a DiGiCo Quantum5 digital mixing console at front-of-house with an SD12 desk on stage for monitors and an SD11 for day-to-day events. The system was designed so that every live sound input goes to the recording side via DiGiCo, Grace Designs, or Merging microphone preamps, and most recording inputs go to the live sound side. The new AoIP infrastructure incorporates RAVENNA, AES, and Optocore transports and network bridging.

Endless Creative Possibilities
Flexibility was key to the overall sound system design, since the venue regularly hosts everything from symphony concerts to comedy shows. Watts and his staff have distilled different PA settings into processor snapshots that can shape the sonic character for specific events while the essential tuning remains unchanged. “We have all these various configurations that we’ve been able to mold to get the best version of what we need for each show,” he says.

“It’s a beautiful LCR system, but we can take that next step and create different atmospheres for the musicians and our audience,” Watts adds. “The music is first, but you don’t hear the music without sound. People initially think it might be too much PA for this place, but then you listen to it and realize this is exactly what it needed.”

For more information on Jacobs Music Center and the San Diego Symphony, visit www.sandiegosymphony.org. Solotech can be found online at www.solotech.com.

Please visit L-Acoustics at www.l-acoustics.com.

Photo Credit: Gary Payne