Fans of stand-up comedy are assured of a fun time at Laugh Boston, a 300-seat,
state-of-the-art comedy theatre located in the Westin Waterfront Hotel, across from
the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre. Featuring a weekly show called Boston
Accents, as well as national acts; the venue also features a full bar and light fare.
Patrons hear every joke clearly throughout the room, thanks to a new sound system
featuring a Symetrix Radius 12×8 EX and Fulcrum Acoustic loudspeakers.

“Laugh Boston not only offers comedy but also accommodates DJs and other
multipurpose events,” offers Parsons Audio Managing Vice President Roger Talkov,
whose team designed and installed the sound system.

Parsons Audio provided sound for the entire facility, including ceiling speakers in
the green room, the bar, and the lounge. The club’s Symetrix Radius 12X8 EX DSP
unit is equipped with an extra output card so it can handle the whole system. The
Radius 12X8 EX installed at Laugh Boston is controlled with Symetrix’ ARC-WEB,
which enables sophisticated control with smartphones, tablets, and computer
browsers.

The club’s old column-type speaker system had been mounted almost behind the
stage and created power and feedback issues. All speakers in the show room are
driven by Powersoft M50Q power amps, another Parsons Audio favourite.

For the front mains in the show room, the Parsons Audio team flew a Left-Centre-
Right point-source system over the front of the stage, providing high-quality sound
without the issues the club had experienced with their old system. “The centre
speaker is a Fulcrum Acoustic DX1226, which is a dual-12-inch, coaxial loudspeaker
with a 120° x 60° dispersion pattern,” explains Talkov. “That covers the centre
section of the room. The left and right speakers are Fulcrum Acoustic GX1265s.
They have a very narrow pattern, 60° x 45°, so they were good choices to cover
the wide left and right, filling in where the support columns obstructed the centre
speaker, while keeping sound off the walls.” The systems integrator also installed
acoustic treatment panels, which helped reduce reflections back to the stage.

The big columns created some shadowing in the extreme rear of the room, as well,
so a pair of delayed Fulcrum Acoustic RX599 loudspeakers were mounted along the
sides to cover the back row of tables. The RX599 is a 5.25-inch coaxial speaker with
a 90°x90° pattern, and two of them provided all the coverage needed.

For sub-lows, Talkov’s team chose the Fulcrum Acoustic TS215ac self-powered, dual
15-inch, direct-radiating subwoofer. “The TS215ac is portable, which made it a
great choice for Laugh Boston,” notes Talkov. “They wheel the subwoofer out for
DJs and bands and put it away for stand-up acts, which don’t need it.”

Completing the loudspeaker complement are Fulcrum FX896 8-inch coaxial stage
monitors. “The FX896 is an excellent choice for a comedy club that has relatively
light stage-monitoring needs,” Talkov observes. “They were perfect for Laugh
Boston.”