Aiming to become a regional destination for concert entertainment as well as
gaming, Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Okla. has opened the Grand Theatre, a
multi-purpose venue featuring one of the largest Meyer Sound LEO® Family line
array system installations in North America. Since opening with a sell-out show by
Aerosmith, the Grand Theatre has hosted acts such as Kiss, Kid Rock, Boyz II Men,
and Kenny Rogers.

“Listening to LEO is really like listening to a very high quality stereo system, with
that level of imaging and detail,’ reports Doug Ebey, audio–video manager for the
theatre. “What impresses me most is that we can get full, in-your-face concert
sound and still stay within our preferred level limit, which we cap at 100 dB.
Everyone has been thrilled with the performance of the system.’

LEO Family loudspeakers were chosen for the 3,000-capacity venue by the Las
Vegas-based consulting firm Coherent Design, which was charged with design and
specification.

“The owners asked us for a sound system that would compete with the best venues
in the area, including those in nearby Dallas,’ says David Starck of Coherent
Design. “They wanted to fully support “A-level’ acts without bringing in rental
systems, and we were confident from the beginning that a LEO-based system would
handle anything they would throw at it. We probably could have done the whole
system with LYON™, but the extra headroom of LEO gives that in-your-face sound
with zero distortion. It really takes the sound to another level.

“After the fantastic success of the opening Aerosmith concert, the owners were
immediately confident they had a world-class system,’ continues Starck. “In fact, I
was told that Steven Tyler said from the stage that the room sounds amazing.’

The Grand Theatre is a multipurpose venue with front seating removable or
telescoping to open a flat floor providing up to 10,000 square feet of event space.
Accordingly, the room is equivalent to half of a small arena in volume, with throw
distances of 125 feet from the stage to back seats. To ensure uniform coverage
with abundant headroom, Starck specified a main system of eight LEO-M over four
LYON-M line array loudspeakers per side, four LYON-M loudspeakers as centre fill,
and two flown arrays of six-each 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements in a
cardioid configuration. Eight JM-1P arrayable and eight UPJunior™ VariO™
loudspeakers supply out fill and front fill, respectively.

Four MJF-212A and 12 USM-1P stage monitors provide onstage fold back, while two
UPQ-1P and four JM-1P loudspeakers, one 600-HP subwoofer, and two 1100-LFC
elements provide side and drum fill. Drive and optimization is provided by a
Galileo® Callisto™ loudspeaker management system with four Galileo Callisto 616
array processors.

System integration for theatre audio, along with all other AV systems in the broader
resort expansion, was contracted to FBP Systems, Inc., with engineering by Robert
Coggins and Rick Malone and project administration by Mark LaBouff.

Upcoming shows at the Grand Theatre include Counting Crows, Rascal Flatts, The
Jacksons, Merle Haggard, and Styx.