For several years, The Philadelphia Orchestra has spent their summers in residence at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. This year, Meyer Sound rental partners, DBS Audio Systems Inc. of nearby Coatesville, PA brought in a LEO Family system of LEOPARD compact linear line array loudspeakers to support the season’s various events.

The 14,000-capacity music venue — with covered and uncovered seating, as well as open lawn seating — welcomed summertime attendees from May through August. The program consisted of films, such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Raiders of the Lost Ark, backed by live orchestras and concerts by artists across all genres.

“We’re thrilled to have DBS’s LEOPARD system here at the Mann Center. We were looking into a replacement for our old system and we consulted with the staff at the Philadelphia Orchestra, which plays its summer season here. They preferred Meyer due to their previous experience with it,” says Audio Engineer Bob McNamara.

The Mann Center was equipped with a LEOPARD system of 12 loudspeakers per side, two 700-HP subwoofers; and four UPJ-1P loudspeakers for lip fill. An additional LYON rig was brought in for concerts, which consisted of 24 LYON loudspeakers, 12 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements, and four LEOPARD lip fills.

“Dave Brotman [President of DBS Audio Systems] did a superb job of tuning the array. That can be tricky. The Orchestra prefers to see or hear the system as little as possible, so it hangs down and off stage of the proscenium,” says McNamara. “We ended up with consistent coverage throughout the covered seating, very transparent imaging. The 700s significantly boosted the low end response, key on our movie nights. We’ve had half a dozen engineers for the Orchestra itself and other regional ensembles. All of them were quite pleased with the rig. And, our system tech Jim Morgan has tuned and time aligned all of the areas seamlessly.”

The Mann Center is a seasonal, open-air shed amphitheater on the southwestern edge of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park Conservancy, which welcomes world class acts to its stage every summer.