[Audio Empire]

On Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:56:40 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ):

"Dick Pierce" wrote in message
...

Looking at high-resolution satellite imagery of the Hollywood
bowl, the distance from the edge of the stage to the current
last row is about 320 feet. Even to the last row of what appears
to be the legacy seats is on the order of 150 feet.

Notice that the orchestra pit is NOT under the shell, thus
does not benefit from the directional reinforcement of the shell.

While it's not 1,000 feet, 320 feet is WAY far away. Best case
you're going to get from the cheel is on the order of 6 dB or
so of gain. The "natural ampitheater" better suits visual sighting
than the acoustics. Remember that the ancient Greek ampitheaters
with there legended acoustics were TINY compared to the Hollywood
Bowl. Recall that Wayne Newton is not quite THAT old to require a
large venue 2300 years ago. Also recall that "legended" is not the
same as "actual."

What's interesting is that from 150 miles in altitude, the number
of sound towers and speakers is, well, humbling.

Received wisdom is that performance rooms with about 3,200 seats is the
extent of what can be done acoustically, with good results.

Given that there are no walls or ceiling to reflect sound, and that the
number of seats is at least 5 times greater, SR is the salvation of this
establishment.

Maybe now, but that wasn't always the case. As I said in another post, the
original "shell" was completed in 1929 and was designed to fill the bowl with
sound which it did for almost forty years without SR. What happened after
that, I can't say. Since the shell was replaced in 2005 with a bigger one
obviously designed with SR in mind, I sure that it is 'salvation" now. But if
I lived in the LA area I wouldn't spend a penny to go there. Not when they
have a venue like the Disney Hall available. I understand that it's a sonic
masterpiece

MeadowBook Music Festival in Rochester MI is far smaller, usually 100%
acoustical for orchestral music, but has a ceiling of sorts.

The 'Bowl used to.