One of the most notable venues in the United States, the historic Hippodrome Theatre in Richmond, Virginia has been renovated with a new sound system, while keeping the historical structure intact. Installed by ITI Audio of Washington DC, HARMAN’s JBL VERTEC® line array elements and other JBL loudspeakers complete the venue’s multi-year renovation and the Theatre re-opened its doors for the Richmond Jazz Festival in August.

Located in Richmond’s Jackson Ward, the Hippodrome Theatre opened in 1914 as a vaudeville and movie theater, and has served as a historical cultural center for the African-American community, attracting such acts as Billie Holliday, Nat King Cole, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, B.B. King, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin over the years.

The main PA system at the Hippodrome Theatre now features six JBL VERTEC VT4888DP midsize powered line array elements with DrivePack® technology per side, accompanied by four VT4882DP midsize powered arrayable subwoofers per side. Rounding out the loudspeaker compliment are four JBL AC26 dual 6.5-inch, 2-way, compact loudspeakers, 10 VRX915M 2-way stage monitors, four SRX718S subwoofers, two SRX738F 18-inch, 3-way, fullrange loudspeakers, four SRX712M 12-inch, 2-way monitors, four AC2212/95 compact loudspeakers and 14 Control® 26C ceiling speakers to complement the sound design.

The system also include BSS London processing, 19 Crown CDi 4000 amplifiers and system configuration was performed using Harman HiQnet System Architect™ software.