Savannah, Georgia-based AV consultancy Michael Gaster + Associates was recently asked to make system upgrades for Telfair Museums, the oldest public art museum in the south-eastern US. A new speaker system was needed that improved intelligibility in the relatively reverberant gallery space, with minimal visual impact. Based on previous success with the brand, MG+A selected K-array to meet the challenge.
KK52 Kobra loudspeakers paired with the KKS50 subwoofer were selected for the project for their size-to-output ratio. The Kobra, with its wide horizontal and relatively narrow vertical patterns, satisfied the coverage requirements of the space, while its slender and paintable physical characteristics (the speakers were customised to match the colour of the gallery walls) met the client’s requirements for unobtrusiveness.
“It is a challenge to work in such a historic space,” said system designer Michael Gaster. “We discovered partway through the installation that the structure we were working on was constructed around the items we needed to uninstall. The museum carpenter had to be called in and brought up to date on the installation.”
Once the system was installed, the clients were extremely happy with the end result: “The system is married well into the décor of the museum and its sound performance is very impressive,” added Gaster.
Since opening its doors to the public in 1880s, the museum has grown from a renovated family mansion into a distinguished cultural institution boasting three architecturally significant buildings; a permanent collection of approximately 4,000 works of art from America and Europe, dating primarily from the 18th-21st centuries; and a history of dynamic educational programming, community outreach and exciting exhibitions.