Well I see that "DIE HARD LIVE FREE" will be playing at the famous EMPIRE Leicester square on JULY 6th Friday of next month! Well I know how crazy it gets there even on the first day and booking is more than likely taken up in some spots that I would like to sit though.
So plan is to go up one week after 11th JULY Wednesday, I'll buy a coach ticket one day in advance for an early trip to London West End. I'll Pack my bag with few munchies and more importantly the digital camera for picture taking has I haven been to the EMPIRE since September 2000!
That is next months plan and this would be a great opportunity to check out the new JBL THX sound system with 56KW of THX JBL sound power. I'll also pack the SPL db metre to see what this new improvement can deliver over the last THX JBL installation that was removed from EMPIRE'S projection booth something around late1998 and the JBL loudspeaker array was changed over to Martin Audio loudspeakers which didn't do justice to "Gladiator" around September 2000.
Ticket price to get in on the first showing is £8.00 pounds and I know is worth the price of admission with plush plumb red rocker chairs excellent interior decoration and colourful lighting system and JBL THX 56KW of sound power, which makes the EMPIRE Leicester square screen #1 the most powerfulness THX screen in the whole of Europe!
Sorry mate it's the wrong day and those or any other pair of knockers won't do it for me there is only one plan with one objective the EMPIRE on JULY 11th Wednesday!
Here's brief article on the EMPIRE Leicester squares refit.
-Quote-
Empire cinemas choose Harman Group for flagship refit
Date of issue : 18 Aug 2006
Empire Cinemas Limited knew they had a task on their hands when they assumed responsibility for the Empire cinema, in London's Leicester Square. Once the flagship cinema of the UCI chain, and the venue for many European film premieres in the past, the theatre was sorely in need of a refit; its once state-of-the-art surround sound system was outdated, and it had lost its THX licence, the Lucasfilm sound specification seen by many as the 'gold standard' for cinema sound. When the newly formed Empire Cinemas group took over the venue in late 2005, they knew that they wanted to return the cinema to its former glories -- and surpass them. And they wanted that THX licence back. So they turned to some of the best names in cinema sound to help them. The completed installation, a custom-built system assembled with the help of the Harman Group and renowned London-based cinema installation specialists Bell Theatre Services, includes an impressive array of Harman Group equipment. There are Crown power amps, dbx DriveRack 4800 processors, and JBL custom ScreenArray speakers containing technology for which JBL engineers received the Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Everything is networked with CobraNet technology, and managed using Harman's proprietary HiQNet control protocol.
The involvement of JBL is no surprise to anyone familiar with the history of cinema sound; some of the earliest products developed by company founder James B Lansing over 70 years ago were cinema loudspeakers, and sixty percent of cinema speakers sold today worldwide are made by JBL. Indeed, the former sound system at the Empire was built around JBL speakers, which is what led the Empire's new management to contact Harman Pro UK, the British arm of JBL's parent group. And Max Bell, Managing Director of Bell Theatre Services, was only too happy with Empire's choice. "We've always used JBL speakers", says Bell. "For me, they're the best on the market -- and JBL are still the only speaker company that has a proper research division, which means their products are always improving. We've always had a close relationship with Crown International, too -- we specify a lot of JBL/Crown systems."
One of the reasons Empire Cinemas took on Bell Theatre was that the latter have had a long association with the venue -- Bell had carried out the Empire's previous refit, back in 1988. And Empire were sparing no expense this time around, as André Mort, Technical Manager at Empire Cinemas Limited, explains: "As a new organisation within the UK cinema industry, we wanted to show that only the best would do for such an important venue." "They said 'Go for it. This is our flagship; we want the best'," adds Max Bell. "So that's what we gave them".
The refurbishment, which reportedly cost a six-figure sum, involved enlarging the projection screen to dimensions of 18.2 by 7.68 metres, reconstructing and acoustically treating the space behind the screen and rebuilding the THX baffle wall, and completely revamping the cinema's sound system. The completed setup comprises a Dolby CP650 digital processor, five newly THX-certified 96kHz-capable dbx 4800 DriveRack processors to manage the loudspeaker channels and handle delay compensation in the auditorium, and the power amplifiers: 13 CTs 3000s, six CTs 8200s, and five Crown CTs 2000s. This range of amps drives the generous complement of 16 JBL 4645C 18-inch subwoofers and 42 JBL 8340A surround speakers (each of which has a dedicated amp channel), as well as the five JBL Custom ScreenArray 5632 full-range, four-way speakers, which handle the Left, inner Left, Centre, inner Right, and Right channels. Everything is managed via Harman's HiQNet digital control protocol from a PC in the projector room.
In keeping with their usual hands-on approach, Harman closely assisted Bell Theatre as the refit proceeded, providing advice on system design and configuration and ensuring the equipment arrived on time. This was a particularly important role, given that the entire refit had to be completed in just two weeks, before the start of the important summer blockbuster season. As the project neared its end, Harman also sent Mark Bailey of JBL's European Technical Support team to help fine-tune the finished auditorium's acoustics.
With the work complete, the reopened Empire is now capable of an earth-trembling combined sound output of 56kW -- a great improvement over its former 13kW best. And of course, the THX certification is now firmly back on the cinema's wall. The only element remaining from the original installation is a Dolby CP200 analogue processor, which has been retained for those occasions when the cinema wishes to screen restored 70mm analogue prints. Thus the Empire is now capable of handling the best in analogue and digital formats, as befits a top-flight London cinema. "I've been involved with The Empire for many years," comments André Mort, "and the performance of the new system has greatly exceeded my expectations."
Dave Budge of Harman Pro UK comments, "It's a pleasure to be involved with Empire Cinemas, who have committed to this considerable investment in the name of making the cinema experience at the Empire truly memorable." -Quote-
Trust this has tickled you, yes that THX buzz is happening with even more grandeur at the EMPIRE than ever before. I think doctors are calling it "EMPIRE THX JBL Syndrome" for which there's no cure. I can still feel the JBL THX buzzing on me from 18 years ago (((((THX JBL))))).
Well I'm kinder getting into the DIE HARD theme as its not to far away now from blowing audiences though the back wall of the cinema again!
This was a wild sequence one of many I must say that jolted with a slight bump in the centre channel as the glass shutters under the hail of machine gunfire, and drops to the office floor. Not bad for sounding for the ole JBL Control 5.
Bass is produced over the three-screen with lots of directional cues that ping pong side to side effortlessly without putting enormous strain on the ears, db level was 85dbA on peak most of the time, bass was around 92dbC.
Jesus Christ! Yeah, being shot at from two directions and being slightly confused glass is tinkering all around! I must be noted that DIE HARD has (monaural surrounds) only not split-surrounds.
Debris falling around just moments after the roof was blow to utter smithereens as there's a huge KANOOM on the (monaural surrounds) with deep bass. The surrounds that where turned on due DIE HARD where sidewalls and left and right half on the back wall for that cinema feeling!
Note: audio mixer all the low pass sub bass outputs pass though here including LFE.1. The first line, line 1 has the left and right sub bass which is summed and then outputted via the single line out. Line 2 has the centre low pass sub bass which is then outputted via the single line out. Line 3 has the low pass sub bass which is summed from the surrounds or split-surrounds its then outputted via the single line out.
Line 5 has the LFE.1 passing into the mixer all the channels are balanced with each line inputs as well monitoring the level via the VU meter to make sure the level never exceeds 0dbvu other than that the level of the sub bass amplifier has been set for a comfortable room level with all the impact. The main fader level on the mixer can be adjusted or I can trim a few db off each channel if it's too overwhelming especially the LFE.1 which can be very unpredictable, not in this home cinema!
Note: the DSR-70 Here I can control the level of the surrounds output and with its main fader level controlling sidewall surrounds and smaller trim levels for centre which controls the centre back and rear which controls the height surrounds. Pre sub bass out is located on the rear.
Note: the VSP-200 this plugged into the outputs from the KRF-X9050D THX its controlling the level of fronts and with the push of the button into Dolby Pro-Logic it will divide the centre phantom from left and right and send it to the centre channel while the remaining centre channel that is play directly from the KRF-X9050D THX which passes into the DSP-100.
Note: the KRF-X9050D THX this is where the main decoding takes place from Mono stereo Dolby stereo and Pro-Logic II Dolby digital 5.1 and dts 5.1. Main fader is also controlled from the KRF-X9050D THX. Inputs as follows.
Video 1 is for analogue input for Hi-Fi VCR which I'll talk more about later. Video 2 is for SONY DVP-S336 DVD Video 3 is for Pioneer CLD 1750 laserdisc player DVD is for Pioneer DV-525 DVD Aux input is for Cello DR-810 DVD-RW
Pioneer CLD 2950 laserdisc player is off line at the moment.
Ferguson Video star Hi-Fi stereo VCR, now if you can see it here in this picture here is being used as an audio limiter, that's right I was tight for budget at the time and since I don't use the Hi-Fi stereo VCR that much I thought it would be a good opportunity to use the audio limiter to not only protect the output signal from the surrounds from going into clip! It could sever as a good partnership with surrounds and it performs quite well.
So I can not only take the levels up on the surrounds via the DSR-70 it would make softer scenes sound fantastically involving than before, scenes like in Star Trek Nemesis really surround in the softer moments and the louder ones tamed without any distraction.
This was also the case with DIE HARD so get re-plugging if you really what to enjoy films at home!
Note: the optional active crossover this discounted for the time being, but I'm sure I'll figure out new role for it to play within the sound system or something other. Its crossover points are fixed at from 20Hz to 500Hz and from 500Hz to 20Khz, the levels are variable as well.
Note: I have several EQ still in line that will be eventually changed over to multiples of DEQ2496 for the sound chain with 1/3 octave EQ.
Note: the Marartz 1050 x1 this powers the centre channel and the centre front JBL Control 5 while centre back surround powers the JBL Control 1 x2.
Note: Alesis RA300, it starts here this summertime with a complete refurbishment of the amplification with newer and higher powered amplifiers, when I reach x3 Alesis RA300 within a few weeks I'll consider the change over to the fully active crossover mode and let the DCX2496 take care of all the safety limits of the front loudspeakers. Its presently set-up to drive the left and right JBL Control 5 in full band mode via the DCX2496.
Note: Marartz 1050 x2 this is powering the sidewall surrounds in A mode which drives the x2 JBL Control 1 there wired in series and the amp is boosted just a little bit more for dynamic DIE HARD explosions! B mode controls the back half JBL Control 1 which is placed on the outer side of the centre back surrounds which are placed in the centre half of the room.
While in split-surround mode or monaural surrounds like in DIE HARD both A and B are turned ON to really surround the room with sonic impact.
Note: Marartz 1030 x1 this only powers the height surround with x2 JBL Control 1 placed up high, its performs best with split-surrounds its signal comes from the DSR-70 which passes though an EQ same goes for the centre back and the sidewall surrounds with there own EQ as well as master EQ for input only that passes though to the DSR-70 main inputs.
Note: you can see the sub bass that is parked on top of the JBL 4645 that's been discounted and I've used its onboard power amplifier to drive the JBL 4645. The 12" driver that fits into this unit Eltax A R-12 is tucked away safely.
Well I hope this has answered a few questions and it's about to get a whole lot better this year, it starts here.
Well I have the couch ticket and I'm off to the Empire tomorrow finely. I've got a new memory card for the digital camera and I'll be bring back an eventful amount of pictures as this is an Event this isn't just a regular trip to just any cinema this is the EMPIRE!
