Baltimore, MD. — Recher Theatre located in Towson, Maryland opened in 1929 as a movie theater and today is one of the few live venues of its kind serving the rock population of Baltimore. In 1959, the Recher family purchased what was known as The Towson Theatre and continued its operation as a single screen movie theater until it closed in 1992. In 1996, the three Recher brothers, Brian, Steve and Scott, re-opened the building as Rec–Room Billiards. With its incredible acoustics and tapered design, it wasn't long before the inevitable was observed: a natural venue for live music. In just a short period of time, The Rec–Room developed a reputation as one of the best sounding rooms in the region, and so well received by local concertgoers, that its success prompted the Recher Brothers to re–name the room. In 2000, The Recher Theatre was born as a 700–capacity, standing room only, general admission venue dedicated to providing the best in national and local talent. Since then, Recher has welcomed Iggy Pop, Slayer, Flaming Lips, Joe Jackson, Ani DiFranco, Linkin Park, Ratdog, Pavement, Tesla, The Hives, Ween, String Cheese Incident, Disco Biscuits, Judas Priest, Bryan Adams, O.A.R., The Decemberists, Lisa Lampinelli, Clutch, Breaking Benjamin, Liz Phair, Dropkick Murphys, Ziggy Marley, and many more.

As time went on, it became more obvious that the old sound system was in need of replacement, so the owners consulted with RCI Sound Systems of Beltsville, Maryland to come up with a solution. "There were some major obstacles to overcome," states Keith Nachodsky, CTS, ISF–C, RCI Sound Systems. "The owners of the Theatre wanted to improve sight lines in order to give concertgoers a better view of the stage. And, since the Recher Theatre hosts all types of concerts, the new system would need to faithfully reproduce all genres of music, from acoustic to metal. We needed to replace the system so we could stay competitive," stated Brian Recher, Vice President of The Recher Theatre.

RCI designed a system that is reliable, easy to operate, rider friendly, and satisfied the owners' desire to improve sight lines. Working closely with the theater's staff of sound technicians, owners and its talent buyer to determine the system parameters, a NEXO Alpha System was chosen. "We chose a NEXO Alpha System because of its ability to handle the high sound levels required by loud rock bands and its ability to faithfully reproduce detailed musical passages at lower levels," says Nachodsky.

The installation team only had five days to complete the project since the theater had performance dates already scheduled. A Yamaha M7CL–48 was installed at the front of house mix position, and a Yamaha LS9–32 (expanded to 40 channels) was installed at the monitor mix position. Four NEXO Alpha M3s and four Alpha B1s are flown above the stage and two NEXO PS10s are installed on the downstage lighting truss. Six NEXO Alpha S2 subwoofers were installed under the stage along with ten monitor mixes including side fill monitors with subwoofers, and a drum fill monitor with subwoofers. NEXO PS15 monitor speakers with LS12 subwoofers were also installed, with NEXO processing used for both mains and monitor systems. The system is powered by Yamaha Tn amps. A PC at front of house networks with both the M7CL and the LS9 consoles, and a new intercom was installed between the front of house and monitor consoles. RCI also installed a transformer isolated splitter snake, Shure and Sennheiser microphones, Whirlwind and Countryman direct boxes, microphone stands, and cables.

Prior to the installation, RCI engineers provided electrical requirements to the theater's electrical contractor and the company's sound systems' technicians worked with the contractor to insure compliance. They also installed two new I–beams above the ceiling to support the house clusters. While the old system was being removed, the new snake, amplifier rack, and two Yamaha consoles were installed and terminated. After the project was completed, all components were tested and the system equalized using SMAART Live.

"The Yamaha/NEXO system fills the bill nicely and the room looks and sounds better than ever. Touring bands and our patrons have been very pleased with the new system, and RCI did a great job pulling this together in a very short time." says Recher.

For more information on The Recher Theatre, visit www.rechertheatre.com.

For more information on RCI Sound Systems, visit www.rcisound.com.

For more information on the NEXO Alpha System, Yamaha M7CL and LS9 digital audio consoles and Yamaha Tn amplifiers, visit www.yamahaca.com.