Powersoft Amplifiers Drives the Sound at Eisenhower Hall, West Point Military Academy

Eisenhower Hall Theatre at West Point Military Academy, the second-largest proscenium-style theater in the United States, is now home to Powersoft K Series amplifiers. Big Mo Pro, the systems integrator contracted by the theatre to upgrade its audio system, chose to install 32 Powersoft K6 and K8 series amplifiers driving a 72-box line array system for the 4,325-seat performance space.

"Powersoft has been my amplifier of choice since it was introduced to me five years ago," says Greg Rosenkrans, co-owner and CEO of Big Mo Pro. "For the Eisenhower Hall Theatre installation, we employed Powersoft amps to drive line arrays from EM Acoustics. We replaced the original system that was installed back in 1970 -- we are actually using the old system for emergency paging -- and the sound from the new system is simply superb. We now have extremely tight and powerful bass response with loud and clear sound to support the many activities and performances presented at the hall. With Powersoft driving the system, we are confident that it will be serving the theater for the next 20 years."

The Eisenhower Hall Theatre at West Point is used by United States Corps of Cadets for internal programming and is also available to the public at large as the premier performing arts center serving the Hudson Valley area of New York State. The lineup of top entertainment offerings includes Broadway plays, opera, dance productions, symphony orchestras, staged spectaculars, and country and rock concerts. The 193,000-sq.-ft. Eisenhower Hall complex also houses Ike's Riverside Café (a 600-seat dining room), a 13,000-sq.-ft. ballroom, Benny's Lounge (a bar/lounge), the Class of 1929 Art Gallery, offices and meeting spaces. Upcoming events include Fiddler on the Roof, Shen Yun Performing Arts, Toby Keith, comedian Jim Gaffigan, Celtic Thunder, and the Moscow Ballet Nutcracker. The redesign of the facility was managed by Collette Contracting, Inc.

"Powersoft really made a difference for this installation on many levels," says Rosenkrans. "Because they only take up one rack space, I was able to put the entire system into two 44-space racks. If I used traditional amplifiers, that would be three or four racks and there was simply not enough room to install 20' from stage right. We are also using Powersoft's Armonía Pro Audio Suite amplifier control package, which is ideal for this fixed installation, allowing us to streamline our setup and drop outboard EQ and crossovers for more space saved. The K Series has power factor correction circuitry that really works. When we were testing out the amplifiers, we started with the subwoofers and the sonic results, in our opinion, crushed all the competition. It's pretty amazing technology they have going on there. We tried every way to make the amp fail and it just kept on going. For an installation as prestigious as the Eisenhower Hall Theatre, nothing but the best would do and that meant Powersoft."