Located in Toppenish, Washington, about 150 miles southeast of Seattle, Legends Casino Hotel is a premium gaming and hospitality establishment operated by the Yakama Nation. Seeking to expand their entertainment offerings and attract new visitors with live music and comedy acts, Legends Casino recently converted a former warehouse space into a brand-new events center. To deliver superior sound for diverse genres, Morgan Sound equipped the events center with state-of-the-art JBL VTX Series loudspeakers and Crown I-Tech amplifiers.
“We wanted to have a first-rate, state-of-the-art facility,” said Greg Fritz, Marketing Director, Legends Casino. “We believe we have probably the best one out of all the casinos in the Northwest, in terms of quality and the experience the guest receives here with the entertainment that we have. We’re very proud of what we have here.”
To achieve the goals set out by Fritz, Morgan Sound deployed a total of 33 JBL VTX A8 line array loudspeakers. The system consists of two main hangs with 10 units per side, plus an additional eight as side-fill speakers and five along the front of the stage in a center-fill role. With two 8″ woofers, four 3.5″ midrange drivers and two 2″ high-frequency drivers, the VTX A8 delivers powerful sound in a lightweight, low-profile cabinet with patented rigging and suspension mechanisms for streamlined installation and maintenance.
“Morgan Sound has always been a JBL house, we obviously love working with JBL since we’ve done it now for close to 50 years,” said Steve Boyce, Sound Reinforcement Director, Morgan Sound. “The VTX Series is a great step forward, and the VTX A Series just continues to raise the bar higher. One of the more impressive aspects of the system is the rigging. It’s so much faster and easier, it takes fewer people, it’s lighter—we love it, that’s all I can say. We just love it.”
JBL VTX B18 subwoofers in cardioid configuration complete the sound system, delivering full low-end output perfectly matched to the A8 cabinets. On stage, JBL VTX M20 monitors provide performers with clear, accurate sound from state-of-the-art Differential Drive woofers and D2 dual-diaphragm high-frequency compression drivers. The entire system is powered by Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD power amplifiers, which provide class-leading power and headroom, plus advanced networking capabilities and onboard DSP.
JBL’s Line Array Calculator (LAC) software allows the Morgan Sound team to plan installations in detail and put together a sound system tailored for maximum performance in each venue. After installation, they use JBL Performance Manager software to fine-tune the system for optimal performance.
“First, we start out with our design process, where we utilize LAC to model a room in a basic perspective before we bid on a job,” said Stephen Weeks, Senior Design Consultant, Morgan Sound. “After that, when we deploy the sound system in the room, we utilize Performance Manager along with products like Smaart to tune the system. In the case of the VTX Series, not a lot of tuning needs to be done. The product out of the box sounds very good. In fact, you can do a show with that product without doing any appreciable tuning on it.”
Morgan Sound has been using JBL products for nearly 50 years, and according to Owner and Founder Charlie Morgan, that partnership will continue into the future.
“My business is changing all the time, as it is everywhere else in the world—software, electronics, loudspeaker technology—it’s all moving at a very fast rate,” said Charlie Morgan, Owner and Founder, Morgan Sound. “We feel like we have a partner with the HARMAN products, which converge together to help us install and deliver high-quality sound. We think the JBL A8 system and the A12 systems are fantastic. We’ve heard them, we’ve bought them, we’ve used them, and I think they are going to be a good addition to our inventory and bring business to us.”
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