Sound investment at Lytham theatre

That’s the claim of the managing Lowther Gardens Trust after the installation of a £57,000 state-of-the-art new sound system.

It’s comes ahead of a major facelift for the Lytham venue planned by the Trust, which took over its running from Fylde Council in 2011.

“It was always part of our master plan to improve the internal fixtures and features as well as providing an conic building for the future,” said Trust chairman Tim Lince.

“After breathtaking performances by Robert Plant, Rick Wakeman and other notable stars we realised how important sound quality was in our theatre when attracting high profile musicians and entertainers.

“The partnership with the Royal Opera House in screening opera and ballet is soon to be followed by major West End productions and although the visual experience offered meant that you were right there almost on the stage, sound varied depending on your seat and where the performances were being mixed from.

“This is a common problem experienced by many theatres which rely on old-fashioned technology that really hasn’t been improved since the early days of ‘talkies’.

“What we needed to do was make sure that everybody has the same sound experience no matter where they sit.

“With some neatly-placed acoustic diffusers and sound absorption tiles on the roof the scene was set for a major transformation.”

Coda Audio from Germany has developed a lightweight line array speaker system, hung from the roof, which will deliver the same sound to each seat.

Tim added: “Their catchphrase is ‘Hearing is Believing’ and at trials, theatre volunteers, staff, technicians and the general public had the opportunity to hear the system and all agreed you could even hear the wind blowing through the grass when testing it out on one of our films.”

The new sound system will be unveiled to the public next Wednesday, February 19, from 7pm. The event will feature a live band, choir and sections of cinema and is free to attend.