WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — If you've ever sat in Dreyfoos Hall and felt like the sound wasn’t always crystal clear depending on your seat, the Kravis Center says they've taken your feedback and have a new system that is meant to change that.
Tuesday, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts put the finishing touches on a major sound system upgrade inside Dreyfoos Hall. Project leaders say it will dramatically improve the audience experience ahead of high-profile performances, including Miss America’s Teen.
Matthew Wilt, director of production at the Kravis Center, said the venue partnered with Meyer Sound to replace the theater’s aging audio system with a new state-of-the-art setup designed to deliver clearer sound throughout the hall.
"We partnered with Meyer Sound and invested in an entirely new sound system for the Dreyfoos Hall Theater," Wilt said. "It's essentially, if I can give you a metaphor, taking the engine out of a car and putting a new one in."
The project included new rigging, structural steel and more than 60 delay speakers installed throughout the theater. Wilt said the goal was to create a more consistent listening experience regardless of where audience members are seated.
"Our goal is to make sure everybody has the same experience, can hear it, no matter whether it's a rock concert or a spoken word [event]," Wilt said.
The upgrade comes as the Kravis Center prepares to host major productions and events, including the Miss America’s Teen competition, which recently loaded into the venue as crews finalized the audio tuning process.
A two-year project behind the scenes
Wilt said the installation took about two years to complete and required careful planning around the center’s busy performance schedule.
"This project started by my predecessor, Chris Pennington," Wilt said. "And carried on through the planning phase for about a year."
Crews worked around ongoing performances while removing old equipment and installing new technology.
"We have a show going on right now which just loaded in yesterday, about two days after the sound system was tuned,” Wilt said. “We’re cutting it close, but it’s logistically very difficult.”
The Kravis Center also spent significant time evaluating audio systems before selecting Meyer Sound.
"You go out, you listen to it, you talk to vendors, you go to trade shows," Wilt said. "What's the final decision on what will be the perfect solution?"
First theater in the country with new speakers
Wilt said Dreyfoos Hall is now the first theater in the United States to install Meyer Sound's new Tigra speakers.
"We are the flagship venue for it," Wilt said. "They have not hung it in any other theater in the country, so we are pretty much the first theater in America to have the Tigra speakers and to debut them."
Engineers are continuing to fine-tune the system by adjusting timing and acoustics throughout the room to ensure audiences hear synchronized sound from every seat.
"Everybody pays for a ticket and we want them all to experience it the same," Wilt said.
Wilt also reflected on the emotional significance of completing the project.
"It's been a labor of love," he said. "It was definitely started by [Chris Pennington], who's no longer with us. We're proud to have finished this project in his honor."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
