One of the most prosperous countries in Southeast Asia is the tiny island nation of Singapore. Located near the tip of the Malaysia peninsula, Singapore, although only 1/5th the size of Rhode Island, boasts the busiest harbor in region making it a major financial, communications and transportation hub of Southeast Asia.

The population of this melting pot of more than 4.3 million people is made up principally of Chinese, Malayan, East Indian and English ethnic groups with the Chinese comprising nearly three-quarters of the population. Because of that the largest ethnic district in Singapore is the Kreta Ayer, or China Town district. And nestled in the heart of the district is the Kreta Ayer People’s Theater, considered the main venue in Singapore for Chinese opera. The theater traces its origins back to 1960 when it began as a makeshift stage at the Kreta Ayer Community Center, a place where local Chinese cultural performances could be presented for the community’s residents.

In 1969, the theatre acquired its own site at 30A Kreta Ayer Road giving it a permanent stage and an open-air auditorium. Since its humble beginnings the theatre has undergone a series of improvements and redevelopment, including a complete rebuilding in the late 1970’s at a cost of $1.2 million which established its current seating capacity of 1,102. Chinese opera, still one of the most popular forms of entertainment and culture for the Chinese people, can be traced back to the Soong dynasty (1179-1279 AD) and the Kreta Ayer Theatre is credited with keeping the tradition of Chinese opera alive and thriving in Singapore for more than three decades.

The Kreta Ayer Peoples’ Theatre Foundation continually funds improvements to the theatre and its current program of upgrades is part of a overall redevelopment of the Kreta Ayer district in an effort to make it one of the top attractions in Singapore for tourists and locals alike while retaining all tradition and cultural structural ambiance of the area. One part of the most recent renovation plans, begun in 2002, included the installation of a completely new sound system. The theatre had been renting a system from a local events company. But the theatre management wanted its own professional sound system designed to fit the specific needs of the theatre.

Bell & Order Engineering Pte. Ltd. of Singapore was commissioned by the architectural firm of Sim & Associates to do study of the unique requirements of Chinese opera performances and propose a system suitable not only for opera but for other cultural performances presented by the theatre. “Because the Kreta Ayer theater is a large performance venue with special requirements the objective of designing a system to provide good, even sound distribution proved to be quite a challenge,” said Richard Lim of Bell and Order, one of the leading system integrators in the Southeast Asian region.

“A Chinese opera performance requires strong vocal capability,” Lim said. “In addition, we faced substantial bass requirements, primarily for concerts and other stage performances. The large range of BAG END loudspeaker products allowed us to select an exclusive BAG END system for the entire theatre.” Lim selected six BAG END OPAL-I’s for the main front-of-house left/right cluster systems. “The Opals provided us with a wide range of frequencies which covered all of our usage requirements.”

The OPAL is a Time-Aligned™ two-way ported system loaded with a 12-inch high-efficiency, low-frequency cone driver and a high compression driver with 3-inch diaphragm driving a custom-designed oval, high-frequency wave guide. The OPAL provides extraordinary high output and fidelity in a very compact enclosure. Two BAG END D18E-I double 18-inch subwoofer systems were located at the front-of-the-house coupled with the OPALs to provide bass. The D18E-I subwoofer enclosure is a 4 ohm system with a 800-watt capacity. The subs are controlled by a BAG END ELF-1 (Extended Low Frequency) signal processor which provides a flat response down to 8 to 95 Hz.

To round out the overall system, a total of ten BAG END TA6000-I speaker systems were used as supplemental speakers to provide even distribution throughout the large theatre and six BAG END Time-Aligned™ TA5000CF speaker systems were selected to be stage monitors. The BAG END TA6000-I is a Time-Aligned™ compact, speech range high-output loudspeaker system that offers both high fidelity and high efficiency for a variety of applications. Because of its light weight - under 30 pounds - and its trapezoidal shape, the TA6000-I can be easily flown for permanently built-in for entertainment venues, houses of worship, home theater and surround sound applications.

The TA5000-I system is the only 15-inch Time-Aligned™ speaker system on the market. With its 15-inch base/mid cone and smooth mid-range response, it provides a great deal of sound in a relatively small enclosure. Bell & Order selected ARX Systems amplifiers to power the BAG END loudspeaker system. The system is mixed on a Soundcraft K2 audio mixing console, managed by a BSS SoundWeb digital signal processor.