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Todd-AO Studios West broke in its newly installed BAG END Loudspeaker Systems subwoofer systems by doing the post work for the new Madonna film 'Evita' on one of the new systems at its Lantana facility in Santa Monica, Calif.

The film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical "Evita," based on the life of the charismatic wife of late Argentine dictator Juan Peron, was released over the holidays by Hollywood pictures.

Full-blown, feature-length musicals are few and far between these days. That fact, combined with the controversial casting of Madonna to portray Evita Peron, and the complex nature of Lloyd Webber's musicals with rapid tempo changes and songs running into one another served to add both a suspense to and anticipation of the finished production.

For Lloyd Webber fans, critics and the general public and sound track would be expected to meet high standards. And for Todd-AO West engineer Tom Lalley the new BAG END subs met the challenge.

"We acquired the BAG END systems for one simple reason," Lalley said. "We needed a higher quality low end, and now we can produce it more efficiently because we are not asking our system to do something it canít do.

"We went from a bi-amped system to a tri-amped system and, with the BAG END subwoofer systems, have extended our left-center-right bass response down to 8 Hz," he added.

In all, Todd-AO West added the BAG END systems to three stages at its Lantana facility. In two large dubbing stages a pair of BAG END 18E-I 18-inch subwoofers and a BAG END ELF-1 controller were added to each of its left-center-right channels for a total of six subs per stage. In a third, smaller stage, one BAG END 18E-I subwoofer and BAG END ELF-1 was added per channel.

"We are pleased that Todd-AO West chose BAG END equipment to upgrade its facilities," Jim Wischmeyer, president of BAG END, said. "It's one more reinforcement of our promise that our products do what we say they will do."

Todd-AO West, formerly Skywalker Sound South, offers a complete post-production studio in two facilities: Lantana, at 3000 Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica, and Bundy, at 1861 Bundy Drive in West Los Angeles. The two facilities contain three large, dedicated 35mm feature dubbing rooms, two smaller stages for film and television, a dedicated ADR stage, a dedicated Foley stage and an ADR/Foley stage.

In addition, Lantana boasts a 47-seat screening room as well as digital editorial suites that can electronically edit dialogue, music and effects. Bundy has 25 editorial rooms.

"Our stages can project a picture in either 35mm or ¾-inch video format," Lalley said. "Both locations have full-service sound transfer departments and the stages at both can transmit and receive audio through digital tie lines from any stage to any compatible location anywhere in the world."

BAG END Loudspeaker Systems has been manufacturing professional quality loudspeaker systems and components for more than two decades, and has built an enviable reputation among professional musicians and sound reinforcement installation companies.

For more information on BAG END Products, contact BAG END at http://www.bagend.com or call BAG END at (847) 382-4550.

TODD-AO WEST DOES "EVITA" POST WORK ON ITS NEW BAG END SUBWOOFER SYSTEMS