Flying P.A. for Top Gun: Maverick

Manchester, U.K. (March 31, 2025)—It was the box-office smash that not only raked in $1.5 billion worldwide, but also was credited with saving the movie theatre business after the pandemic, when Tom Cruise insisted that it debut on big screens. The movie was, of course Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited sequel to Cruise’s high-flying action thriller of the 1980s. Bringing a little of the sequel’s magic to life for music-minded audiences, The Hallé Orchestra recently performed the film’s soundtrack live at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester for Top Gun: Maverick – In Concert.

dBS Solutions recently provided sound reinforcement for the event, providing audio for the near sell-out crowd in the 2,355-cap hall. Under project manager James Roberts, dBS Solutions provided a Martin Audio scalable resolution WPS line array featuring 14 elements a side, driven in optimum 1-box resolution by Martin Audio iKON iK42 amplifiers. Martin Audio FlexPoint FP12 sidefills (two per side) provided foldback for the SFX and dialogue to accompany the score.

dBS worked closely with creative producers, ESK Film Services, who oversaw all technical elements with the orchestration and track separation. Roberts explained that the principal musicians, percussion section and conductor, were all on click tracks.

But a large concert hall, with an unconventional shape and four-level tiered seating, presents its own difficulties where amplified music is concerned. “It’s obviously a more challenging acoustic environment than you’d expect in a venue that is designed for classical music,” he said. “All the orchestra were miked, so the aim was to get optimum gain before feedback—which is why we used the Wavefront Precision.”

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dBS also deployed the ‘Hard Avoid’ feature on the stage to keep stage levels down. Rear rejection was further achieved by the deployment of four (2 x 2) SXCF118 cardioid subwoofers—a formula adopted by dBS Solutions for all its orchestral work. Aside from the rear rejection, says Roberts, by employing 14 WPS per side, they were able to get consistent coverage from the front row to the very back.

Although the trim height of the rigs was higher than they would have preferred—to avoid obscuring sightlines to the video screen, the splay angles were correctly calculated using a combination of Martin Audio’s proprietary DISPLAY software.

In summary, dBS Solutions MD, Chris Bogg, said, “It’s gratifying that we’ve now become Hallé’s trusted partner for this type of orchestration.”

Talking of the event, Lucy Turner of the Hallé commented, “We’ve worked with dBS Solutions for some years now on our amplified concerts. The team there really understand what we and our players need when amplifying an orchestra. The sound of the Top Gun performance was a superb balance of orchestra and film, covering every seat in the hall.”