What is This Thing?

[Stevens R. Miller]

Went to the Kennedy Center for a concert last night. We had great box seats on the first tier, as close to the stage as we could get. There was a lot of DMX cabling running on the edge of the tier above us, but also three odd boxes, about one-foot square and maybe four inches thick, that had no markings. Didn't appear to be lights, but I couldn't be sure, as the cables running into/out off them were just mixed into all the others. There were another three of them across the concert hall, in mirror-image locations. Here are pictures.

Does anyone know what these are?

 

[RonHebbard]

Went to the Kennedy Center for a concert last night. We had great box seats on the first tier, as close to the stage as we could get. There was a lot of DMX cabling running on the edge of the tier above us, but also three odd boxes, about one-foot square and maybe four inches thick, that had no markings. Didn't appear to be lights, but I couldn't be sure, as the cables running into/out off them were just mixed into all the others. There were another three of them across the concert hall, in mirror-image locations. Here are pictures.

Does anyone know what these are?

View attachment 18553

@Stevens R. Miller First guess: Infrared hearing assist radiators.
EDIT: One popular brand had a metric butt load of IR LED's with one visible light LED in one corner to serve as a power on indicator. Often consultants would have installers cover the visible LED so no light is visible.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Jay Ashworth]

The thing on the underside that looks like a vent grille throws me a bit but otherwise, I agree with Ron; IR hearing assist.

 

[RonHebbard]

The thing on the underside that looks like a vent grille throws me a bit but otherwie, I agree with Ron; IR hearing assist.

@Jay Ashworth and @Stevens R. Miller Don't let the vents throw you, when you jam 80 IR LED's into a thin little enclosure they generate heat. I can't recall the exact quantity of LEDS but if it was four rows of twenty per row, or five rows of sixteen, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm thinking of the Sennheisers I installed. I believe they had vents bottom and top for fan-free, silent, convection cooling.
When you're initially constructing an opera venue, before the drywall wall is painted, it's phenomenal how well two of the larger, high-powered, Sennheiser's would cover the entire four balcony hall. At that point, we kind of wondered why we were installing eight radiators. Once the walls were painted, and the automated, track mounted, draperies were added to tune the hall's reverberation time, we rapidly realized why the other six radiators were required.
Again, from memory: I believe Sennheiser had several models of radiators; some smaller, some larger. some requiring AC at each radiator and some powered remotely.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Jay Ashworth]

"RF".

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

Looks like you fellows have cracked the code for me yet again. With a bit of Googling, I find that the two devices nearest the center of the lower left of my four images are, indeed, both Sennheiser IR hearing assistance radiators. Here's that bit blown up, with two images I just pulled off the internet (color-tinted to match the first shot):

You guys are amazing.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Yay, us!

 

[RonHebbard]

Looks like you fellows have cracked the code for me yet again. With a bit of Googling, I find that the two devices nearest the center of the lower left of my four images are, indeed, both Sennheiser IR hearing assistance radiators. Here's that bit blown up, with two images I just pulled off the internet (color-tinted to match the first shot):

View attachment 18554

You guys are amazing.

@Stevens R. Miller Nothing amazing about it; after you've installed at least a dozen, you learn to recognize them even when you've been trapped in a small room for more than four years. We had several makes and models of hearing assist systems including FM back in the seventies, loops in the seventies through nineties but, personally, I hadn't installed anything other than three models of Sennheisers from the early nineties 'til my forced retirement was thrust upon me. Fanless, silent, ventilation was part of Sennheiser's appeal.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard