For the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Peacock Theatre, longtime account manager for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Mark Dittmar once again turned to JBL Professional. He led the deployment of a full JBL VTX system powered by Crown amplifiers to support a five-hour live production featuring dozens of artists, collaborations and extended speeches.
The ceremony, which has relied on JBL since 2000, required a setup capable of delivering high-volume musical performances alongside 30- to 40-minute speeches with consistent clarity for the in-person audience and for the live broadcast stream. The production spanned approximately 150 to more than 220 inputs across multiple console splits, supported by three truckloads of audio equipment and a rapid rehearsal schedule that offered only brief run-throughs before airtime.
Dittmar said the team continues to choose JBL for its balance of musical power and speech intelligibility. “JBL gives us a massive amount of power on music and still gives us amazing intelligibility on dialogue,” he said. He added that the system’s ability to transition between segments helped navigate the ceremony’s wide dynamics, which ranged from rock performances exceeding 105 decibels to extended spoken tributes. “They both have to be clearly audible,” he said. “They both have to be right in our face, and JBL has always delivered that.”
The audio package included JBL Professional VTX V25 line arrays supported by JBL VTX G28 subwoofers and JBL A8 for front fills, all powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers operating through JBL Performance Manager. Venue modelling and processing were completed using JBL Venue Synthesis, providing a precise starting point that reduced the need for extensive tuning. “Right out of the gate, it sounds pretty good,” Dittmar said. “The front-of-house engineer, Erik Sandberg, threw the first tracks up and I was just like, wow…he hasn’t even tuned yet.”
The rig was installed at a lower trim height than typical award shows, a position the production has adopted in recent years to improve coverage and consistency in theatres with tight sightlines and set pieces. Dittmar credited the cooperation among the venue’s staff, set design and rigging teams, as well as the lighting departments for allowing the system to be integrated efficiently despite a packed backstage footprint and last-minute performance changes. “These shows keep getting bigger,” he said. “Having the tools that we can do more modeling before we get there and have the system that much closer is really a major benefit.”
The 2025 ceremony reaffirmed the role of a well-tuned, high-capacity sound system in supporting one of the industry’s most demanding live events. As the production continues to grow in scale, JBL Professional and Crown Audio remain central to delivering clear dialogue, consistent musical impact and dependable performance throughout the extensive program, ensuring the show translates accurately for both the in-room audience and the live broadcast feed.
