Four Spaces, One Standard. L-Acoustics Develops Custom Solutions for Shenzhen University Arts Complex Four Spaces, One Standard. L-Acoustics Develops Custom Solutions for Shenzhen Un...

Racpro equips four performance venues at Shenzhen University with A Series, K Series, and X Series

SHENZHEN, CHINA – July 2026 – Shenzhen University is one of China’s fastest-rising research universities, with multiple disciplines ranked among the top 1% in the Essential Science Indicators global rankings. At the heart of the university’s artistic life sits its Arts Complex, which was built as part of its 40th birthday celebrations in 2023. The 128,000 square metre complex includes a 1,000-seat grand theatre, a 500-seat theatre, a 266-seat experimental theatre and a 245-seat concert hall, as well as dance and art studios, music practice rooms and recording suites. Together, they host everything from graduation ceremonies and symphony concerts to daily lessons, rehearsals and performances.

The brief was simple in intent but exacting in practice: bring all four of the Arts Complex’s performance rooms up to the same professional standard, whatever their size or purpose. Across such diverse spaces, this meant designing and installing four distinct systems that catered to the unique requirements of each room, while giving every room the same sonic signature, so a performance carries the same character whichever space it is staged in, alongside a common standard of reliability and ease of use for staff and students.

To assist with this work, Shenzhen University turned to Racpro, the longstanding L-Acoustics distributor and Certified Provider for Greater China, whose remit spans system design, installation, training and ongoing maintenance across the region.

Integrating Technology and Art

“One of the core challenges of this project involved resolving the tensions between the four venues’ sound systems, architectural acoustics and interior aesthetics,” says Ou Xiangjun, Senior System Engineer at Racpro. “We needed to achieve a deep integration of technology and art.”

Each of the four rooms needed a professional-grade system that was also sensitive to its design and architecture. In the case of the grand theatre and the 500-seat theatre, this meant concealing the systems entirely. In the experimental theatre, the system was to be used as a learning tool and therefore needed to be visible.

“The systems also had to deliver the high fidelity and dynamic range expected of top-tier performances, while being adaptable and durable,” Xiangjun continues. “Educational environments can be demanding, and we had to ensure that our final deployment was sensitive to the university’s long-term operational needs.”

Multiple Rounds of Soundvision

With the brief set, Racpro ran multiple rounds of L-Acoustics Soundvision simulations across all four venues to test the configurations and refine the geometry of every hang. The team was aware that, since most loudspeakers in the grand theatre and theatre needed to be hidden behind acoustic cladding, repositioning them once the cladding had been closed would prove difficult. Getting the rigging angle, delay timing and coverage pattern right upfront was therefore critical to minimising these disruptions.

“We didn’t want to rely on experience or rule of thumb for spaces like this,” says Xiangjun. “Running Soundvision again and again enabled us to see exactly how the sound field would behave in every room, and predict the SPL, speech intelligibility and frequency response in every seat. That gave us a closed loop from design through to installation, which is exactly what a project with this little margin for rework requires.”

A Concealed Solution for the Grand Theatre

As the building’s principal venue, the Grand Theatre called for substantial headroom and even coverage across all 1,000 seats. The room is also a campus landmark, which left the team no room to compromise on aesthetics.

The main PA is formed by left and right hangs of three A15i Wide each, joined by a centre hang of two A15i Wide, all concealed within the theatre’s acoustic treatment, so the system disappears visually while still delivering full output. A left and right pair of X12 handle in-fill duty to remove any audible gap between main and front coverage, five 5XT loudspeakers reinforce the stage lip at near field, and six X8i loudspeakers cover the under-balcony seating. The surrounding tiers are completed by 12 X8 on the first layer and six X8 on the second, closing out coverage with no dead spots.

Two KS28 and two KS21i subwoofers supply the low end for large-scale productions.

Even Coverage across the 500-seat Theatre

The theatre shares much of the grand theatre’s design, with left and right hangs of three A15i Wide and a centre hang of two A15i Wide forming the main PA, again concealed within the building structure to preserve the room’s clean lines.

A single X12 per side handles in-fill, six 5XT loudspeakers cover the front-fill, and two KS28 subwoofers supply the low end. Coverage continues with four X8 under the balcony, eight X8 across the first surround tier and six X8 on the second. These speakers smooth the transition in SPL and frequency response across the room and strengthen intelligibility for the teaching and interactive sessions the space hosts day to day.

Layered Sound for the Experimental Theatre

Designed as a laboratory for creative experimentation, the 266-seat experimental theatre required a different approach entirely. The university wanted rich layering and the flexibility to support everything from avant-garde theatre and electronic music to multimedia performance, with the system on full display rather than hidden.

Left and right hangs of five Kiva II form the main PA, each suspended above a single SB15 enclosure that extends the array’s low-frequency response without adding a separate subwoofer hang. An X12 loudspeaker covers the centre channel, while one left and right SB18 IIi provides ground-stacked low end.

With its architecture left visible, the system also doubles as a teaching reference for students studying sound design.

Warmth and Simplicity for the Concert Hall

For the 245-seat concert hall, Racpro chose four X12 loudspeakers flown from the ceiling, for the main PA for their warm tonal balance and precise directivity.

Because the venue’s day-to-day operators are largely faculty and students rather than engineers, ease of use mattered as much as sound quality. As a result, Racpro paired the installation with full system training and a set of scene presets, so staff can recall a configuration for a recital or a lecture rather than build one from scratch.

Supporting Tomorrow’s Artists

Across four rooms with very different demands, Racpro delivered systems that meet the needs of arts education while working within the architecture of each space.

“We achieved this through precise acoustic simulation and customised system integration, and we’re delighted with the outcome,” says Xiangjun. “It’s been an honour to deliver a system this comprehensive and reliable for Shenzhen University, and we’re proud that it will help further the goals of tomorrow’s artists.”

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