Hans Otto Theatre Creates 360° Immersive Audio Experience using L-ISA Technology by L-Acoustics Hans Otto Theatre Creates 360° Immersive Audio Experience using L-ISA Technology...
POTSDAM, Germany – May 2024 — Inaugurated in 2006, the striking glass façade of Potsdam’s Hans Otto Theatre, reflects back the image of lake Tiefer See, upon whose banks the venue is built. The 485-seat theatre features three stages and traces its history back to 1795 when King Frederik Wilhelm II founded The Royal Playhouse on the banks of the Potsdam City Canal. Having changed names and moved to different buildings over the ensuing 200+ years, the current building, designed by Paul Böhm with a red shell-like shape that evokes comparisons to the iconic Sydney Opera House, hosts a wide-ranging schedule that features the entire world of theatre on stage: great theatre classics, drama and ballet, modern experiments, and engaging children’s theatre.
The theatre’s diverse repertoire of performances led the sound department to search out a versatile concert sound system that would be capable of adapting to various performance styles and audience configurations. Acknowledging the increasing importance of sound design for the modern theatre, the sound department wanted a sound system that would offer clear, natural sound to each audience member. The complex venue architecture, with a mix of reflective glass surfaces and hanging curtains, also came with acoustic challenges.
The theatre team turned to Hamburg-based L-Acoustics Certified System Integrator Protones, to tackle the complex project. Leveraging their vast experience installing L-Acoustics in notable projects like Theatre Neumünster, AIDA Cruises and Palazzo Berlin, Protones proposed a design using L-ISA immersive technology, which won Marcel Schmidt, Deputy Head of Sound Engineering at Hans Otto Theatre, over due to its ability to offer pristine, localised sound across the audience area, while also being visually appealing and, affordable. “When L-Acoustics came to showcase their products, we were enthralled by the simplicity of the L-ISA interface and the immersive sound it delivered, reaching every corner of the theatre,” comments Felix Vollmer, Head of Installation at Protones.
The immersive configurations began with five arrays of three A10i Focus and one A10i Wide, with two hangs of two KS21 subwoofers spread above the main stage. Seven 5XT coaxial speakers are placed across the stage lip for spatial front-fill. Ten X8 coaxial speakers placed around the side and back wall create surround sound, while two X12 and 4 X8 serve for on-stage monitoring. The theatre lacked rigging points, but the Protones team was able to find mounting space on the edge of the stage or the orchestra pit parapet, creating special rigging points where mounting space didn’t exist.
“Hans Otto Theatre requested a sound system that was fully immersive, high-performance, and easy to use. It had to be highly versatile, and we were confident that L-Acoustics would be the right solution. The combination of L-ISA technology with X Series and A Series loudspeakers offers an unmatched immersive audio experience that is appreciated by the audience and crew alike,” concludes Vollmer.
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