Thailand’s Colossal Wat Tha Sung Temple Updates to Clear, Efficient L-Acoustics Audio System Thailand’s Colossal Wat Tha Sung Temple Updates to Clear, Efficient L-Acoustics ...
Vision One install an X Series, and LA7.16i amplified controllers in the large Pra Suthammayan Thera Hall
UTHAI THANI, Thailand – July 2023 – Home to thirty thousand temples built as peaceful sanctuaries for devout Buddhists to worship and meditate, Thailand’s temples also attract tourists and visitors. Two hundred kilometers from Bangkok, Uthai Thani province is home to one of the country’s most unique and most visited temples, Wat Tha Sung Temple. Also known as the Crystal Temple, Wat Tha Sung is a sprawling complex of indoor and outdoor spaces dedicated to chant, meditation, and prayer, as well as being home to the monks who serve there.
Within the temple compound, the massive, multi-purpose Sala 4 Rai temple, with its magnificent pillars, hosts chanting and sermon sessions and meditation classes while also serving as a meal-time canteen for monks living on temple grounds. The hall was recently renamed Pra Suthammayan Thera Hall and updated with a completely renovated interior that also included an audio upgrade.
When considering a new professional audio system, temple management turned to local L-Acoustics Certified Provider Vision One. The Vision One team was familiar with the temple, having previously provided a new L-Acoustics Kara-based audio solution to the Sala 12 Rai, also known as the ‘100th Birthday of Pra Rachapromyan Cathedral’. “We’ve been building a relationship of trust with Wat Thu Sung management since 2015,” says Vision One’s Chief Operating Officer Tanapat ‘Tony’ Mongkolkosol. As the concert-grade speaker system in Sala 12 Rai had been well accepted, the request for the Sala 4 Rai upgrade naturally turned to Vision One and L-Acoustics. “The audio team was familiar with L-Acoustics and wished to keep a consistent sonic signature across both halls,” Mr. Mongkolkosol continues.
Using L-Acoustics Soundvision 3D modeling software, Mr. Mongkolkosol collaborated with the L-Acoustics APAC Application Project team of Alvin Koh and Chung Wah Khiew to present a system design of 46 white L-Acoustics X12 coaxial enclosures distributed throughout the hall to keep controlled and consistent sound in the cavernous hall which is 90 meters long and 70 meters wide, with an 18-meter high ceiling.
The rigging points of the boxes were set at 9.1 meters above the ground and mounted on horizontal structural beams and pillar columns. Careful placement in Soundvision ensured the precise calculation of speaker angles to deliver even coverage and uniform SPL throughout the hall. An additional 14 X12 are used as monitors for monks’ speeches and chants in four different locations in the space. A scant five LA7.16i amplified controllers work economically to drive the entire system of 60 coaxial boxes.
Because some X12 speakers would be up to 150 meters from the designated amplifier control room, Mr. Mongkolkosol and his team created two separate control rooms, one at the front of the hall and the other at the rear, to ensure speaker cable lengths for optimal system performance, keeping signal loss to a minimum. Fibre optic cables were used to link the two control rooms over a Milan AVB signal, with an analog signal to fall back on. An L-Acoustics P1 Processor upscaled inputs to digital 96 kHz, while two LS10s were employed as primary and secondary AVB redundant interface units.
“The end users at the temple are pleased with the signature sound quality, as well as the clarity and even coverage the system provides for their worship and meditation learning programs. It is great to see a frequently visited temple in Thailand continually building its technical audio infrastructure, with up-to-date professional audio systems by L-Acoustics,” Mr. Mongkolkosol concludes.
Learn more about Vision One at www.visionone.co.th.
