Warsaw’s Syrena Theatre Transforms Its L-Acoustics Sound System into a Full L-ISA Immersive Audio Installation Warsaw’s Syrena Theatre Transforms Its L-Acoustics Sound System into a Full L-IS...

Audio Plus upgrades a decade-old ARCSII installation to L-ISA, redeploying every existing component and completing the project in under a week

WARSAW, Poland — March 2026 — Named after the mermaid on Warsaw’s coat of arms, Teatr Syrena has been a cornerstone of Polish cultural life for nearly 80 years. Founded in Łódź in the immediate post-war years, the theatre relocated to Warsaw in 1948 and has remained one of the capital’s most vibrant musical stages, specialising in musical theatre, socially engaged in its programming, and consistently committed to production quality.

In 2025, Teatr Syrena took a significant step forward in its technical capabilities, transitioning to an L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal installation. The project, carried out by Warsaw-based L-Acoustics Certified Provider Audio Plus, built directly on an L-Acoustics ARCS II system the company had originally installed at the theatre in 2016. It has now been upgrading it to a full L-ISA configuration without replacing a single amplifier or retiring a single loudspeaker, and completing the entire installation in under a week.

A Strong Foundation: The 2016 L-Acoustics Installation

Audio Plus first installed an L-Acoustics system at Teatr Syrena in 2016. That system comprised four ARCSII line sources as the front-of-house arrays, four 5XT point sources as front-fills, six X8 point sources for surround, four SB18i subwoofers, and two X12 point sources used as side-fills. Two 108P active monitors were installed in the sound booth. Three LA4X and one LA8 amplified controllers powered the system.

It was — and remains — a professional-grade foundation. When Teatr Syrena approached Audio Plus in 2025 about an upgrade, the brief was clear: expand the system to the highest possible configuration while keeping every existing component in active use.

L-ISA Immersive Audio: Precision and Presence for Musical Theatre

For a venue whose programming centres on musical theatre, the case for L-ISA is compelling. Object-based mixing allows instruments and performers to be positioned in space with a precision that conventional stereo systems cannot match — reflecting the physical reality of the stage rather than compressing it into a left-right image. The result is a more spatially accurate and emotionally immediate experience for the audience.

There is a practical benefit too: the increased number of front arrays that L-ISA requires distributes the acoustic load more evenly across the room, allowing overall volume levels to be reduced without any loss of impact — improving listening comfort across a full production.

“L-ISA’s object-based mixing allows instruments and performers on stage to be positioned with far greater precision, producing a more realistic and spatially accurate experience,” explains Jakub Kowalik Tech and Sales Representative at Audio Plus. “At the same time, the increased number of front arrays allows overall volume levels to be reduced without any loss of impact, creating a comfortable listening experience.”

From Four ARCS Arrays to Five A10i Arrays: The L-ISA Upgrade

Moving to L-ISA required a minimum of five front-of-house arrays — one more than the existing four ARCS configuration. For the new Scene System, Audio Plus deployed five arrays of A10i Focus paired with five A10i Wide. The A10i is the direct successor to the ARCS, and its PanFlex technology — which allows horizontal dispersion to be adjusted — was particularly useful in Teatr Syrena’s relatively compact auditorium, enabling the arrays to be aimed precisely and minimise unwanted wall reflections.

A secondary challenge was the LA8 amplifier, which predates the Milan-AVB protocol used by newer L-Acoustics hardware. Rather than replacing it, Audio Plus reconfigured it to drive the four SB18i subwoofers — now repositioned to hang on the sides of the central array — via an AES/EBU digital signal fed from the L-ISA Processor II. Only two amplifiers were added to the system: one LA4X and one LA2Xi, alongside an LS10 network switch.

“An important characteristic of L-Acoustics hardware is that it is designed to grow with you,” says Łukasz Kaźmierczak, Head of Projects and Installation at Audio Plus. “Using the existing infrastructure, we were able to significantly expand the theatre’s technical capabilities with relatively few additional resources. It was far more cost-effective than replacing the entire system.”

Every Component Finds a New Role

None of the 2016 installation was retired. The four ARCS units were reassigned: two now hang at the rear of the stage as monitors, with the remaining two serving as side-fills. The front-fill line was extended by one additional 5XT — bringing the total to five and ensuring audiences in the front rows receive the full immersive audio effect alongside the rest of the house. The six X8 surround speakers remain in their original positions. The two X12 units previously used as side-fills have been redeployed as stage wedge monitors. The 108P monitors in the sound booth continue to operate as before. All three original LA4X amplified controllers remain in use alongside the reconfigured LA8.

Installed in Under a Week, Without Disrupting the Programme

The full installation was completed in under a week. Audio Plus prepared the necessary components at their projects and installation facility in Łomianki before arriving on site, keeping disruption to the theatre’s active programme to a minimum. Tech support engineer Tomasz Schnitzer led the installation and system integration; L-Acoustics trainer Jerzy Kubiak handled post-installation tuning and crew training.

Teatr Syrena now delivers a fully immersive audio experience to every seat in the house, with sound design possibilities that were simply unavailable before the upgrade. It stands among the most technically advanced audio installations of any theatre in Poland — built almost entirely on equipment that was already there.

“When you choose L-Acoustics, you are building a foundation,” says Kowalik. “Ten years on, every piece of equipment we installed at Syrena is still working — and now it is part of one of the finest immersive audio installations in the country. That is what a real professional sound system looks like.”

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