The 227-seat cultural Oval – designed by lauded Roman architect Massimiliano Fuksas – opened at the EuroPark shopping mall in Salzburg, Austria, to stage shows encompassing music, drama, cabaret and cinema. In the years since, the venue has earned a firm place in the city’s already rich calendar of events.

Under the direction of MD Christoph Andexlinger, the Oval recently added another attraction to its offering with the installation of L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology from L-Acoustics.

From the outset, the room’s extraordinary architecture – which features a steep atrium grandstand and a 13m-wide stage that is only 15m from the control room – posed significant challenges to conventional LCR sound reinforcement systems. ‘Thanks to L-ISA, not only was the conventional technology replaced, but a completely new, immersive listening experience was created at every seat,’ explains Rupert Pichler, Managing Director of Pansound and project manager for the L-ISA conversion in the Oval.

The sound design by Martin Rode, Head of Application Install D-A-CH, comprises a Scene loudspeaker system with five arrays of three A10 Wide, evenly hung above the stage across its entire width, along with two sets of three KS21 subwoofers, flown horizontally behind the Scene system and configured in an end-fire cardioid array. Five 5XT boxes in front of the stage provide front fill. Three coaxial X8 loudspeakers per side are placed along the walls, with a further two X8 on the rear wall, and five ceiling-mounted 5XT boxes to deliver surround and overhead sound. The system is driven by LA4X amplified controllers.

Even before the final choice of L-ISA was made, the project team played with the idea of immersive sound reinforcement. ‘The central requirement was, and is, the optimissation of the listening experience, says Pichler.

Pichler and Andexlinger first heard the L-ISA immersive sound technology at a demonstration in the L-Acoustics Creations headquarters in Highgate, London. Their decision to opt for L-ISA was based on the flexibility of the technology as well as the audio quality of L-Acoustics systems. ‘When Rupert Pichler told me about this completely new kind of sound, I didn’t think that it was possible,’ explains Andexlinger. ‘So we went to London to get to the bottom of this “auditive mystery” and experience it live. It was breathtaking. Never before had I heard music from loudspeakers in such a clear way.

‘The EuroPark shopping centre is considered the most successful mall in Austria. With the Oval, we wanted to expand the offer for our visitors to encompass both art and culture. Initially, we were met with scepticism from artists and artist agencies,’ he adds. ‘However, we didn’t want an artistic fig leaf in a shopping centre, but a stage with its own personality for jazz and world music on the one hand, and cinema and cabaret on the other – and all this in a combination that makes it possible for both art lovers and newcomers to feel comfortable and be inspired.’

‘L-ISA is outstanding,’ Pichler concludes. ‘You hear what you see, and you hear it at every seat in the room. L-ISA technology has brought a completely new listening quality to the Oval.’

Signal Sound & Light Distribution, L-Acoustics Certified Provided Distributor in Austria, provided the Oval system.

More: www.l-acoustics.com