Regarded with apprehension by many Western drinkers, Maotai (a kind of Baijiu, or Chinese wine) is universally popular in its native China. It originates from China’s Qing dynasty and is produced in a town of the same name, located in the north of Guizhou province. Here, the Kweichow Maotai Group employs nearly 30,000 people in an industry that is quintessentially Chinese.

When the company broke ground on the construction of a new multi-purpose auditorium and conference centre, it looked across its borders to Renkus-Heinz and the Iconyx loudspeaker system.

The company in charge of meeting Maotai Group’s high expectations was A/V consultancy Guizhou Chiyu, who in turn brought in audio specialist and Renkus-Heinz representative, the Tico Digital Group. It was the beginning of a long collaboration…

‘Initial work on the project began in March 2014, when we began to create a design, which we then submitted in December 2014,’ recalls Lu Cheng of Tico Digital Group. ‘Everything was installed by summer 2015, but all of the systems were put through a rigorous trial lasting many months to ensure that the technology met the requirements of the owners.’

Those requirements were considerable. The auditorium itself is large – the audience area alone comprises more than 10,000sq-ft, with seats for 2,600 audience members. The seats rise over three levels with two shallow but steep balconies, and while even audio coverage was a must, the room presented a number of acoustical challenges. Although some acoustic treatment was applied to the rear wall of the venue, reflections from that combined with further reflections from the balcony fascias delivered an overall reverberant atmosphere. In addition, a key condition of the project was that the auditorium’s décor needed to be protected, meaning any system installed for sound reinforcement had to be as discreet as possible. Finally, two screens are located to the left and right of the stage, creating restrictions in terms of loudspeaker placement.

‘A conventional line array or even a point source solution in a theatre of this size would simply have been too obtrusive,’ explains Lu Cheng. ‘It would have been extremely hard to install a large system without harming the auditorium’s beautiful and ornate design. And even if we had tried to hide a large system, the position of the screens means that we would not have achieved the desired coverage.’

A more intelligent solution was required, and Tico delivered it in the shape of Iconyx digitally steered beam technology. Providing core coverage, two self-powered IC2 enclosures are flown above the stage, in the centre of the proscenium. Each IC2 is capable of delivering as many as four individually controllable beams, ensuring targeted coverage towards the audience while avoiding the two reflective balcony fronts. Meanwhile, at the left and right of the stage are six hard-to-spot IC Live columns, mounted three per-side to create fully steerable left and right channels. Four DRS18-2B subwoofers add low-end support.

Additional coverage is achieved via a selection Renkus-Heinz speakers including four TRX121/12 two-way, 12-inch enclosures, and five CF61-2 cabinets mounted within the lip of the stage to provide a discreet front-fill solution. On-stage sound is distributed via six TRX121/9 two-way loudspeakers with extra low-end from two CF15S subwoofers.

‘The ability to steer coverage with IC Series speakers and the fact they are small in size means that they can be located in the most appropriate location for the venue, ensuring there’s no harm done to the venue’s interior décor, while still achieving an excellent result,’ Lu Cheng says.

Located at the rear of the auditorium, looking-out over the first floor seating, a dedicated control room houses a Yamaha CL5 digital mixer. The console sits at the centre of an audio system designed for all eventualities, with not just one networking infrastructure in place, but three.

‘The installation is fully ready for all major networking protocols – Dante, AVB and CobraNet, which means in the future it can be extended in whichever way the owner requires. Almost any possible future network transport protocol can be connected to the existing system.’ Put simply, the theatre is a working demonstration of the principle behind AES67.

‘If future products need to be added or if a broadcasting system, for example, needs to be integrated, then the architecture will be able to support any transport protocols that are required,’ Lu Cheng says.

A Biamp Tesira server sits at the heart of the set-up, with the CL5 connected via Dante Virtual Soundcard. ‘The routing of signals, playback from sources and even recording have all become very simple and convenient.’ Simplified remote control is also available. ‘Using Biamp Canvas, we have created a custom interface for an iPad Mini so when a fully trained user is operating the system he can use the console, but someone less experienced can be still be in control.’

Elsewhere in the venue, sources include Audio-Technica condenser microphones, eight channels of Sennheiser wireless mic coverage, and conferencing systems from Telex. But it is the flexible performance of the Renkus-Heinz FOH solution that has proven most satisfying to the installer: ‘We have paid close attention to the implementation of every stage of this project, and we have participated in training the operators throughout this period of evaluation’ says Lu Cheng, ‘The owners have now experienced the system in use for more than six months and they are very satisfied. After two years, I can now say that this our landmark project.’