On the bank of the Zaan river in the city of Zaandam, northwest of Amsterdam, the Filmtheater De Fabriek recently added a new 30 seat theatre while updateing the audio systems in its existing 90-seat and 63-seat theatres – all with Alcons Audio pro-ribbon systems.
Filmtheater De Fabriek (The Factory) offers an ‘in-depth movie experience’ through introductions, after-talks and panel discussions about its screenings that expand the context of the films and the viewer. This approach includes the sound, and benefits from Alcons pro-ribbon cinema systems optimised room coverage, 1:15 dynamic range, high speech intelligibility and ultra-low distortion – this being the most common complaint from audiences about movies being perceived as too loud.
De Fabriek occupies a 100-year-old former school building, which has seen many changes over the years. A recent refurbishment saw original details being preserved and the cinema being brought up to date with the installation of a Dolby 5.1 system in the new theatre and improving the existing theatres with a modern, high quality sound systems. This included upgrading the largest theatre from Dolby 5.1 to 7.1.
Leading cinema integration company CinemaNext recommended Alcons pro-ribbon systems, to Filmtheater De Fabriek’s Board member Marc Zeldenthuis, MD Katrien Lamers, and Project Coordinator John de Jong who subsequently visited the ISE 2020 trade show.
‘We first heard Alcons in the company’s demo room at ISE 2020,’ says de Jong. ‘We also visited several other cinemas for information and to listen to their systems. In terms of audio quality and audience sound perception, it quickly became clear that Alcons was the best solution for us.’
The De Fabriek team then attended a demonstration at Filmtheater Focus in Arnhem, which led to the Alcons CR2 three-way compact screen system being chosen for the screens in all three rooms. Featuring an RBN601 pro-ribbon HF driver, twin 8-inch midrange and 15-inch LF driver, the CR2 is aimed at medium-output, hig- quality cinema sound reproduction.
In the two larger spaces, CinemaNext added CB181sl shallow subwoofer systems and CCS6 small-format surround loudspeakers, which feature a 1-inch exit compression driver with 6.5--inch woofer in coaxial configuration. Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers were installed in each room for power and control.
‘The clarity and lack of interference distortion, even at higher volumes, impressed us the most and the systems perform very well,’ says de Jong. ‘As our first Alcons installation, we are very happy with the sound and are sure that our audiences will be, too.’
